As he listened in mingled terror and despair, the spirit vanished. He was alone, and he was glad that he was alone, and that there was no one to witness his irrepressible agory. So great was his anguish, that the perspiration stood in cold drops upon his brow: for he was devotedy attached to his wife; some people would have said that he almost idolized her. He had married her when he was just entering upon life; and she had shared with him the toils and perplexities of an up-hill career. Her affection had animated him, and her sympathy had cheered him through many a bygone struggle. And gentle as she was, and all-clinging in her attachment to him, he had often turned to her for support in moments of weakness, and had never found her fail him.

How could he bear the separation from such a wife? How could be part with one so loved and cherished? And yet it must be! A few brief fleeting months, and the delight of his eyes" would have left his dwelling; his children would be motherless; and heoh, he dared not think of himself! the thought was too overwhelming, and he could only pace the room like one half-distracted.

And conceive, if you can, what were his feelings, day after day, as he gazed upon his loving wife, with the harrowing consciousness that the ties which linked them here must shortly be severed. He was completely unnerved. He had no heart for anything. He had lost all interest in his former pursuits, and he shrank with a morbid dislike from every fresh effort. His eagerly-expected prosperity-what cared he for it now ? A gloom seemed to have fallen upon all around; his favourite pleasures were distasteful to him, and he trembled every moment lest he should perceive the first symptoms of some fatal malady in his beloved companion.

Oh, Wilton Gray, would you not have been far

happier if you had never sought to penetrate the mysteries of futurity?

66

There was the sound of merry childish voices in the hall, and then the eager pattering of little footsteps up the stairs, and in another minute five or six healthy-looking, happy-tempered boys and girls rushed into the room, laden with toys and trinkets which they were in a hurry to display to papa. 'Look at my Noah's ark, papa," exclaimed Harry, as he clambered up Wilton's knee. "And my waggon and horses!" shouted little Arthur, in a perfect ecstacy of delight. While the elder ones more quietly, but not less earnestly, put in a claim for their share of his attention; and mamma stood a little in the background, in evident admiration of the whole group, papa included. She did not stand there long, however, for she hastened the children away to take off their things, telling them that tea would soon be ready, and that they would make papa's headache worse with so much noise. Away they went like good, obedient children as they were, and their mother followed them; and then Wilton rubbed his eyes, and looked half-dreamingly about him, as if uncertain where he really was. He gave the fire a vigorous stir in order to rouse it into a cheerful blaze, that he might be able to see more clearly, and he was speedily convinced that he was sitting, as he had been all that afternoon, in his own comfortable drawing-room: and that the predictions respecting "his business" and "his wife were fictions, instead of realities. And right thankful was Wilton Gray that they had proved so. Oh, how happy he felt in his ignorance of the future; how rejoiced he was to be able to throw away the knowledge which he fancied he had acquired. He wanted no more peeps into futurity. He had been dreaming, then!

hardly thought so, perhaps, dear reader, and I must confess I had almost forgotten it. But I am not sure whether you and I might not present quite as inconsistent an appearance as he does to others, if our secret thoughts were thus unfolded to them; nay, probably we are doing so now by our daily actions! However, let that pass; we are busy with Wilton Gray just now, and won't stop to scrutinize ourselves. How long Wilton Gray had sat there by the fireside, fretting over his ignorance of coming events, I do not exactly know; but the shades of evening had begun to gather over the wintry sky, and he was wishing for his wife's return, that he might ring for tea, when he fancied that he heard some one speaking to him. He listened and looked round, and beheld a shadowy form, which he at once recognized as the Spirit of the New Year, who thus addressed him :—

"Thy desire, foolish and presumptuous as it is, is granted—at least in part. I am commissioned to reveal to thee two or three of the most important events which will occur to thee during my stay with thee.”

Overjoyed at this unhoped-for favour, Wilton was eagerly pouring forth his thanks, when the spirit gently stopped him:-" Wait," she said, "until thou hast taken thy peep at futurity. Now, look."

Wilton gazed as directed, and saw a life-like picture, representing himself as a rich and prosperous man. Instead of being perplexed, as he now often was, with bills which he had to meet, and debts which he could not recover, he was in the possession of a thriving and unrivalled business, which brought in large profits and required but little labour. He was a great man in his line. He had plenty of money, plenty of influence, plenty of friends.

"When will this come to pass

eagerly.

?

he exclaimed,

"Within six months," was the answer.

Wilton was so enraptured with the thought of his

wealth, that he did not heed what passed around him, and to his great surprise he found himself the next moment in his own counting-house, busily engaged with his ordinary affairs. It was the same old spot, and there were the same old faces about him, and he himself, with his pen in his hand and his ledger opened on the table, looked just the same as usual; and yet he felt that a change had passed over him, and that surrounding objects seemed to wear a different aspect. His mind was restless and distracted, and his thoughts were constantly wandering into the future. He wondered by what happy events his predicted good fortune was to be realized; whether a sudden windfall would occur; or whether a gradual but rapid increase in his business would lead to the desired result. It was no marvel that, with his attention thus abstracted from the present, he filled his ledger with innumerable errors, and made his sharp head-clerk stare with the irrelevancy of his remarks; and at length he was so ashamed of his repeated mistakes, that he got up from his seat, put on his hat, and went out. His mind must recover its equilibrium before it could balance the varying claims of pounds, shillings, and pence. "Besides," as he argued to himself, "there was no occasion for him to stick so close to the old counting-house now; he had slaved himself long enough, and had fairly earned a little relaxation. And, indeed, since he was sure of the harvest, why should he trouble himself so much about the culture of the soil? There was no occasion for him to work so hard as he had done, when in six months' time he would have all that he wanted." Thus Wilton reasoned; and in accordance with this reasoning he very soon acted. He did not exactly intend to neglect the means because the end was certain, but practically and in a great measure he did so. He became indolent and careless. Each day he went later to his counting-house, and left it earlier; and if there was any business which he did not feel in the

humour for transacting, he coolly put it off, and in this way he lost many of his best customers; and he lost others by his inattention and incivility. He seldom took any pains now to please those who gave him orders; and if they happened to be fidgety or selfimportant, his patience and his politeness were soon exhausted. His replies were short and abrupt, and his manner anything but tradesman-like. Not that he purposely neglected or offended his customers; but his thoughts were so full of his anticipated wealth, his spirit was so elated with the prospect, that he could not descend with ease and equanimity to the trifling and often teazing monotony of every-day life.

Those who were unacquainted with Wilton's secret, of course marvelled at this sudden and unaccountable alteration in his conduct. His industry had changed into idleness; his civility into indifference; his economy into extravagance; his humility into self-esteem; his painstaking into presumption. And in spiritual things what a change for the worse! The sweet feeling of daily dependence upon his heavenly Father, and of reliance upon His blessing, had gradually passed away, and with its loss he unconsciously grew less simple-minded and consistent in other respects. he looked more at the things which are seen and temporal, his vision of the things which are unseen and eternal became less vivid. In his anticipated prosperity, his heart was lifted up within him, and he declined from the ways of real, heartfelt godliness.

And with regard to those around him, how deleterious was his influence! At home, his kind, goodnatured little wife, so easily led in any direction by his example, followed too readily, especially when she heard of the wonderful prophecy, in some of his downward steps. His children were less restrained and more indulged. And his clerks and assistants shared also in the evil consequences; for as Wilton relaxed his own efforts in business, he allowed his young men