died for you. His Spirit pleads with you; His love speaks to you. I pray you turn not away from His call, from His cross, from His precious blood. Whether your "way" be a way of open sin, a way of mere morality, of self-righteousness, or of procrastination, so long as it is a way of unbelief, it must end in ruin. Turn therefore, I pray you, from this evil way, and pray God that your "way" this New Year may be the way which leads to Calvary, the way of repentance and of eternal life. The broad way leads to hell. The narrow way is narrow indeed, but it is wide enough to admit every poor lost sinner who believes in Jesus. It is wide enough, poor sinner, to admit you. But if you scorn this loving Saviour, whose gracious invitation, "Come unto Me," we press upon you; if, we repeat, you scorn Him, then we warn you to remember, this New Year's Day, that there is but one alternative, one which you and I must some day prove true, "The Lord knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish."1

"Faint, yet pursuing."

H, weary in the morning,

OH

When soft the dewdrops fall:

And weary at the noontide,
When God's sun shines on all;
And weary at the nightfall,
When, the day's labour o'er,
I count my misspent moments
As lost for evermore.

Oh, weary of the turmoil,

The striving and the care;

And weary of the burden

Which we of earth must bear :

Oh, weary of vain longings,
And weary with vain fears,

And wearier with heart sorrows
Than with the weight of years.

1 Psa. i. 6.

L. A. B.

Yet, like a ray of sunlight,

The Word shines through the gloom,
As, after winter's darkness,

Comes spring in fresher bloom;
And after vainly searching,

We find a resting meet;
For rest, and hope, and glory
Are found at Jesus' feet.

God never sends a sorrow
Without the healing balm;
And bids us fight no battles
But for the victor's palm.
Yet we, by earth's mist blinded,
Knew not His holy will,
Till o'er the troubled waters

His voice said, "Peace, be still."

We will go forth and conquer,
Depending on His grace:
The lowliest station near Him
Must be an honoured place.
And after battle, victory,
And after victory, rest-
Like the beloved apostle

Upon the Master's breast.

M. S.

Nurse Manser's Happy New Year.

HAPPY new year to you, nurse," said Fanny Hargreaves, as she entered the cottage in which Mrs. Manser lived-Nurse Manser she was called by

some of her neighbours; but more often she was known by the name of "Grumbling Nanny," and not altogether without cause, for she was one of those much-to-bepitied creatures who always find the dark side of everything, and are continually finding fault with their lot.

"Ah, Miss Fanny, it is easy enough to say 'a happy new year,' but I don't expect to have it for all that; however, if my wishes will do you any good, I wish you the same, and many more to follow."

"Why, what's the matter now, nurse?" said Miss Hargreaves, with a bright smile; "I don't see why you shouldn't have a happy year if you like, but

"If I like, Miss Fanny, well that is good! You don't think I don't want to be happy, do you? I'm sure it's time I did have a turn, for my luck has been bad enough lately."

"So it has ever since I have known you, nurse, ever since you were with me through that bad fever; and I shall never forget how good you were to me then; yes, you have always complained of your luck since then, and I don't know how long before."

"It always has been bad, Miss Fanny; ever since I can remember. If anything went wrong when I was a girl, mother always used to lay it down to Nanny. Then, when I went to service, I always got the hardest places that ever anyone knew, and always had to bear the blame that belonged by rights to others. It was Nanny here, Nanny there, till I got sick of hearing my own name. Ah, I did have some hard mistresses, if anyone ever did-but there, what's the good of talking to you about my places; a young lady you doesn't know what servants have to put up with." "Well, but, nurse, you were not always a servant; didn't your luck change when you left service?"

like

"Not unless it changed for the worse, Miss Fanny. When I got a husband, and everybody said how lucky I was, though I never could see that I was more lucky than any other girl, he turned out a poor sickly creature; of course, he couldn't help that, but I had to slave and grind to keep the wolf from the door, and hardly dared to spend a penny, instead of being able to take it a little easy, as I thought I should but there, it's no good looking back."

"No, it is no use to look back, nurse, but you may look forward; and if you only go the right way to work I think you may find there is a happy year in store for you, supposing you live through it."

"Live through it, miss, and why shouldn't I? so old yet but that I may live another year, I hope."

I'm not

Yet, like a ray of sunlight,

The Word shines through the gloom,

As, after winter's darkness,

Comes spring in fresher bloom;
And after vainly searching,

We find a resting meet;
For rest, and hope, and glory
Are found at Jesus' feet.

God never sends a sorrow
Without the healing balm;
And bids us fight no battles
But for the victor's palm.
Yet we, by earth's mist blinded,
Knew not His holy will,
Till o'er the troubled waters

His voice said, "Peace, be still."

We will go forth and conquer,
Depending on His grace:
The lowliest station near Him
Must be an honoured place.
And after battle, victory,
And after victory, rest-
Like the beloved apostle

Upon the Master's breast.

M. S.

Nurse Manser's Happy New Year.

HAPPY new year to you, nurse," said Fanny Hargreaves, as she entered the cottage in which Mrs. Manser lived-Nurse Manser she was called by

some of her neighbours; but more often she was known by the name of "Grumbling Nanny," and not altogether without cause, for she was one of those much-to-bepitied creatures who always find the dark side of everything, and are continually finding fault with their lot.

"Ah, Miss Fanny, it is easy enough to say 'a happy new year,' but I don't expect to have it for all that; however, if my wishes will do you any good, I wish you the same, and

many more to follow."

"Why, what's the matter now, nurse ?" said Miss Hargreaves, with a bright smile; "I don't see why you shouldn't have a happy year if you like, but"

"If I like, Miss Fanny, well that is good! You don't think I don't want to be happy, do you? I'm sure it's time I did have a turn, for my luck has been bad enough lately."

"So it has ever since I have known you, nurse, ever since you were with me through that bad fever; and I shall never forget how good you were to me then; yes, you have always complained of your luck since then, and I don't know how long before."

"It always has been bad, Miss Fanny; ever since I can remember. If anything went wrong when I was a girl, mother always used to lay it down to Nanny. Then, when I went to service, I always got the hardest places that ever anyone knew, and always had to bear the blame that belonged by rights to others. It was Nanny here, Nanny there, till I got sick of hearing my own name. Ah, I did have some hard mistresses, if anyone ever did-but there, what's the good of talking to you about my places; a young lady like you doesn't know what servants have to put up with."

"Well, but, nurse, you were not always a servant; didn't your luck change when you left service?"

"Not unless it changed for the worse, Miss Fanny. When I got a husband, and everybody said how lucky I was, though I never could see that I was more lucky than any other girl, he turned out a poor sickly creature; of course, he couldn't help that, but I had to slave and grind to keep the wolf from the door, and hardly dared to spend a penny, instead of being able to take it a little easy, as I thought I should but there, it's no good looking back."

"No, it is no use to look back, nurse, but you may look forward; and if you only go the right way to work I think you may find there is a happy year in store for you, supposing you live through it."

"Live through it, miss, and why shouldn't I? so old yet but that I may live another year, I hope."

I'm not