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(1) Worldliness: — Mrs. Hannah More once took Dr. Sprague to her window to show him what she called her Moral Prospect. Not far from her house was a little clump of trees and bushes, covering a few yards of ground. At some considerable distance was a little forest covering some acres. If one would place this small cluster between him and the larger, the latter was quite hidden from view. "So," said Mrs. More, "the things of time being near, seem great, and so hide from our view the things of eternity."

(Rev. Dr. Plumer.)(2) Evil company: — Saphronius, a wise teacher, would not suffer even his grown-up sons and daughters to associate with those whose character was not pure and upright. "Dear father," said the gentle Eulalia to him one day, when he forbade her, in company with her brother, to visit the volatile Lucinda, — "dear father, you must think us very childish if you imagine that we should be exposed to danger by it." The father took in silence a dead coal from the hearth, and reached it to his daughter. "It will not burn you, my child; take it." Eulalia did so, and behold! her beautiful white hand was soiled and blackened, and, as it chanced, her white dress also. "We cannot be too careful in handling coals," said Eulaiia, in vexation. "Yes, truly," said the father. "You see, my child, the coals, even if they do not burn, blacken; so it is with the company of the vicious."

(From the German.)(3) Neglect of prayer: — When a pump is frequently used, but little pains are necessary to obtain water; it flows out at the first stroke, because the water is high. But if the pump has not been used for a long time the water gets low, and, when it is wanted, you must pump a great while, and the stream only comes after great efforts. And so it is with prayer: if we are instant in it and faithful in it, every little circumstance awakens the disposition to pray, and desires and words are always ready. But if we neglect prayer, it is difficult for us to pray, for the water in the well gets low.

(Felix Neff.)(4) Unsubdued sins: — "The horse that draws its halter with it," says the proverb, "is only half escaped; " so long as any remnant of a sinful habit remains in us, we make but an idle boast of our liberty; we may be caught, and by that which we drag with us. True and seasonable is the remark of Adams of Puritan times — "He who will not be a mortified saint on earth shall never be a glorified saint in heaven."

(C. Nell.)(5) Unworthy trifles: — A lost pound of candy delayed a train crowded with passengers for a considerable time on June 24th, at New London, U.S. Just as the special train was about to start, a well-dressed young man went to- the guard and asked him if he would delay his train a few minutes while he went for a valuable package he had mislaid. He replied, "I will," and kindly waited. The young man sped on his mission and returned without finding his package. The guard then gave the signal to start. Thinking there might have been Government bonds or priceless jewels in the missing package, he asked the young man what was in it, that he might aid him in recovering it. At first the young man declined to answer, but he finally replied, "A pound of French candy." The guard's chagrin at having lost time and hindered over fifty passengers for so trifling a cause may be imagined.

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KJV: Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth?

WEB: You were running well! Who interfered with you that you should not obey the truth?