"Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing; but inwardl they are ravening wolves.-MATT. vii. 15.

HYPOCRISY.

See in the distance there, those harmless sheep;
Nor watch or ward at any time they keep;
Well pleased, along the pastures green they tread,
And unsuspecting crop the flowery mead :
The shepherd slumbers in the noontide's shade,
His flock forsaken, and his trust betrayed.

The wolf draws near, in sheepskin shrewdly dress'd,
He bleats aloud, and mixes with the rest;

They prick their ears, and look with some surprise,

But can't detect him in his deep disguise.

He marks his time; when they are all asleep,
He slays the lambs, and tears the silly sheep.
Thus all false teachers are on ruin bent,
And by Apollyon on their mission sent;

Without, the clothing of Christ's flock they wear,
Within, the heart of ravening wolves they bear.

THE engraving shows a wolf in disguise, and a flock of sheep in the background. The shepherd is absent from his charge; the sheep wander on without any to control their movements. The green pastures and verdant meadows afford them plenty of employment. Innocent themselves, they suspect no danger. But the wolf comes; he comes, too, in deep disguise, not in his true character; not as a wolf, but as a sheep. The flock are deceived; he mingles with them; he marks his time. First one straggler, and now

another, fall victims to his tooth of blood. At length, in an unguarded moment, he kills all the lambs, and tears and worries the entire flock. But think not that the ravening wolf escapes without punishment. No; the owner of the flock sees what has been done; he discovers the enemy, and kills him. He leaves his carcass on the ground, a warning to all wolves in sheep's clothing.

"Be

In comparing small things with great, the Saviour compared the false prophets, or teachers, to a wolf in sheep's clothing. ware," said He, "of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing; but inwardly they are ravening wolves." Hypocrisy consists in acting a part or character not our own. There are hypocrites in all professions, and a great deal of hypocrisy in the world. Men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie. Both of them together, laid in the balance of sincerity, would be found wanting.

Of all hypocrites, the false teacher of religion is the most dangerous. He it is that scatters firebrands, arrows, and death. True Christians are honest themselves in their professions of piety and unsuspecting of others; they do not mistrust. This exposes them to the schemes of hypocrites. Sometimes, also, the true teacher is absent from his charge. Of this circumstance the false teacher will avail himself. Satan is never asleep or absent. It is his business to sow tares; he selects his time, "when men sleep ;" he selects his agents, his own children; assists them in disguising themselves, and sends them forth to their hellish work.

Armed with the whole armour of Satan, the false teacher approaches the children of God. He begins by cant; he talks gospel truth sometimes; he insinuates, wheedles, and flatters, until he has gained confidence; then he addresses himself to his task in good earnest. Young converts are beguiled from the simplicity of the Gospel; the weak in the faith are perplexed and turned out of the way; the rest have their confidence weakened, their peace destroyed, and their souls put in danger. His object is to scatter, tear, and kill, and secure the fleece for a prey. Some are satisfied with the fleece, and suffer the sheep to live; but this son of Satan comes also to tear and destroy. Wolves are now abroad in sheep's clothing. Let the flock of Christ beware. Let the false teachers also beware, because the Chief Shepherd will appear, and cut them in sunder, and appoint them their portion with the hypocrites.

"By their fruits ye shall know them." Fruits are the conduct of a man; his actions are the language of his heart. If the flock would

wait awhile before they suffer themselves to act, they would know that "an evil tree cannot bring forth good fruit.'

Let the following marks be attended to in passing judgment:1. The false teacher goes to the fold of true Christians, and labours not to convert sinners from their evil ways.

2. The false teacher persuades Christians to leave the fold, instead of helping them to grow in grace and in knowledge, and rejoicing in their prosperity, as did Barnabas.

3. The false teacher speaks evil against the true teachers of the Gospel, instead of regarding them as co-workers with the Lord.

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"For the wicked bend their bow, they make ready their arrow upon the string, that they may privily shoot at the upright in heart."-Ps. xi. 2. tongue a sharp sword."-Ps. lvii. 4.

SLANDER AND BACKBITING.

Mark! where the good man unsuspecting treads
No evil meditates, nor evil dreads;

The base assassins from their covert start,
And sheath the dagger in his bleeding heart;
Or shoot their arrows, strung by hate, alack,

With deadly aim at the defenceless back.

So smites the slanderer, with poison'd tongue,

The man-his neighbour-who has done no wrong;
Thief-like, he steals what gold cannot replace,

And, like a coward, dares not show his face:

A brutish cur, that sneaks along the track,
Awaits his time, then springs upon the back.

BEHOLD the good man! He walks leisurely along towards his home; very likely he has been visiting the house of mourningdrying the poor widow's tears, or feeding and clothing the forsaken orphan. He is probably anticipating much pleasure from the recital of what he has seen and heard to his beloved family. He may be revolving in his mind schemes of future benevolence, or meditating on the goodness of his heavenly Father; perhaps contemplating the vast concerns of the eternal state. He sees no foe, he hears no hostile step; he feels himself suddenly wounded, his head swims, he reels, and falls to the ground.

The base poltroons had carefully watched their time, and with the sharp dagger and empoisoned arrow, had cruelly murdered the innocent. The deed is done in secret; yet all the heavenly world beheld it; and under cover of darkness they escape, but not for ever. The earth refuses to cover the blood of the murdered.

This emblem sets forth the sin of slander or backbiting, which is of all things whatsoever, the most abominable, and most to be detested. The slanderer contains within himself almost all the vices of other transgressors. He is for the most part a liar of the very worst class. Whether he forges the calumny himself, or retails that of others it matters not; he is still a liar in the sight of God and man. Not only so, the slanderer is also a thief-a robber of the first magnitude, for

But he who filches from me my good name,
Robs me of that which not enriches him,
And makes me poor indeed.

Look again at the brow of the slanderer, and you will see another title of infamy-that of coward. He dare not say to the face what he so freely utters behind the back. Thus he bites the back. He resembles a snappish dog often seen in the streets, running after passengers and biting their heels. Furthermore, the slanderer is in the sight of God a murderer. He must necessarily hate the person slandered; but "he who hateth his brother is a murderer." Injury is added to hatred, which renders the case worse. Reputation is more precious than life. Thus the man or woman who makes or vends a slander must be known and read of all men as a liar, coward, thief, and murderer.

The slanderer's tongue is a four-edged sword. It wounds the hands of him who uses it; it wounds the ears of those who listen to it; it wounds the heart of him who is the object of the thrust; it strikes at the throne of God, and breaks His law. Slander excludes the miserable perpetrator from the kingdom of heaven. "Who shall dwell in thy holy hill, O Lord?""He that backbiteth nut with his tongue." Death and life are in the power of the tongue. A wholesome tongue is a tree of life; a polluted tongue is a upas of death. It may be warmed with a seraph's flame or set on fire of hell; a world of iniquity, or a universe of good; an unruly evil full of deadly poison, or a well-ordered system, transmitting the blessing of an endless life. Therewith we bless God, even the Father, therewith curse we men made after the image of God.