It is no easy matter to write a book for the family of God. Yet it is for them that these thoughts on chastisement are written. They may be found not unsuitable for the younger brethren of the man of sorrows. For the way is rough, and the desert-blast is keen. Who of them can say aught regarding their prospects here, save that tribulation awaiteth them in every place as they pass along. This they must know and prepare for, grasping more firmly at every step the gracious hand that is leading them on to the kingdom, and looking up for guidance to the loving eye that rests over them with fondest vigilance, ever bright and ever tender, whether in shadow or in sunshine, whether amid the crowds of busy life, or in the solitude of the lonely way. It is, then, to the members of this family that this little volume is offered. They may find in it something which may not merely interest them; but may also meet their case; something too in which, perhaps, they may recognise not the voice of a stranger, but of a brother; “a companion in tribulation and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ.”