Amid all this, we do not forget the difficulties of a merchant's sphere, in an age so bent upon amassing as ours. We are not unfamiliar with his anxieties, his cares, and crosses--crosses which often come upon him mainly because he would set the Lord before him. But just the more on that account, and surely not the less, do we urge him to carry the Lamp of Life. On the one hand, if these anxieties and cares drive us from our steadfastness, and if God be left out of sight, will that diminish our cares? On the other hand, if we hold fast our integrity, is it to be feared that we shall be put to shame at last? Nay, all that we plead for /has been done/: the grace of God can accomplish it, and more. There have been men surrounded with many cares, who yet served the Lord amid them all. They found that Christianity in the Market-place is as much provided for, as Christianity in the place where prayer is wont to be made. All that was needed was to seek the God and the grace of Christianity; they sought Him, and they triumphed. Cheered by the words, "Thou hast a few names even in Sardis who have not defiled their garments," they held fast their integrity as drowning men cling to the cable which is cast for their rescue; and in holding it fast, they secured the heritage which the gold of Ophir could not buy. STEADFASTNESS. It will readily be believed that, in a nation signalized like ours by commercial enterprise and mercantile activity, some have been found among our merchant princes whose proceedings have been presided over by purest Christian principle. If multitudes have sacrificed rather to Mammon than to the Holy One and the Just, some, on the other hand, have held fast their integrity, and sought to keep themselves "unspotted from the world."--Among those who belong to the class who have thus exemplified the loftiest Christian principle in the Market-place, there are few whose name and memorial stand higher among men than the late Joseph Hardcastle of London. Early impressed with religion in its living and energetic form, he made it his guide and close companion through life. The Scriptures were to him the supreme and sovereign standard. He was led by their light to the Saviour of the lost, and, constrained by his love, he rejoiced in every opportunity for promoting His cause and glory. A life of dependence on his Redeemer was only another name for personal holiness; and to personal holiness he added abilities of a superior order, which appeared at once in the world-wide business which he conducted as a merchant, and the efforts of a directly religious nature which he put forth. Among the objects to which Hardcastle was devoted, the London Missionary Society was perhaps the chief. In the capacity of its treasurer, he laboured for many years with zeal in the service of Him who has the heathen for his heritage. To the duties of that office he brought the same sagacity and soundness