steered an undeviating course; but when storms arose, and surges swelled, and his vessel drifted amidst quicksands and shallows, he soon abandoned the compass of honesty, and yielded himself to the force of the current. Men are astonished at the change. There is little need for astonishment. His rectitude was the creature of circumstance; sustained by success, with success it fell. In truth, the man is not greatly altered; his altered condition has called out what was latent in his breast. Fragile at best are the virtues which spring from the unregenerated heart.

Whatever the moral excellences which adorned a man before the fear of God was implanted in his breast, that fear will give them a reality and a worth which nothing else can give them. What was done at random, from mere impulse, or to serve some temporary purpose, will then be done from principle, on system, and with the noblest end in view. Whatsoever things he did aforetime that were lovely and of good report, will not only be still done, but done far more effectually than before, because they will be done from his heart; his outward conduct will be the reflection of his inward nature. But, above all, the matchless energy of this principle will exert a strength and universality of influence which nothing else can command. God being everywhere, the man who fears him

ways.

will fear him everywhere. With holy awe he will exclaim, "O Lord, thou hast searched me and known me. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising; thou understandest my thought afar off. Thou compassest my path, and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my For there is not a word in my tongue, but lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether." Can he then forget, that there is an eye which always discerns every feeling as well as every act, and an ear which ever hearkens to the unspoken thought? Such faith will constrain him to "be in the fear of the Lord all the day long;" and so, whether he eats or drinks, or whatsoever he does, to do all to the glory of God. Indeed it is impossible to delineate fully the breadth and expansiveness of this principle of action. It will go with a man into the little as well as into the great, into the hidden as well as into the open; it will tell upon him with equal force whether others dissent from, or concur in, his course of conduct; whether he swim with the stream, or breast the current. It will elevate him to freedom and independence of character, as simple as it is sublime: he will no longer resemble the sundial, useless save in the light; he will be like the timepiece, which keeps the tenor of its way alike in the shade as in the sunshine. How calmly can he look down upon the

trifles which toss to and fro, agitate or transport, the vassals of the world-the "men of the world, who have their portion in this world," who are carried about by its currents, as straws are whirled in the eddies of the stream down which they are borne! It is not so with him who is actuated by the fear of God. His helm is ever set for one point, his prow ever turned towards the haven of salvation. Instead of many masters, one is his master. Instead of many desires, one is his aim. He may fluctuate through infirmity; sinister influences may for a season distract him; but the ruling principle will still abide. So the needle, shaken by the vibrations of the vessel, may oscillate for a time, yet, true to its magnetic property, will it still tremblingly turn to the pole. The saint, like the sunflower, owns the centre of attraction, when clouded as well as when clear.

How salutary and how separative the restraining power of this principle! How will it keep a man undefiled amid the defilements of public life, like the pure stream that is said to pass through the salt lake, and yet retain its freshness! Young men, just launching forth into the perils of the mercantile world, here is your safeguard. You will find much in the tone, the spirit, and the practices of business which will at first startle and distress you; you will shrink from many of the expedients,

manœuvres, and subterfuges of trade. But there will be great danger lest you should become familiarized with such things-lest they should benumb the tenderness of your conscience, and lower your standard of moral judgment. You will be tempted to think that you must do as others do, or you cannot succeed; that to be a clever man of business you must not be too nice and scrupulous; and that, if you only fall in with the usages of the establishment in which you are employed, the responsibility rests with the principal rather than with the servant. You will be tempted to argue, If my employer bid, or at least prompt me to misrepresent and equivocate in his service-if he wish me to beat down the seller and overcharge the buyer to take advantage of the weak and the poor because of his strength and capital, and of their poverty and weakness-must I not obey him? Will the fault be mine-must I not succumb to his authority? No, young man, you have a Master in heaven; "let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread!" "How can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?" exclaimed the Hebrew youth of old, when sin, clothed in the specious guise of authority, would have seduced him. Be your watchword the same. Fear, that you may not fear. Fear God, that you may not fear man. Be it your resolve-whatever doubtful things others

may do, even some who stand high on 'Change, yea, even some who pass for professors of godliness-" yet so will not I do, because of the fear of God." No human name can endorse what God has dishonoured-no human authority make that right which He has pronounced to be wrong. "What saith the Lord?"-not "What saith the world?" is the decisive question.

Mark the efficacy of the same principle in fortifying against temptation in another form. There are few things about which a commercial man is so sensitive as his reputation for tact and sagacity; but he will find that, to take advantage of others, if only it be done cleverly and without detection, is deemed by many a mark of skill and shrewdness. To the life did the Holy Ghost portray the spirit of the present day, when he thus portrayed the spirit of ancient times-"It is naught, it is naught saith the buyer; but when he is gone his way, then he boasteth." How often do our buyers strive to cheapen the articles for which they treat beyond what they know to be fair, and, when they have succeeded, they straightway congratulate themselves, and boast of their superior business talent! Nor will the world disallow their boasting They will probably win a name for dexterity and cleverness in trade; their services will command a high price in the market; and, as for their

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