nating a book, to those who read it first in later life, as to those who, having read it in childhood. when its power over the imagination is unbounded. read it afterwards with a grave perception and un lerstanding of its meaning. It becomes a series of oly pictures engraven on the soul in its early, imple, childlike state, and though these pictures may be afterwards covered with sin, yet some time or other their covering may be swept off, and then out shine the pictures, in all their freshness and beauty. And what is true of the Pilgrim's Progress is much more true of the Bible. Where such early impressions are made upon the mind, it would seem as if Satan works hard to destroy them; he takes the tablet, and rubs out the inscription, just as the monks of old used to erase the classics, and write over them on the same parchment their own absurd legends; but God can restore the original inscriptions, and can utterly efface the writing of the Wicked One. And sometimes the original Builder of the mind is pleased to write his own name so deep there, that though it may be covered with depravity, in which Satan afterwards engraves his, and thinks it is written in the solid rock, yet God has a previous writing, and the Holy Spirit, in a season of trouble and conviction upon the sinner, can break away that covering of depravity, and Satan's name along with it, and there shall be God's name shining, and the whole temple of the mind shall be God's Living Temple. See that you write God's name upon your children's minds; and in order to do this, you must use the graving tools, which God himself has given you, the diamond pen of the Word of God, sharper to write with, and to cut with, than any two-edged sword, and always successful, when used with faith and prayer. Refreshed and instructed in the House of the Interpreter, Christian sets forward on his journey. His burden is still wearisome, and some of the sights which he has seen, tend to make him feel it more sensibly, and to long for deliverance. Though the highway was fenced in on either side with the wall of Salvation, yet, as the way was ascending, Christian ran with great difficulty, because of the load on his back. But now he was near his deliverance, which indeed the instructions of the Holy Spirit had prepare him to experience and receive as a reality, a lasting, commanding reality, and not a mistaken, transitory, superficial joy. There is not a more important. lesson taught in this book, than that growth in grace is not to be measured by sensible comfort, that joy is not to be sought as a test or proof of grace, and that a person may be in Christ, and yet a deep sense of the burden of sin may long remain upon the soul. The teachings of the Holy Spirit are needed, and new discoveries of the plan of salvation through Christ, and only in proportion as the soul sees clearly Christ and his Cross, and is filled and absorbed with the Saviour, does the burden of sin disappear, and the happiness of the soul become deep and lasting. All the direct efforts of Christian to get rid of his burden were of no avail, nor was it till he had the fullest view of the Cross, not till that salvation com pletely filled his soul, that the burden fell from him. He was not seeking to be rid of it when he lost sight of it; no, he was coming up to the cross and the sepulchre, his attention was occu pied with Christ, his sufferings, his death, his atoning sacrifice for sinners, and as he ran and gazed, and saw these things more clearly, and came at length quite to the foot of the cross, then his burden fell from him while he was gazing, admiring and loving, and rolled quite into the mouth of the sepulchre, so that he saw it no more. And very much surprised was he that the sight of the cross should thus ease him of his burden. It made him glad and lightsome, and he exclaimed with a merry heart, He hath given me rest by his sorrow, and life by his death. And so, as he stood and wondered, he wept and wept again for gratitude, sorrow and joy. And now came to him the Three Shining Ones, as he stood looking and weeping, and they all together saluted him, Peace be to thee. The first said to him, Thy sins be forgiven thee. The second stripped him of his rags, and clothed him with change of raiment. The third also set a mark on his forehead and gave him a roll with a seal upon it, which he bid him look to as he ran, and that he should give it in at the Celestial Gate; so they went their way. Then Christian gave three leaps for joy, and went on singing. CHRISTIAN ON THE HILL DIFFICULTY. Happiness of Christian with his roll.-His efforts to save others.-Simple, Sloth and Presumption.-Christian's knowledge of character.-Formalist and Hypocrisy.Christian climbing the Hill.-The sleep in the arbor, and the loss of his roll.— Christian weeping and searching for it.-His thankfulness at finding it. WE left Christian light of heart, and singing for joy of his deliverance from his burden. How lightly did he now step forward, with what pleasant thoughts in his soul, with what precious views of the cross and of the way of salvation! Now it seemed to him that he should never tire. He thought of that sweet Psalm, When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream. Sometimes he could scarcely persuade himself that it was a reality; he was almost afraid it was a dream. But then, there was his roll that had been given him, and the new dress in which the Shining Ones had arrayed him ad his heart was full of gratitude and love. He thought "he could have spoken to the very crows *hat sat upon the ploughed land by the way-side," Lo have told them of his joy, and of the preciousness of his Saviour, if they could have understood it. His heart was ike the blind man's restored to sight, and just as simple and unaffected. Now methinks hear him praising, Publishing to a.l around, What a Saviour I have fond! Yes, and now Christian desires to save others. The joy in his soul was no transitory sympathy or selfish hope, that would subside into indolence. It led him to set himself at work at once to win others to Christ. This is very striking. Now he would neglect no opportunity of doing good, and he did not say, when he saw some ready to perish, I am but a young Christian, but just now converted, and must wait till I have more experience, before I try to persuade others. Not at all. But the very first opportunity Christian had after his release from his burden, he faithfully employed it. As he went on, singing and making melody in his heart unto the Lord, he came to a wide level place, where he saw, a little out of the way, three men fast asleep, with fetters on their heels. Their names were Simple, Sloth, and Presumption. The first thing Christian did was to go to them and endeavor to awake them, which he thought certainly he might easily do, for their danger was clear to him, though they themselves did not seem to see it. So he cried out to them to awake, telling them that they might as well sleep on the top of a mast, for that the Dead Sea was under them, a gulf without a bottom. Awake, said he, and come away, or you will perish forever. He furthermore told them that if they were but willing, he would |