The other road is a broad one, and is more frequented than the one just described. It offers many pleasures to those who walk in it, but, alas, they are all guilty and unholy ones. The pilgrim finds in it but little real satisfaction, mingled with many disappointments; and, what is worse, the latter increase every step he takes, and render him more unhappy. As he goes on in his journey, clouds and darkness rise around him, and he hears the distant mutterings of an impending storm; and at last, when at his journey's end, he finds that though in eternity, he is far from the place which he hoped and expected to reach. He finds, too late, that he has taken the wrong path, and now he must suffer the consequences of it for ever.

I suppose, my young readers, that you all intend to take the pleasant and safe way as your path, and avoid the one which leads to such a fearful end. But if you would do this, one thing is absolutely necessary; it is that you should have a good character. By this, I do not mean what men of the world often call a good

character-mere outward morality-but I mean a character that God will love and

approve.

All intelligent beings, good and bad, have a character of some kind; this character is made up of various virtues or vices-in holy beings, of the former, and in sinful ones, of the latter. The character of every good being, you all know, is made up of certain virtues, which unite and form one beautiful whole. Each one is different from the other; yet they all, when combined, form one harmonious character, as in music the different sounds in a strain form one melodious symphony. No one is opposed to the other, but each adds to the beauty of the whole.

I have thought that a little book, illustrating in a familiar and interesting manner some of those virtues which constitute the character of the pilgrim in the "pleasant way," might be of service to the young, in leading them to admire these traits of character, and in persuading them to adopt them as their own. And I would invite your attention, young reader, to the fol

lowing pages, not merely that you may read them, but that you may ponder over these things, and consider them, and apply them to yourself, if you think them good and desirable.

You must not expect, however, that I have invented any new virtues, or discovered any new traits of character. Those of which this book treats were known and practised thousands of years ago, by patriarchs, prophets, apostles, and by Christ himself; they are also preached at this day by the faithful Christian minister. Do you ask, "Why, then, have you written another book about them? I will reply by asking you a question: Why does your pastor come from Sabbath to Sabbath to urge sinners to repentance, and to invite them to walk in the ways of holiness? If he has once delivered his message, why does he repeat it? Ah, it is because men are so hardened by sin, that in religious matters they must have "line upon line, and precept upon precept." It is not enough to repeat to them once the declarations of the Bible, and to hold forth to their view once the

beauty of religion and virtue; they must be repeatedly urged and invited, before they will accept. And it is for this reason, my young friends, that I now invite your attention to this book. It is that you may now be persuaded, if you never have been before, to say to your heavenly Father, "My Father, thou art the Guide of my youth." It is that you may be entreated to secure those virtues as your own, without which you can never expect to walk in the "ways of pleasantness."

CHAPTER II.

JUSTICE.

"Be just, and fear not."

JUSTICE, my young friends, is that virtue which leads a man to respect the rights of his neighbor, to avoid injuring him, and to act towards him from right motives. It is a very important part of the character of him who walks in the path of virtue, and one with which he cannot possibly dispense. Justice is also a very prominent attribute in the character of God, though pagans seem to have given their imaginary deities almost every other trait of character. Through all the ages of eternity, God has never committed one act of injustice. When he cast from heaven those angels. who "kept not their first estate," he was When he drove our first parents

just.