perhaps another! Oh, what a terror would that child be! The angel of death, on his pale horse, could not be more feared. And, now, will any one say that children do not sin? And have they not a great account to give to God?

There is another way by which you may know whether or not you are sinners; and that is, by asking your own hearts. Let the boys of a family be at play together on a mild afternoon. Their father tells them they must be careful and do no mischief. But, when he comes home at night, he finds some one has cut, and mangled, and killed several of his young fruit trees. One of his boys has done it. He calls them to account. Now, who is afraid to be called to the account? Most plainly, the boy who has done the mischief. The rest are not afraid. So with you. No child would be afraid of God, were it not that the heart tells him that he is a sinner. A mother comes into the room where her little daughters have been playing. She finds the cupboard door open, and her sugar-bowl all broken in pieces. Which of the little girls is now afraid? Why, the one who has done the mischief. And all who are afraid of God, are afraid because they are sinners. And all are sinners. Oh that God would make us holy!

Let me close this Lecture with three short directions.

1. Every day be careful how you live-because

you must give account to God for every day. Do nothing of which you will feel ashamed when God calls you to account. Omit no duty which God tells you to do. You will be sorry for every sin when you come to die.

2. Learn something of God every day. You may learn about God by thinking of Him, talking about Him, reading about Him, and praying to Him. The more you know about God, the more you will fear to sin, and the more you will try to please Him.

3. Do something every day which will please God, and which will make you glad in the great day of accounts. Titus, a heathen emperor, through all his life used to call himself to account every night, for the actions of the day past; and when one day had slipped, without his doing some good, he used to write, "I have lost a day.” He did not know of a judgment day; but you do; and therefore let there be no day, in which you do not something, and much, to please God. Amen.

X.-GREAT EVENTS HANG ON LITTLE

THINGS.

"A certain man drew a bow at a venture."-1 KINGS Xxii. 34.

THIS chapter gives an account of a war between two kingdoms. They were the kingdoms of Israel and of Syria. They fought hard, and shed much blood. Ahab was king of Israel. When going out on the battle-field, he put off his kingly dress, and put on such clothes as other men wear, lest they should know him and should kill him. During the battle, a man (but what his name was, or what his history was, we know not)-a man held his bow and arrow in his hand. He thought he would shoot towards the army of Israel. He saw no man at whom he especially desired to aim. Perhaps he paused a moment, and doubted whether he should shoot or not. But the arrow was in his hand, and he put it to the string of his bow. Now, is it any matter whether he shoots or not? He raises the bow to shoot. Is it any matter whether he shoots one way or another? Yes; much depends upon his shooting, and which way he takes aim with his arrow. He shoots, the arrow flies,—the wind does not turn it aside out of the way,-it

goes towards a chariot. The harness, at that moment, just opens a little at the joints! There, now; it goes in at that little opening. Hark! there is a groan. It has hit the king; it has killed the king! Ahab, the great king, who built great cities, and built an ivory house, and who carried on great wars, is killed, and the war is put to an end, by that little arrow, which any one of these children could have broken with the fingers in a moment! Oh, how much sometimes hangs on little things!

And this is just what I am wishing to show to these children-that great results do often hang on little things.

Two men were at work together one day in a ship-yard. They were hewing a plank of timber to put into a ship. It was a small plank, and not worth much. As they cut off the chips, they found a worm, a little worm, about half an inch long. "shall we

"This plank is wormy," said one; put it in ?”

"I do not know; yes, I think it may go in. It will never be seen, of course."

"Yes, but there may be other worms in it; and these may increase and injure the ship." "No, I think not. To be sure, it is not worth much; yet I do not wish to lose it. But come, never mind the worm; we have seen but one ;—

put it in."

The plank was accordingly put in. The ship was finished, and as she was launched off into the waters, all ready for the seas, she looked beautiful as the swan when the breeze ruffles his white, feathered bosom, as he sits on the waters. She went to sea, and for a number of years did well. But it was found, on a distant voyage, that she grew weak and rotten. Her timbers were found all eaten away by the worms. But the captain thought he would try to get her home. He had a great, costly load of goods in the ship, such as silks, crapes, and the like, and a great many people. On their way home, a storm gathered. The ship for a while climbed up the high waves, and then plunged down, creaking, and rolling finely. But she then sprang a leak. They had two pumps, and the men worked at them day and night; but the water came in faster than they could pump it out. She filled with water; and she went down under the dark blue waters of the ocean, with all the goods and all the people on board. Every one perished. Oh, how many wives, and mothers, and children, mourned over husbands, and sons, and fathers, for whose return they were waiting, and who never returned! And all, all this, probably, because that little plank of timber (with the worm in it) was put in when the ship was built! How much property, and how many lives may be destroyed by a little worm! And how much evil may a man do, when he does a small