FOOD.

THE thought may never have struck you, that it is very possible to be starved to death in the midst of food, and to die of thirst in the middle of the sea; for many kinds of food are no more adapted to the appetite and nourishment of a human being, than the salt water. Give a dog hay, a horse flesh, a cow fish, and a man grass, and they will all soon be in a miserable case.

Now, if this be true of the body, it is equally true of the soul. A thriving soul must live on thriving food; and that prayer of Agur the son of Jakeh, “Feed me with food convenient for me," is an excellent one, whether it refer to quality or quantity, Prov. xxx. 8.

If you have ever eaten that which has disagreed with you, I need take no pains to describe the weight, the pain, and sickness of body, you have endured. And if you have ever devoured with a greedy mind the doctrines of legality, pharisaism, infidelity, and atheism, you must know pretty well-or if you do not now, you will know some

time-the distressing doubt, darkness, disappointment, fear, and remorse, which such poisonous food occasions to the mind.

We are not sufficiently thankful for the supply of health, and temporal and spiritual food, which the great Giver of all good has so abundantly provided for us. We have no need to feed on husks, for there is a fatted calf prepared for us by our heavenly Father. While the ground brings forth fifty and a hundred fold, while the trees bend beneath their summer and autumnal load, and while the creatures of the land and the water are given us for food, shall we do well to reject them, and to gather the poison berries of the hedges to assuage our hunger? While the records of eternal truth, the everlasting gospel of Jesus Christ, is within our reach, shall we act wisely in taking up with the vain refuges of lies, and the idle dreams and dogmas of mutable men? Oh no! let us feed on food convenient for us, and let our souls prosper in banqueting on the word of God; for "the law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous alto

gether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward," Psa. xix. 7-11.

Have a care of high-seasoned and exciting food, whether for the body or the soul. Who so tonguevaliant and reckless as the drunkard in his cups ? and who so faint-hearted and cowardly at other times? Who so confident of heaven as he who would get there by his own deeds? yet who so fearful of hell when he comes to die? Healthy spiritual food keeps the spirit humble. The humble soul standeth, because it taketh heed lest it should fall; it walketh uprightly, because it feareth the Lord; and it exults without danger, because it rejoices with trembling.

AGED CHRISTIANS.

EXPERIENCE has taught me that few things have a stronger tendency to confirm the wavering, to raise up the spirits of the desponding, and to establish the faith of the steadfast among the people of God, than a visit to the habitations of such aged Christians as have borne the heat and the burden of the day, and are about to enter into the joy of their Lord. The youthful traveller is apt to presume on his strength: but he is ignorant of the rough places and thorny pathways he has to tread; he knows not the trying influence of the sultry sun, and the wintry blast, with which the wayfaring man has to contend. The young recruit, ardent in spirit, listens to the inspiring sounds of the drum and the trumpet, and dreams of nothing but victory: the toilsome march, the weary midnight watch, the bloody struggle, and the carnage of the battle-plain, are unknown to him. And so it often is with the youthful Christian he feels equal to any trial; he is ready to make any sacrifice; and is willing, like Peter of

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old, to die rather than to deny his Master. But alas! alas! the faintings, the haltings, the backslidings of Christians, are enough to make us tremble while we rejoice in the hope set before us. And therefore it is that I say, few things are more calculated to give real encouragement and strength to the seeking soul, than a visit to the habitation of those who have endured the burden and heat of the day; whose loins are girded; and whose staves are in their hands; ready, willing, and anxious to depart, and to enter into the promised land.

Such were my thoughts as I walked away from the humble habitation of an aged servant of God, whose soul has long magnified the Lord, and whose spirit is usually occupied in rejoicing in God her Saviour. I found her heavily burdened with the bodily afflictions of more than fourscore years. Her comforts were few, and of the plainest kind; and the greater part of the day, and the whole of the night, she always passed alone. There she sat in her arm-chair, almost bent double, sorely oppressed with disease, tormented with acute pain; but, in the darkness of her affliction, her eye and her heart were alike fixed on the Star of Bethlehem: "One thing," said she, "troubles me; I find it hard to 'glory in tribulations.' I can say, 'It is the Lord: let him do what seemeth him good;' and I know that in faithfulness he has