o the cross of Jesus, and gave the
enemies of God food for laughter. Let those among us who are no longer
young, see to it that we are not among those who fall more deeply into
sin than it is possible for young disciples to do.

What should we think if Westminster Abbey became a gin-palace? If all
around its gates lewd men and dishonoured women stood and cracked their
filthy jokes; if from its lovely choir the drunkard's song was heard?
Verily, you say, "It is nigh to blasphemy to imagine such a thing. We
had rather that it had been burned to ashes when the fire of London
destroyed St. Paul's. Would that it had reached far enough West to
destroy the ancient pile rather than it should be so polluted!" Aye,
aye, you are right, and yet to see a man who, in his youth was a
Christian, but in his old age has become an apostate, is a more sorrowful
sight still. Alas! that it should be so common.

How did it come about? What scheme of hell led to this? What
combination of men and fiends accomplished this tragedy? It was
love--affection, infatuation, for that which ought not to have been
loved, "King Solomon loved many strange women, besides the daughter of
Pharaoh," as the margin puts it. And this leads me to say that

A MAN'S FEMALE FRIENDS FRAME HIS FORTUNES.

Solomon began wrong; he allowed his affection to fasten itself on a
stranger--an Egyptian. It is a question worth considering, whether we
preachers say enough to the people on this question of matrimony. A
man's marriage is sure to tell on his history. He can never be the same
again he was before. He may wed one who shall help him to be good, whose
voice shall be like church bells calling him to prayer. Or he may fasten
himself to one, who, like Jezebel, shall stir up her husband to deeds of
shame and cruelty. Sometimes we have felt, when we have seen some
marriages, that it would have been a fitting thing if a hearse had been
among the carriages, for there lay DEAD HOPE on its way to a grave from
which there could be no resurrection!

Young man! what woman is it you like the best? Who is her god? Fashion?
Pleasure? What is the name of the deity she worships? If it is anyone
rather than Jehovah, beware! Before you die, she shall turn you as
Solomon was turned. What is that you say? You are not such a fool!
Well, that remains to be seen. Are you one of those who trust in his own
heart? If so, remember what he is called. See Prov. xxviii. 26.