So the pledge was signed, and they shook hands all round. And then they said, after a moment's hesitation, "We feel as though this was not enough. We feel as though if there is anything in religion, it was time that we had it. And we have asked you to come that you might tell us how to get it."

Now, there was a time in those men's lives when they did not break out in that full-blossomed way. There was a time of struggle, of hesitation, in which the motives on the one side and the other were almost balanced. There was a time, probably, at which, if some old boon companion, some big-hearted man, whose blood ran through him like a gulf-stream, and generated a great deal of magnetism, and carried folks away with him, had met these men, they would have been swept from their moorings, and would have fallen back upon their old ways, and there would have been no pledge, and no religion, and no salvation in the heavenly land, for them. There was a time when, coming to New York, a slight thing might have determined your everlasting destiny. For, when things are nearly balanced, it takes but little to turn them.

Here, in one scale, is half a ton. The weigher goes to work and throws into the other scale a hundred pounds, and another hundred pounds, and another hundred, till there are five, six, seven, eight, nine hundred pounds there; and then he throws in fifty pounds more, and twenty-five more, and twenty more, and one more, and three more, and half a pound more, and a quarter of a pound more, and a quarter more. And then up goes the other scale; and they are just at equipoise. Now, throw one ounce into one scale, and down it will go. In the beginning five hundred pounds did not start it; but when a scale is at equipoise one ounce will make it kick.

So it is when men are brought to the decision to go forward in a right way; to forsake a bad course; to lift themselves up to a higher sphere of life; to live for spiritual good and not for fleshly good; to live for the life that is to come, as well as for the life that now is. In these fearful moments of decision, the drinking of a cup of liquor, which at another time, though not prudent, might not have proved disastrous, will sweep away that sensibility which is the last ground of hope that remains, and destroy the soul. It is a perilous thing, in such an hour as that, for a man to throw himself where pleasures may entice, where indulgences may solicit, where anything may come in to unsettle his purpose. It takes very little to carry down the scale when it stands at equipoise. Very often the least thing will do it.

I say this, because I have been for so long a time dealing with men that I know what their feelings are, and I know that such warning is often needed when men are serious minded; when they are very near

to the kingdom of God—as near as some of you are to-night—so near that it would take the merest pressure of the hand to bear them over the line, and within the sacred precinct. Men ridicule us, sometimes, who do not well consider what they say, and who do not understand the nature of moral qualities, when we say to a man, "Withhold yourself even from lawful pleasures; do not go into company which at other times you might properly keep; God's Spirit strives with you; your heart is brought into such a temper, and under such influences, that that which would be perfectly allowable at another time is not wise at this crisis." As, when a person is sick, diet which in health is perfectly right is bad for him; so, when a man is coming back to himself and to his Saviour, there are many things which he ought not to do, because in such critical hours and moments little things go so far.

When guides are taking men along Alpine stretches, in the forenoon, when the sun has begun to shine, and the vast avalanches lie above, they will not let them speak, and say to them, as they begin to make the turn, “While going round this ravine on the narrow path let no man say a word." And so they go in silence, one after another. Why? Because so exactly balanced, sometimes, is the avalanche, that the echo, and the vibration of the air which is produced, will be just what is necessary to break the last icicle that holds it; and down will come the avalanche. At other points in the passage they may shout as loud as they please, and it will do no harm; but there are critical points where the guide says, "Hush, and do not even whisper." It is a very little thing; but oh ! does it not take hold of tremendous consequences?

A companion that is good for hours of health, may be a bad companion for hours of sickness. A companion that is good for ordinary times, may, at certain critical times of a man's moral history, be ruinous, not intending it. Thousands of men have been destroyed in this world, I doubt not, who never knew, nor suspected even, that it was the smallest circumstance that determined their destruction. As trains are destroyed by the movement of a switch no more than the tenth part of an inch, so little things often determine, at critical periods, men's fate for time, and for eternity.

Are there not persons here, to-night, who are about to plunge to-morrow into the world again? Are there not persons here whose hearts have been brought to some degree of glow, and who have in them yearnings and aspirations? It may be that some great trouble has brought you to this. It may be that some revelation of God's truth has been made known to you. If you nourish it, if you shield it, it will be kindled into a blaze of grace that shall one day mingle with the celestial fire. If you neglect it, if you suffer the rude wind to blow upon it, it may

be extinguished, and the light may never again be kindled in your heart and conscience.

A band of hunters, going out, toil all day with little success, and are, by the rain and sleet which pelts upon them, driven into the woods, where they are overtaken by the night, and are lost. They cannot extricate themselves, and they will perish if they cannot kindle a fire. They search, and there is but a single match left. Their whole safety depends upon that. If they can strike that, and thereby ignite sticks of wood, they will survive; but if not, they may die before morning. They hold counsel. They seek the shady side of a tree. They hunt for dry bits of moss. They get slivers of the dryest wood. They gather together the best material within their reach, and put it where neither the wind nor the rain can find it. The match must not be lost, and one of them slips his boot off from his foot. The wind is up, and sweeps past them; and no hat, nor sheltering tree can protect that match. So, far down in the cavern of the boot he scrapes it on the soul. And, blessed be God! it takes fire. They cannot bring it out. It is a very little thing. But oh! it is life or death to these men. it goes out they are gone; and if it is kept they are saved. Fortunately the moss catches, and the wood begins to burn-first one little bit, and then another little bit, and then another, until by and by the blazing moss may be brought out. And then the wind rather helps it, if it is not too strong. And at last the large pieces of wood are kindled, and there is a glorious fire, and the wind that now is permitted to blow full upon it is God's bellows to bring up the life-giving element. And the large mass crackles and blazes. And they are safe. They can now put on what they have a mind to, and the wind may blow as hard as it pleases, but they are safe. There was, however, a point where they were in jeopardy.

If

There is many and many a man who may by and by be perfectly hardy in exposure, and in the indulgence of lawful things; but there are critical times in these men's histories-in their household histories; in their business histories; in their conscience life and their spiritual life. There are times when the flickering flame of their hope is liable to be extinguished. And that is the meaning of the word of God when it is said that Christ is one who will not break the bruised reed, or quench the smoking flax, until he shall bring forth judgment unto victory. He will not put out the spark that is kindling the wick of hope in any soul, until he consummates the work of grace in that soul.

Finally-not to draw these illustrations out unduly, and weary you-am I extravagant when I warn you, young men, and men of life and business? Do I overdraw the picture, or exaggerate it, when I bid you beware of little sins of every kind? A serpent's tooth is small,

and a scorpion's sting is small; but they carry death. And little sins are small; but many and many a man has lain down in final anguish because they stung him to death. Beware of all sins. Beware of little sins especially.

And do I exaggerate when I tell you that in the critical passages of your life you cannot afford to do things which you would fain do? 0 serious-minded man! O woman, on whose heart God has laid affliction, and whom he has called to fulfill long-delayed vows! O father of a family, that has no exemplar, on whose judgment and on whose conscience has rested for a long time the unfulfilled duties of religious life! have you not been brought again and again to the point, almost, of decision, and fallen away from it, until it has become harder and harder every year for you to get your own attention, or bring yourself to the point of a resolution? Neither can you describe nor tell me what it was that balked the decision. You cannot tell why it was, when you came so near to the kingdom of God, that you did not enter in. It was because of some little thing, so inconspicuous that you did not yourself recognize what it was, and yet mighty enough to destroy your moral purpose, mighty enough to carry you thus far down the way of life again, in old habits, old selfishness, old pride, old worldliness, disobeying God, forfeiting your own hope, and preparing the way for your own destruction. And now the time comes round again. I know that there are children of Christian parents here who never can hear the truth preached faithfully, that their hearts do not sound out like the soldier's drum. The "long roll" they hear; and their fears start up on every side. There are such men here to-night. There are men here who have scarcely eased themselves of the burden of an old sorrow. There are men here to whom I can say, very truthfully, "You are not far from the kingdom of God. You are convinced in your judgment and in your consciences; and your hearts are touched; and you are very near to the point of deciding. A little thing will do it. There are some men here who, I think, if they would, when they go home to-night, gather their wife and children about them and say to them, "Help me; for from this time forth I am going to try to live a Christian life," would find that it would strike the balance the right way; and they would be saved. But if they neglect it, the balance will go the other way, and they will be destroyed. I believe there are men here who, if they would make one vehement effort to break up a bad habit, would thus take the first of a series of steps which would bring them into a spiritual change.

I do not say that a man who uses tobacco is a great sinner. I would not take extravagant ground on that subject. But I would take the ground that this is one of the bad habits that it is hard to break off from; and therefore I say that a man who would make up his mind to

cast that out, would find that this strain of his nerve for the sake of a moral result, though it was a little thing, would be a very decisive thing. I have known many a man who had taken a single step in reform, and who, if he had had the strength of purpose to take another step would have been carried along and saved, but who, for the want of that strength of purpose, was destroyed. If men are wise, when they have taken the first step in the right direction they will not stop till they have taken the second, and many more.

I believe there are men here to-night who, if they would say to their companions, "Give me your hand; I will not drink another drop again," would be saved from the drunkard's grave. You are going to destruction along the way of intemperance. You know it, though you deny it. And your friends know it, though they do not tell you so; and if you would say to those who know you, "Before God I declare that from this time I will be clean in this matter," it would be the means of your salvation. That small thing is not religion; but it is the first step toward it; and you will take another, and another, and another, until they bring you into the kingdom of God.

and

There are men here who have not bent the knee in prayer for years

It

years, and who, if they would go home and bend the knee before they sleep, and pray to God for help, would be taking a decisive step in the right direction in their history. Why? Because praying saves a man? Oh no. It is not because there is a charm in that thing. is a little thing, to be sure; but it is one of those small acts which are likely to carry you forward to the next step, and the next, in the work of your salvation.

There are many men in my hearing to-night who are so near to a right life, who are so convinced that they have been going wrong, who are so desirous of mending their lives, and whose sympathies, and companionships, and hopes, and better judgment, and aspirations so set in way, that if they would take the least step seriously with the pose of making it the first step of a series, it would be to them a parting from sin and the kingdom of darkness, and an approaching to righteousness and the kingdom of light and glory.

that

pur

Now, I beseech you, look upon this thing to-night. I speak to you as to my brethren. Heed what I say, not from my profession, but from my personal sympathy with you, a citizen among citizens, having no right to give you advice except that right which comes from love. Your salvation is your concern personally. Ponder what I have said. Consider whether it is not good sense, and whether it has not experience under it. Take heed to it.

Are there not some here who will go to their rooms to-night better and soberer? Young men, wake up. Break off from your sin? It