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his going astray. They form a barrier of no mean strength between him and the way of transgressors; and if he ever enters that way he finds it "hard"

to enter.

Ask the swearer how he felt when he uttered his first oath. He will tell you that the blasphemous words seemed to burn and blister his lips as he uttered them. Inwardly, he trembled at himself. Ask the sensualist how he felt when he first yielded to the persuasions of the fair but deceitful temptress. He will tell you that he was so ashamed of his sin that he would not have it known at any cost. Ask the thief how he felt when he committed his first robbery? He will tell you that he had no peace. He will confess that he felt as if society had organized itself into a huge detective power, watching his offence, and dodging every step he took.

How comes it to pass that so many criminals are drunkards? It is partly accounted for on the ground that "the way of transgressors" is so hard to get into.

Men have to muddle their reason by strong drink, and they are compelled to take the fine, keen edge off their moral sensibilities by intoxication, ere they can commit the atrocities of which they are guilty. The murderer can seldom do his cruel deed coolly and deliberately. He must first work himself up to a frenzy of excitement by swallowing "liquid fire." What do fallen women tell our own missionaries and others who seek to reclaim them? They say that they could never live the lives which they do without the aid of alcoholic stimulants. "The way of transgressors is hard" to get into.

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II. It is hard to keep in. Balaam. When he went forth to curse Israel, he was in "the way of transgressors." But how "hard" he found it to continue therein! What difficulties God put in his path! Ho seemed to use almost every means of sending him back. First, the ass, with more sense than its master, turned aside into a field. Then it thrust his

foot against a wall. Next, it fell down and refused to proceed. After that, spoke with him. At last Balaam & the angel of the Lord, with draw sword, standing before him, to inte cept his progress. It is so with a sinners. God makes it toilsome to pa severe in the broad road. He will a force them back. He employs neith physical force nor irresistible miras lous power wherewith to make meat trace their steps. Notwithstandır

He does everything but that. 1 makes the " way a rough way,

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stony " way,' a thorny way.

"way" that hurts the foot, and we ries the traveller. He sends wind rain, thunder and lightning, by wai to induce the infatuated wanderer return.

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"The way of transgressors is har to keep in, because sinful ples never satisfies. It is a solemn but u deniable fact that the pleasure las only as long as the sin lasts. Whe the one goes, the other follows it. I religion there is, first the bitter, th the sweet; in the wickedness there i first the sweet, and then the bitter. I practice of iniquity may be plea: but its memory is ever painful. Tan of the vain and worldly. Here, I example, is a slave of fashion, a whose first inquiry is, "Wherewith shall we be clothed?" She spen hours in discussing the merits of a m dress, and cannot sleep sometimes f thinking of the shape or trimmings a fresh bonnet. When she dons h elegant attire, and walks the parks. when she arrays herself in her ghit ing baubles, and paces the drawin room,-when she links hands with th dancers at the ball, and wins rounding admiration,-all is agreea enough. But when sickness and a versity come, how hollow and va seems the world to her! Poor z That wreath of artificial flowerminds her of a better crown which s has never sought; that handdress reminds her of the robe of * Saviour's righteousness which she i never prayed for; those jewelled ora

s remind her that she might re had the ornaments of a meek I quiet spirit which in God's sight of great price;" that highlyshed mirror reminds her that she at have beheld, "as in a glass, the ry of the Lord," and been "changed the same image, even as by the of the Lord." Thus does remake the way of transgressors for her to keep in. Think of the ard. There is enjoyment in inoristion.

It drowns the sense of As the pitiable maniac, sitting the ward of an asylum, holds a

in his hand, and fancies it a tre, harangues his fellow-lunatics, Imagines himself a monarch speakto his subjects, so intemperance is

es of temporary insanity, makits victims fancy themselves to be ter than they are. But when the df intoxication is over, how then? en misery comes. When the glare the tavern at midnight is exged for the steady, uncompromising 21 of day; when song and joke, Towing bowl" and boon companions, -abstituted by an aching head, an regular pulse, hot hands, parched

and, above all, a reproving science; then, surely, "the way Tansgressors is hard" to keep in. Let us listen to the confession of one a alas wandered too far and too in the forbidden path — Robert

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Pleasures are like poppies spread,
You seize the flower, its bloom is shed;
Or like the snow falls on the river,
A moment white-then gone for ever;
Or like the borealis race,

That dit ere you can point their place;
Or like the rainbow's lovely form,
Evanishing amid the storm."

Is true, not of one form of sinful >asure only, but of all, that "at the t, it biteth like a serpent and stinglike an adder." As it has been well written, "Passion fulfils itself and expres. The desire is satisfied, and turns into a loathing. The tempter us to him, and then unveils the l face that lies beneath the mask.

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When the deed is done, and cannot be undone, then comes satiety, then comes the reaction of the fierce excitement; the hot blood begins to flow more slowly; then rises up in the heart conscience; then rises up in jesty in the soul reason; then flashes and flares before the eye the vivid picture of the consequences. His enemy has found the sinner. He has got the vineyard,-ay, but Elijah is there, and his dark and stern presence sucks all the brightness and the sunniness out of the landscape, and Naboth's blood stains the leaves of Naboth's garden! There is no sin which is not the purchase of pleasure at the price of peace."

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The way of transgressors is hard” to keep in, because to keep in it brings punishment. The etymology of the word "transgress" is significant. It is derived from two Latin wordstrans, across; and gradior, to step. Therefore, to transgress, is to step across God's boundaries. This cannot be done with impunity. If a man steps across any boundary, he suffers for it. Yonder, for instance, is a To effect poacher or a housebreaker.

his purpose he breaks through a thick and high fence. The result is that his hands are scratched, his face is bleeding, and his clothes are torn. This serves to indicate the principle of retribution. Whenever you step across any barrier that God has put between us and evil, you suffer for it. Jacob stepped across the boundary of truth when he both spoke and acted the base lie which won for him his brother's birthright. But he had to pay the penalty of exile for it. David stepped across the boundary of chastity when he committed adultery with Uriah's wife. But how bitter were the results! witness his mourning over the dead child, and his mourning over his own dead virtue. Peter stepped across the boundary of courage when thrice he denied his Master. But he "went out and wept bitterly," reaping a harvest of sorrow from the seed of sin. These are exemplifications of what still

occurs. Retribution, though not fully administered in the present world, follows transgressors, and therefore is their way "hard" to keep in.

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III. It is hard to get out of. Why? Because, in the course of time, it becomes a habit to go in it. It is like a man leaving the beaten track in a forest. On he goes, blundering and stumbling as he goes. The farther he wanders in, and the longer he strays there, the more difficult is it for him to return. "Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Then may ye that are accustomed to evil do good." To quote from quaint Thomas Fuller, "I read, in the Revelation, of a beast, one of whose heads was as it were wounded to death. I expected in the next verse that the beast should die, as the most probable consequence, considering: First, it was not a

scratch, but a wound; secondly, not a wound in a fleshy part, or out-limbs of the body, but in the very head, the throne of reason; thirdly, no light wound, but in outward apparition (having no other probe but St. John's eyes to search it) seemed deadly. But mark what immediately follows: 'And his deadly wound was healed.' Who would have suspected this inference from these premises? But is not this a lively emblem of my natural corruption? Sometimes I conceive that, by God's grace, I have conquered and killed, subdued and slain, maimed and mortified, the deeds of the flesh; never more shall I be molested or buffeted with such a bosom sin: when, alas! by the next return, the news is, it is raised and recovered. Thus tenches, though grievously gashed, presently plaister themselves whole by that slimy and unctuous humour they have in them; and thus the inherent balsam of badness quickly cures my corruption, not a scar to be seen.'

We said, at the commencement of our discourse, that it was "hard" to get a sin into the soul. So it is. But once in, it is far harder to get it out. When the Greeks had been at war with the Trojans for many years, and were

unable to take Troy, they resolved a last to attempt by stratagem wha they could not achieve by force Constructing an immense woode horse, they asked their enemies t allow them, ere they returned home to bring it into the city as an offering to the gods. Consent was given Great difficulty, however, attended th work. So large was the artificia animal that every effort to drag hin through the gates failed, and it wa only when a monstrous breach wa made in the walls, that, by dint o tremendous pulling, he was got in Once in, he was not so easily got out; for in the night, from his inside, sprang hundreds of armed men, who, giving a signal to their comrades outside Troy, soon became victors. In like manner, sin may not easily find access to the heart; but, once there, it is not easily expelled. In the process of years, men become the slaves of evil. At first, habit is a slender silken thread, then it becomes a cord, next it is a tightly-bound rope, finally it transforms itself into a fast-welded iron chain, clanking at the foot an hands of the ill-fated wearer, proclaiming him the bondsman of Satan. Very wise was the fable of old. A stag and a horse being at variance fought. At length the strength of the horse failed him, and he sought the help of a man. The man complied, got on his back. and chased the stag to death. So far the noble steed overcame his difficulty but, alas! it led to greater evils tha any he had yet experienced. With a bit in his mouth, and a saddle on his back, he remained, to the end of his days, at the mercy of his deliverer. It is just so with those who seek to wear away the ennui of life by asking the help of sinful pleasure. It comes to their rescue, but the penalty is too often life-long slavery!

Hard to get out of, truly! Think of unbelief and its effects. There ar hundreds who seem gospel-hardened. So accustomed are they to hear and to reject the message of salvation, that, though once they felt the power of the

Word, now it is lost upon them. Intri- |
ate and toilsome, indeed, is the moral
labyrinth through which they must
make their way, ere they reach the
"green pastures and still waters."

If, then, we have not wandered far into this forbidden path, let the solemn facts under consideration warn against further progress. If we are Luton.

already far down on the road leading to ruin, let us, by Divine grace, retrace our steps. Seeking the forgiveness of the past, asking the renewing power of the Holy Ghost, let us make heavenly wisdom our guide. We shall find "Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths peace."

THE DUTY OF CARRYING RELIGION EVERYWHERE.

BY THE REV. HENRY WARD BEECHER.

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NOTHING is more common than for persons to excuse themselves to themselves and to their religious friends for delinquency on account of their peculiar situation. It is a festive occasion, and men say, "You cannot expect much religion at such a time." Or, it is a great public gathering, men are excited and hustled hither and thither, and the ready excuse is, You cannot expect much religion under such circumstances.' Or, it is a time in which every man is running to and fro, and excitement reeks in the way, and men say, "Of course, you cannot look for very much religion in such times as these." Now, I do! Such times as these are just the times for religion. They are the times above all others when we need it. are the times, above all others, when, if you have it, you will show it. Hitched to a plough together, a plough-horse and an Arabian horse are as good one as the other; but when you put them on a long run, over hedges and ditches, and through ploughed fields and deep morasses, their blood tells. The Arabian can carry himself through difficulties and endure, whereas the hack breaks down.

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Anybody can be a Christian down-hill, but it is not anybody that can be Christian up-hill. You can laugh when pleased, of course. You can be happy when people give you everything you want. You are healthy; you are favoured; you keep up an equilibrium between health and disposition; everything goes right with you; you meet people that you ove; and you sing and pray, and are happy, and feel religious. And I do not say a word against all this; but then that does not test you. Go where there are no meetings, where your duty is very hard, and where you are surrounded by many temptations and evil influences; and then, if you have the spirit of religion, it will show itself. And it is at such times that it is Tost grateful to the heart of your Master. You are witnesses for Christ under such circumstances. And it is under such circumstances that your witness is most efficacious upon men. Where other men do not act like Christians, if one be found that does, his example goes further than any other exhibition that a Christian man can possibly make.

Of course, the question comes right back to this: How can a man carry his religion under such circumstances? A great many people, you know, carry their religion as men carry matches and tinder. They keep them in a little box by themselves. They are obliged to keep them dry, in order to have them answer any good purpose. If they do not, when they scratch the matches they will not go off. And men have an idea that religion is a particular experience or feeling, to be employed a particular part of th time, and that they must keep it carefully boxed up so that they can use it when they need it.

Now, what is religion? If you go to one class of persons, that have bera brought up thoroughly in ecclesiastic notions, hierarchic ideas, and ask them what religion is, they will tell you that it is performing certain pr scribed duties at a given time, in a sacred place, and in a reverent manner. The supreme idea of such persons is, that religion consists in the offering of prayers and praise at proper times, and in proper places and ways. They feel that, when that is done, their religion is done. They feel that they have done their duty when they have done up their religion all right. If you go to another class of persons, you shall find that their impression of religion is a high emotive social state, full of religious fervour and feeling, As long as they are in that state, they think they are in the Spirit, and blessed- -as they are. If you go to another class, you shall find that their idea of religion is that it is a practical, stern sense of duty. All thes include an element of truth; but they are all partial when taken alone, and by themselves. For I understand religion to be that grace of God, or, rather, that divine power, which rests upon the mind, and develops it on every side harmoniously into activity. So that, when the reason is touched by God's Spirit, the right use of reason is religion; when God's mind rests upon the moral sentiments, the right use of the moral sentiments is religion; when the affections are quickened by heavenly inspirations, the right use of the affections is religion. Religion is not any one thing. It is the going right of the soul under the divine influence. Every part of it that goes right is religious.

If a man feels that his religion is a set performance of prescribed duties, confined to times and seasons, he will always be troubled to know how to carry his religion into his business; for, trying to mix such religion with business is like trying to mix water with oil. But if religion is not that, if it is carrying yourself right under the influence of God's Spirit, at all times, and in every place, then you are religious whether you are singing and praying among God's people in a church, or whether you are at home sporting with your children. You are leading a religious life in the latter case as really as in the former; not devotionally, but affectionately. And if you can carry yourself in that way, you are also religious in your business The Apostle says, "Whether ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." Business is a part of your religious life. It is not a part of your devotional life; but devotion is only a part of your religious life. Buying and selling are a part of a man's religious life, if he is a merchant. Hewing and sawing are a part of a man's religious life, if he is

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