and that he who had guided Jacob, and delivered David, and glorified Josiah, would be his God also, even unto death. As Carl turned over the pages of his dear mother's Bible, it was long before he could tear himself away, to throw himself on the bed for the night. The sacred volume seemed as if had been made for just such a case as his. Among them were such as these: "And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, so that I come again to my father's house in peace; then shall Jehovah be my God: and this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God's house: and of all that thou shalt give me, I will surely give the tenth unto thee."* "The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills; they Gen. xxviii. 20-22. shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren."* "Who am I, O Lord God? and what is my house, that thou hast brought me hitherto? And this was yet a small thing in thy sight, O Lord God; but thou hast spoken also of thy servant's house for a great while to come. And is this the manner of man, O Lord God?"+ "What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits toward me? I will take the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows unto the Lord now in the presence of all his people." "O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps."§ "Let your conversation be without covetousand be content with such things as ye have: ness; *Gen. xlix. 26. †2 Sam. vii. 18. 2 Jer. x. 23. for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”* The last verse was designated in the wellworn volume, by a distinct line drawn under it, in red ink-as Carl doubted not, by the beloved hand which was now in the grave. Deeply did he revolve in his mind those sacred words of promise, ICH WILL DICH NICHT VERLASSEN NOCH VERSÄUMEN. He called to mind also the observation which Dr. Newman had made, and which he found in his interleaved Greek Testament, that the original is much more expressive, having five negatives, which could be represented in English only by some such language as this: "I will never, never leave thee, and never, never, never forsake thee!" Led thus from one thought to another, Carl remembered his hymn-book, and closed the evening with singing those familiar lines, which *Heb. xiii. 5. he had first learned from the voice of Maria Mill: In every condition, in sickness, in health, In poverty's vale, or abounding in wealth, At home and abroad, on the land, on the sea, As thy days shall demand, so thy succour shall be. The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose, I will not, I cannot desert to his foes; That soul, though all hell should endeavour to shake, 晤 CHAPTER XII. SHADOWS IN THE PICTURE. As a mariner is seldom favoured with fair winds and summer weather during the whole of his voyage, so the servant of God, in passing over the ocean of life, must expect to encounter some adversities. The teaching of Scripture is very plain on this subject. "Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth." The ways of chastening are various, but all are visited with some admonitions, and those are blessed who turn them to good account. Afflictions in early life are thought by experienced believers to have a happy influence in forming the character. So the Scriptures seem also to teach: "It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. He sitteth alone and keepeth silence, because he hath borne it upon him. He put |