This question of the Egyptian monarch was probably prompted by the striking and venerable appearance of the Hebrew patriarch. But the occurrence of a new year may, with better reason, prompt every individual to put the question to himself; and to follow it up with many other inquiries, which the lapse of time is fitted to suggest.

A birth day and a new year's day have generally been considered, by the reflecting and the pious, as calling them, in a peculiar manner, to serious consideration--to a careful review of the past, and a rational anticipation of the future. These days, indeed, are usually devoted, by the dissipated and thoughtless, to unusual hilarity and festive indulgence. But this is only one, among instances innumerable, in which "the children of this world" and they "who are not of the world," think and act in a manner exactly different. The practical Christian, if he sought only for pleasure, knows that seriousness and joy are so far from being incompatible, that the former often produces the latter --produces it in the highest degree and of the most exquisite kind. Let us then, on our arrival at another way-mark in the journey of human

tion which it bears; consider how much of our pilgrimage is past, and how we have past it; and look forward to the prospect which we have of "entering into the rest which remaineth for the people of God."

"How old art thou ?" It is all but certain that these lines will never be read by one who will be able to answer as he did to whom the interrogatory was first addressed"the days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years." By a divine appointment the usual boundary of human life is now fixed at "threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off and we fly away." Extreme old age, accompanied as it usually is with enfeebled powers both of body and of mind, is certainly not in itself desirable. Yet when it is awarded by the Author and Preserver of our being, the aged should submit, not with the jocund levity which we have sometimes witnessed in old men, but say with the pious resignation of the afflicted "man of Uz"-"all the days of my appointed time will I wait till my change come." Serious cheerfulness is, indeed, peculiarly amiable, and worthy of careful cultivation, in those who are far advanced into the vale of life. But nothing surely is more unnatural, and therefore, to a mind rightly disposed, nothing more disgusting, than senile levity and trifling; however it may assume

the guise of fortitude or the semblance of philosophy. Death and eternity are, at all times, the most solemn and interesting objects that can be presented to human contemplation; and when they are near at hand, as they always are to the aged, it is insensibility of the most shocking kind, which alone can enable any one to treat them with real indifference; and it indifference is feigned without being felt, the hypocrisy is still worse than the carelessness which it affects.

Happy, truly, is that old man, whose many days have been past in glorifying God and in doing good to his fellow men; who "has fought the good fight and kept the faith," and therefore may say, in humble and joyful expectation of soon realizing what he anticipates, "henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the Lord the righteous Judge shall give me at that day." Is this the character of any reader, between threescore and fourscore years of age? Venerated man thy lot is truly enviable. The recurrence of a new year will be to thee no subject of regret, but of holy rejoicing. It may serve to remind thee that all thy labours, and trials, and conflicts, are fast hastening to a most desirable termination. Perhaps this will be to thee infinitely the happiest year of thy existence hitherto; the year when thou shalt begin to live--to live the angelic life; to enter on that better state of being, which is characterized in sacred writ by calling it "life eternal;" to live in the unclouded vision of God and of the Lamb; to live where every infirmity, and pain, and sorrow, and sin, shall be forever excluded; to live where thy attainments in knowledge and holiness shall exceed those of the present state, far more than the acquisitions of the best and wisest man on earth, exceed those of the child whose faculties are only beginning to expand. There shall

"Heaven's eternal year be thine."

In the mean time, and especially at the beginning of a new year, it becomes the aged Christian to reflect on all the way which the Lord hath led him in the wilderness of this world--To reflect with deep humility, on his numerous defects (for numerous defects he will find) in love and obedience to God, and in active engagedness in doing good to mankind; and in view of all his unworthiness and short-comings it will behove him to make a renewed application to the peace-speaking blood of his atoning Redeemer. He ought also to recollect with the liveliest gratitude, the many mercies, temporal and spiritual, which he has received at the hands of his heavenly Father. And having experienced so large a measure of the divine care and kindness, he certainly ought to exercise an humble, confident, and cheerful trust, in the power, grace, and faithfulness of God, to sustain him through the remainder of life, and to bring him at last to the full fruition of Himself in glory.

The duties peculiarly incumbent on an aged Christian, and to the performance of which a new year may well lead him to devote himself afresh, are patience under infirmities; the cultivation of a devout spirit and a heavenly frame of mind; tenderness and condescension to the young-imparting to them salutary counsels with fidelity, freedom, and gentleness; such activity still in doing good, as diminished strength and vigour will permit; and the giving of all the weight of a character which years, experience and influence create, to every endeavour, or plan, or enterprise, which has for its object, the happiness of man and the honour of God.

But, alas! if any reader is approaching the verge of time, yet unreconciled to God through Jesus Christ, and consequently with all the sins of a long life unrepented and unpardoned--what shall be said! We willingly recollect the divine command, "Rebuke not an elder,

but entreat him as a father." Yeslet the aged sinner be entreated, in all the bowels of Christian love and sympathy, to consider, at entering on a new year, the unspeakable fearfulness of his situation. How old art thou? As thy soul liveth, there is but a step between thee and death; and if a speedy flight to the Saviour do not prevent, it will be to thee not merely the death of the body, but the death of the soul --eternal death. Still there is hope -there is hope, if thou wilt not cut thyself off from hope, by continuing a presumptuous reliance on the time to come. Beware of this, as of the path which leads to inevitable perdition. How is the grace of God and the redemption by Christ magnified, by the astonishing fact, that all thy sins may yet be pardoned! How should the consideration of this fact excite thy admiring and adoring gratitude! In the deepest prostration of soul, at the foot of Sovereign mercy, humble thyself for all the aggravated guilt of a misspent existence. Imploring the aid of omnipotent grace, cast thyself into the arms of that Saviour "whose blood cleanseth from all sin," and by faith rely on him alone for salvation: ask importunately the influence of his Holy Spirit, to renew and sanctify thy soul; consecrate the remnant of thy days, unfeignedly and unreservedly, to the love and service of God thy Saviour, and thou shalt yet find mercy. This year--if this year shall witness so happy a change--will be remembered by thee to the ages of eternity,as the happiest year of thy mortal state: as the year in which the gloomy prospect of endless wo was exchanged, for the hopes and blessedness of the sons of God; for the prospect of "a crown of glory which fadeth not away."

Again "How old art thou?" Let those who are in the meridian of life put the question to themselves; and let it give rise to all the interesting inquiries to which it naturally loads. Let them ask whether their characVOL. I.-Ch. Adv.

ter as Christians, and their attainments and usefulness as men-as members of society in all its forms and divisions are such as their age indicates that it ought to be. Their time for making improvement in knowledge, and in capacity for usefulness, is not indeed terminated as yet, but the period is rapidly approaching its close. They can make but few acquisitions more, unless they are made with diligence and speed. What then are your improvements? Have you made all the progress in knowledge which, at your time of life, you ought to have made? If not, be in haste to make them, mindful that the season of decline is soon to succeed to that of improvement. Have you been as useful as you ought to have been--and are you so now-to your family, to your friends, to your neighbours, to your country-in all the departments of religious and civil society? Recollect that it is from persons at your stage of life, that society has a right to expect the most important and the most active services. Are you rendering such services? rendering them as extensively and vigorously as your powers and means will permit? Might you not do more than you are doing, or have ever done? Are there not some who are doing more than you?-some who have no greater facilities of doing it than you possess? May you not, if spared through the year on which you are entering, do more good than in any past year of your life?. If you may, resolve that, with God's help, you will. Above all, have you paid due attention to the "one thing needful?" Have you made sure of "that good part which shall not be taken away from you." If you have, endeavour this year" to grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ" more than in any former year. In the midst of the business and cares of life, keep in mind that "ye know not when your Lord will come, whether at midnight, or at cock-crowing, or

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in the morning, lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping"--find you in circumstances in which he will take you by surprise. Recollect, that health, and vigour, and talents, and esteem, and usefulness, and important undertakings and engage ments, afford no security against the arrest of the king of terrors. Therefore regard the command of the Master-"What I say unto you, I say unto all-watch."

But has this page met the eye of any who have reached the age of thirty, forty, or fifty years; who, amidst all their cares, have never as yet taken "an effectual care of the soul?" A new year may well be an alarming occurrence to all of this description. It should admonish them to recollect themselves seriously. Think whether you have not heretofore flattered yourselves -perhaps seriously resolved-that before the age which you have actually reached, your spiritual state should be better than you now find it: that your peace should be made with God, and you be living in a state of preparation for a better world. And what reason have you to believe, that the causes which have produced procrastination till the present time, will not produce it to the end of life ?-that, just as heretofore, year after year will not steal away, till eternity, with all its infinitely interesting realities, shall press upon you, without the possibility of your making any suitable preparation for it? Such has been the unhappy experience of thousands, and tens of thousands; and what reason can you assign that it shall not be yours? Believe it, men do not ordinarily grow more thoughtful about their eternal state, as they advance in age. They usually become more stupid, hard, and careless: conscience becomes less sensible, the habits of sin become more inveterate, the spirit of grace is grieved, and the danger of losing the soul is awfully enhanced. Your best, and your only rational

hope, of escaping this fearful issue, is to begin the great work of preparation for eternity, without a moment's delay. "Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation. To-day, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts." Let this new year be to you the beginning of a new life, lest you find yourselves at last among the wretched multitude, who will exclaim-The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved!"

Once more-How old art thou? Are you yet in the morning of life? Still, the question is as proper for you as for those of any other age. The young, indeed, are usually the most easily impressed, and the most likely to receive lasting benefit from serious thought and good resolutions. Youth, too, is the seedtime of human life. As they sow then, they will be likely to reap through the remainder of their days, and perhaps in all the endless duration which will follow, when time shall be lost in eternity. Let the youthful reader, then, at the beginning of this new year, look back through that which has just closed, and through all the years which he has numbered-How has your time been past? Has the whole been. profitably employed? Has not a considerable portion of it been wasted, or worse than wasted? What errors, or vices, or follies, or imprudencies, do you observe? Have you made as much mental improvement, and in all respects as much preparation for future usefulness, as you might and ought to have made? Examine whether you have not begun to form-perhaps have already formed-some injurious habits, which it will be of the last importance immediately to correct. Let not, however, any observation of wasted time, of lost opportunities, of contracted vice, or of comparative inferiority to others, sink you into despondence. At no age ought this effect to be produced