hat if my readers have
no other failing than that they are weak, I am bound to warn them, in
God's name, that unless they succeed in some way, directly or
indirectly, in linking themselves to the strength of the Son of. God,
they will inevitably become wicked. Remember that the men, and
especially the women, who are filling our gaols as criminals, were, in
most cases, only weak, but they therefore drifted before the strong,
black current which flows through the world, and have become objects
against whom all parents warn their children. With all my soul--and I
have had no small experience of myself and of others--I implore that if
you are conscious of your weakness, you shall do what the sea-anemone
and the limpet do, which cling to the rock when the storms darken the
sky. "Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might."

Herod was reluctant to take the course to which his evil genius urged
him. He made a slight show of resistance, as we have seen--but he did
not break with her; and so she finally had her way, and dragged him to
her lowest level. Here was the cause of his ruin, as it may be of
yours. You, too, have become allied with one who is possessed by a
more imperious will, and dominated by a stronger passion, than yours.
You suppose, however, that you can act as a make-weight, a drag on the
chariot-wheel; that you will be able to keep and steady the pace; and
that, when you like, you may arrest the onward progress. Ah, it is not
so! Herodias will have her way with you. You may be reluctant, will
falter and hesitate, will remonstrate, will resist, but ultimately you
will drift into doing the very sins, the mention of which in your
presence brings the red blood to your face.

Beware, then, of yourself. If you are so impressible to John the
Baptist, remember that you may be equally so to evil suggestion: take
heed, therefore, to guard against anything in your life that may open
the gates of your sensitive nature to a temptation, which you may not
be able to withstand. If you are weak in physical health, you guard
against draught and fatigue, against impure atmosphere and
contagion--how much more should you guard against the scenes and
company which may act prejudicially on the health of your soul? Of all
our hours, none are so fraught with danger as those of recreation. In
these we cast ourselves, with the majority of Gideon's men, on the bank
of the stream, with relaxed girdles, drinking at ou