THERE are few things which I should desire more fervently for a young man, on his entrance into life, than the faculty of saying "NO" promptly and decisively. The spirit of complaisance, the desire to please, may be very excellent, but the power of firm and resolute resistance to surrounding influences is of supreme importance. Without this, there can be no true virtue or steadfast loyalty to truth and God. In every walk of life this is equally needful. Whether we are called to high and heroic service, or whether we tread the obscure path of lowly and pedestrian duty, we must be able to stand alone if we would hold fast our integrity. Who does not remember our great epic poet's description of "The seraph Abdiel, faithful found His loyalty he kept, his love, his zeal; Nor number, nor example with him wrought To swerve from truth, or change his constant mind, Amongst humbler and more prosaic instances of the same spirit, the case of Benjamin Franklin may be mentioned. In his Autobiography he tells us how, when he came to London to work in a printing-office, he found the habit of intemperance almost uni versal. His fellow compositors were constantly muddled with gin and beer. For a long time he stood quite alone in his course of frugality, industry, and temperance. Ridicule, entreaty, and threats were tried upon him in vain. He steadfastly persevered in the path he had marked out for himself. The result was, that he gained the confidence of his employer, the esteem of his companions, laid the foundation of his own fortunes, and, what was of more importance to him than all besides, acquired an independence and resoluteness of character which raised him above "the fear of man which bringeth a snare." Let every young man learn to say "No," or despair of attaining excellence in any pursuit. 103 THE COMMUNION. THE COMMUNION. THEY knelt them side by side; the hoary man See yon wrinkled brow, Where care and grief for many a year have traced Look! look! as yon deep veil Is turned aside, what an o'erwhelming page 'Tis o'er. A holy silence reigns around. Then every head THE YOUNG COMMUNICANT. HAIL, young disciple !-thou whose early feet In the full freshness of thy morning prime, Still may thy chosen Shepherd hold thee free, And from all ill, till life's brief hour be told, O loved disciple! may He succour thee, Till to that radiant clime thy spirit soar Where storms shall shred the rose and toss the bark no more. SELF-SURRENDER. 105 SELF-SURRENDER. : "And they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul. . . . And al! Judah rejoiced at the oath for they had heart, and sought him with their whole desire; and he was found of them them rest round about."-2 Chronicles xv. 12, 15. O HAPPY day, that fixed my choice O happy bond, that seals my vows "T is done! the great transaction's done; Now rest, my long-divided heart; High heaven, that heard the solemn vow, And bless in death a bond so dear. sworn with all their and the Lord gave |