he was the
picture of the way we should make haste, and delay not to keep God's
commandments. You will never be of greater value to God than now. Each
day you delay to serve Him, you lessen your value in His sight.

V.--Boys may be taken into God's confidence.

The Bible tells us, "The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him,"
and a boy may fear God so as to know His secrets as Samuel did. If you
will listen, as this lad did, you shall hear God speak.

VI.--Boys who do God's will shall have men do their's.

See verse 20. The whole nation came to hear the mind of God from the boy-
prophet, for we read in the first verse of the next chapter that Samuel's
word came unto all Israel.

IF DEATH CAN INJURE YOU
YOU ARE NOT ENJOYING FULL
SALVATION.

L. THE BROKEN OAR.

The other day, when the Oxford and Cambridge men were contesting for the
mastery, the Oxford boat was behind, but the crew were not willing to
admit they were beaten, and were making great efforts to gain the day,
when, all at once, the oar of the best man in the boat broke in two,
consequently all hope of winning was gone. All the rest of the way there
were only seven oars, and the weight of the eighth man to carry as well.

In musing over this, it struck us that there were several lessons to be
learned--lessons which the eye that used to scan the race-ground would
have made use of, if he were writing an epistle in these days.

Is it not true that the dead weight in the boat hinders the progress of
the Church of God? Up and down the country we hear of those who hinder
the work--members of society, and sometimes office-bearers, who if they
were in heaven would help more, or, at least, hinder less than they do
now. If this book should fall into the hands of any of these men, we
wish they would lay to heart the lesson, that if from any cause they are
not working, we have their weight to carry in addition, and that we could
get on better if they were not. As we write we are thinking of one of
these hinderers--smooth of tongue, and sanctimonious in phraseology, who
is helping the enemy of God by hindering his servants.

This becomes all the more painful when these unfaithful men are persons
of power and influence. Some of them were once very useful, and have
wielded an influence for good that was of immense use; but, alas! in an
evil hour they turned aside, and now retard the progress of what they
once loved to assi