heart and flesh will cry out for the living God. Crowd His Temple at all your social meetings, and on all occasions. Let such a spirit become general, and abide, and live, bringing its fruits of righteousness; then you will be satisfied, and the peace of God will keep your heart.

I may say, of those whom I address: Some of you have nearly finished your course. You have kept the faith. You can now do but little else than shine. Who can tell the power and usefulness of a cheerful, happy old age? Bright it may be, by the test of three-score years! Loved and honored for the long and faithful services rendered, the heart full of love to God, and a longing desire to be with Him, and go out no more; he stands and smiles, and waits, until it shall be said, "Well done good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joys of thy Lord." All of you, my brethren, have passed the meridian of life. We all need to put everything in order, for we shall die. Let us correct our mistakes, and repair our breaches. If, in a review of the past, we see wasted time and neglected opportunities, let the life we live for the few months, or years to come, be such, that no one can doubt our profession of faith as a disciple of our Lord Jesus Christ. We can do no better for ourselves than to begin now a life of unreserved devotion to the best interests of our present and eternal good, and the good of all over whom we exert any influence, great or small, so "an abundant entrance shall be administered unto us in the everlasting kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ."

A LETTER ADDRESSED TO UNCONVERTED
PERSONS, WHO ARE FIFTY OR MORE.

REV. Z. PADDOCK, D.D.*

HREE-SCORE years and ten" have, for a long time, been supposed to form the ordinary limit of human life. The words quoted occur in the nineteenth Psalm, the title to which attributes the authorship to Moses, the Jewish law-giver. If it is his composition-and we probably have no reason to call it in question-the Psalm dates back to a period in the history of the race much earlier than the time of David. At a still earlier day than even the time of Moses, for wise and beneficent reasons, men lived much longer than they did afterward. Several of the first patriarchs counted their years by centuries. Precisely at what time the curtailment of human life began, cannot now be determined; but from incidental allusions in the sacred text, it would seem probable that, so far back as nearly two-thirds of the way to the time when "man became a living soul," his life had even then been shortened to seventy years; and has so remained ever since.

The persons then to whom these words are specially

*Since writing this letter, Dr. Paddock has passed from labor to rest.

addressed, are supposed to have passed through fivesevenths of the time allotted to them on earth. Having lived fifty years, they have now only twenty remaining. They may live longer, and they may not live so long; though our present appeal takes it for granted that a score of probationary years may still be their possible if not probable inheritance.

And now, to see how the residue of their days should be employed, it may be well for them to pause and look back. As moral and accountable beings, it was, beyond all question, their duty to devote to their Maker, if not the very buds of being, at least the earliest blossoms of their opening intelligence. God said to them then, just what he has been saying to them ever since, "My son, give me thy heart." But even to this tender and eminently reasonable requisition, they have either turned a deaf ear, or listened but fitfully, and in a way adapted to produce no saving result. In sickness they may have sought the Lord, but in health they have forsaken him. Their goodness, if they have shown any, has, like that of Ephraim and Judah, been as evanescent as the morning cloud and early dew. And what an amount of guilt must be the consequence of their protracted, nay, their persistent course of rebellion against the God of love.

And then, how much these people have lost of personal enjoyment. These many long years they have been utter strangers to "the soul's calm sunshine and the heartfelt joy" experienced by every true follower of the Saviour. They have had afflictions like other people; afflictions

personal, domestic, circumstantial. But in the time of trouble, they have had no God to go to, and have run blindly to their own broken cisterns, which bitter experience should have convinced them, years since, can hold no water. The sport of conflicting currents, they have been like the troubled sea, which cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt.

Nor is this all. By declining to live a life of piety, they have lost, to a painful extent, the privilege of doing good. They may have been very just and very kind to their fellow-men, and in this regard deserve well of the world. But they might have been, should have been, an incomparably greater blessing to this same world. Their moral influence might have been diffused upon an indefinite scale -it might have gone to the ends of the earth. Indeed, so far as other moral beings are concerned, it has had, and probably can have, no limits. Certainly they might have been a blessing to those near them-their children, their companions, their neighbors. But, neglecting their own souls, how could they do good to the souls of others? Living without God and without hope themselves, it must have been impossible for them purposely to lead others to Christ. They may not have intended to obstruct the way of their families and friends, but they have obstructed it. Encouraged by their example, those who should have been led by them in paths of righteousness, have gone almost fearlessly in the way of transgression. Nay, very possibly, indeed, have already gone where hope never comes that comes to all this side the grave, and will have good reason in the

last day to charge their hopeless ruin, in part at least, upon those who should have led them in the way to heaven.

And now, dear friends, let me appeal to your sober judgment. Is it not high time that at once you reverse your course of action? As so much precious time has already been wasted, can it be wise to waste any more? Should you not now, without any further delay, turn your feet to the Divine testimonies? Consider how much you have already taxed the Divine forbearance. Is it not wonderful that He should have thus long borne with you? But the patience of God will not last forever. There is a day coming in which it will give place to wrath, and that wrath will be greatly aggravated by the patience that has preceded it. To delay any longer, therefore, may be not only to jeopard your all, but greatly to enhance your ultimate condemnation. Your only safety is in the immediate acceptance of a proffered salvation. And remember, God has spared you on purpose to save you. Such has been His gracious design in keeping you in a probationary state these fifty years or more.

It is true, that abused patience may aggravate our miserable doom; but this is only incidental to God's plans and purposes. His long forbearing goodness is designed and calculated to lead us to repentance; but by impenitence and unbelief, we may defeat this gracious purpose, and force destruction from His reluctant hand. And how many there are who are acting a part that must, in the very nature of things, lead to just this disastrous issue. They live on, day after day, week after week, month after