whosoever is deceived
thereby is not wise,' says Solomon, and he might have made it ten
times as strong and still kept within the truth. Everywhere, and at
all times, when a young man starts to do evil, he hears plainly and
clearly the cry, 'Young man, ahoy! The rapids are below you!' It is
the voice of conscience, his true and faithful servant. But,
unfortunately, as the voice is unheeded and bad habits grow stronger,
conscience grows weaker, and, after a while, it cannot serve us at
all, for Satan has taken possession of it. The evil one can do as much
mischief with a man's conscience as he can with his heart. He can
'sear it with a hot iron.' (I Tim. 4: 2.) He can 'defile' it. (Titus
1: 15.) He can kill it. (Eph. 4: 17-19.) And how can a seared,
defiled, dead conscience help him to shun temptation and sin? Many a
man, honest in his dealings with those about him, is dishonest with
himself when he begins to allow bad habits to rule his life and to
allow Satan to defile and kill the conscience which has been provided
to guide him in caring for his own body--the earthly temple given to
him by God as the earthly abiding place of his immortal soul."

VALUELESS THINGS
--Boys' Day
--Ability

They May Not Remain So if We Give Them Proper Attention--A Thought
for Boys' Day.

THE LESSON--That our seemingly useless, or even harmful, traits may
prove to be our most valuable talents.

This little fragment of industrial history should impress a lesson
upon all young people, though it is especially adapted to Boys' Day.

~~The Talk.~~

"During the period extending from the time that people first settled
in America up to the time of the civil war those who chose to live in
some portions of the area which are now the states of Pennsylvania,
Ohio and West Virginia selected their land with great care. In some
parts of the land they found a disagreeable kind of oil in the ground
which oozed from the rocks below. When a man bought a piece of ground
he was very careful to find out for sure that there was none of this
oil about the place, and if he did find any of it, it is probable that
he made this fact known: [Draw the signboard and the letters, Fig. 98,
complete.] To him the ground was worthless.

[Illustration: Fig. 98]

"It may be that some of the people knew that this oil was the same
kind that the ancient Jews used in the preparation of their cement for
building purposes, and that it was the same that the