set out on their way to Jerusalem, carrying with them baskets filled with the finest produce of their land and the choicest of their flocks. As they drew near to the city, they hung crowns of flowers round their baskets, and passed along the streets with music and sacred songs. The people of the city came out of their doors to wish them joy: they cried, saying, "Oh, our brethren, ye are welcome!" They then went into the temple, laid down their offerings, and praised God for his great goodness towards them. The following pleasing verses refer to this pious ceremony:

Fair waved the golden corn

In Canaan's pleasant land,
When, full of joy, some shining morn,
Went forth the reaper-band.

To God, so good and great,

Their cheerful thanks they pour;

Then carry to his temple-gate

The choicest of their store.

For thus the holy word,

Spoken by Moses, ran

"The first ripe ears' are for the Lord;

The rest he gives to man."

Like Israel, Lord, we give

Our earliest fruits to Thee,

And pray that, long as we shall live,
We may thy children be.

This is thy youthful prime,

And life and all its powers;
Be with us in our morning time,
And bless our evening hours.

LESSONS FROM THE PILGRIM S PROGRESS. 19

In wisdom let us grow,

As years and strength are given;
That we may serve thy church below,
And join thy saints in heaven.

LESSONS FROM

THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS.

No. 1.

FIFTY years ago, when books were fewer in number than they are now, there was one volume which found favour with all its readers, and it had readers of every class. Handsomely bound, it had its place in the library of the wealthy and the learned; and, with its plain brown cover, and rough woodcuts, it might often have been seen in the farmer's kitchen, or the cottager's lowly dwelling. It was a book for young and old, of every degree. The young delighted in it for the interest of the story; the old for the lessons of wisdom that it conveyed; and the simple-hearted Christian loved it for the picture which it gave of the believer's life, and the one sure way of salvation.

And yet it was not a new book fifty years ago. It will soon be two hundred years since it was written; but it is one of those books which seem as if they could never grow old, because the truths that they contain are felt to be true by people in all circumstances and in all times and for this reason it is that THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS is read, and admired, and valued now as much as it was fifty or a hundred years ago. There are multitudes of ex

cellent books in these days; yet this one little volume is still a favourite with all its readers, from the wise man in his study to the child at school. It has gone forth to many distant lands, and is still welcomed in every quarter of the globe.

You, my young friend, have read it perhaps again and again. You remember well how Christian fled from the City of Destruction, and went in at the little Wicket Gate, and what adventures befel him, and what perils he had to encounter from the beginning of his pilgrimage till the day when, with Hopeful, he crossed the deep river, and was led by the "shining ones into the city which shone like the sun, and where the streets were paved with gold. You remember him at the Interpreter's house, and at the palace called Beautiful, after he had passed the lions: and you recollect his dreadful journey through the Valley of Humiliation, and the dangers he escaped in Vanity

Fair.

But, when you have been turning over its pages, did it ever enter into your thoughts that the Pilgrim's Progress is a book which contains lessons of great value, for you and for every one of its readers ? It is the history of a soul of its dangers, its conflicts, its sorrows, and its joys, while passing through this life to the life beyond the grave. Our sinful world is represented by the City of Destruction; and the Celestial City is that heavenly rest which has been purchased for us by the precious blood of Christ: so that, if you have read this book only as you would read a tale, you have not read it with your understanding, and you

have obtained none of the instruction and the benefit which it can give you.

"Yes," you may perhaps say, "I have heard something of this before. I know that the Pilgrim's Progress is a religious book; and, when I am old enough to understand the real meaning of the story, I have no doubt it will be very instructive. But I do not think that this concerns me at present; so I mean to read it for amusement till I am grown up, and then I will try to study it in a different way."

Do you forget, then, young reader, that you have now a soul to be saved, or lost; that life is uncertain, and the distant time you speak of may never in this world come to you? Can you be right or safe while you are thinking lightly of any means of benefit to that immortal spirit which was made for eternity-while you are putting off to the future that important work of preparation which ought to be begun to-day? You may pray to be saved from the wrath to come; but you do not pray in earnest, unless you are also diligently seeking to learn the way of escape: and, if you are thus diligently seeking, you will not willingly suffer any opportunity to pass by unimproved which might help to guide or strengthen you in the path of holiness and peace.

Come, then, let me invite you to begin this new year with new resolves, and an entire purpose that you will, through God's assistance, prove for yourself what is that peace and joy which Christ's people know and possess while they live near to him. These blessings are given to the youngest child, who, for the love

22 LESSONS FROM THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS.

of Christ, is striving against sinful thoughts and sinful actions. Such a child has already begun his pilgrimage towards the Celestial City; and may read with profit and encouragement of Christian's difficulties, of his trials, and of the heavenly support that was given him by the way.

Let me hope that amongst my readers there may be many children into whose hearts the Holy Spirit has put good desires, and who would gladly gather something better than amusement from the Pilgrim's Progress. It is for such children that I write; for youthful pilgrims, some of them perhaps only just asking the way from the City of Destruction, whilst there may be others who have already seen Evangelist, and are looking to "the shining light" of God's holy word, and striving to reach the Wicket Gate. To each of these young travellers the history of Christian's experience, if read with thought and prayer, with continual reference to the Scriptures of truth, may prove a treasure of instruction.

We intend to read through the story of Christian's pilgrimage, not this time for pleasure only, but for profit. We will seek, by God's blessing, to draw from it lessons which may help us in our progress from this world to that which is to come: and I ask every one of my readers to join in company, assuring them that, if they come with us, we will seek to do them good. Think what a happy new year this would be to you, my young friends, if you would indeed make it the beginning of a religious life!