. When he came near me I stopped him. I said, "My
good man, if you have no objection I would like to ask you a few
questions." "Certainly, sir," said he. "Well, then, I would like to
know how you first became a soldier." "Yes, sir, I will tell you. You
see, sir, I wanted to become a soldier, and the recruiting officer was
in our town, and I went up to him and told him I wanted to enlist.
"Well, sir, he said, 'All right,' and the first thing he did, sir, he
took an English shilling out of his pocket, sir, and put it into my
hand. The very moment, sir, a recruiting-sergeant puts a shilling into
your hand, sir, you are a soldier." I said to myself, "That is the very
illustration I want."

That man was a free man at one time--he could go here and there; do just
what he liked; but the moment the shilling was put into his hand he was
subject to the rules of war, and Queen Victoria could send him anywhere
and make him obey the rules and regulations of the army. He is a soldier
the very minute he takes the shilling. He has not got to wait to put on
the uniform. And when you ask me how a man may be converted at once, I
answer, just the same as that man became a soldier. The citizen becomes
a soldier in a minute, and from being a free man becomes subject to the
command of others. The moment you take Christ into your heart, that
moment your name is written in the roll of Heaven.

Moody a Young Convert.

I remember soon after I got converted a pantheist got hold of me, and
just tried to draw me back to the world. Those men who try to get hold
of a young convert are the worst set of men. I don't know a worse man
than he who tries to pull young Christians down. He is nearer the
borders of hell than any man I know. When this man knew I had found
Jesus he just tried to pull me down. He tried to argue with me, and I
did not know the Bible very well then, and he got the best of me. The
only way to get the best of those atheists, pantheists, or infidels, is
to have a good knowledge of the Bible. Well, this pantheist told me God
was everywhere--in the air, in the sun, in the moon, in the earth, in
the stars, but really he meant nowhere. And the next time I went to
pray, it seemed as if I was not praying anywhere or to anyone. We have
ample evidence in the Bible that there is such a place as heaven, and we
have abundant manifestations that His influence from heaven is felt
among us.

"Free."

You will remember when we had slav