the more you will and the more good you do

reap,

the happier you will be.

"We would recommend every person to lay down rules for themselves and rigidly abide by them. Were such a plan acted upon, good nature, good feeling, and charity, would increase among us."

CHAPTER XXIX.

Again returns the day of holy rest,

Which, when He made the world, Jehovah blest;
When, like His own, he bade our labours cease,
And all be piety, and all be peace."

THE SABBATH.

WHEN Agnes had assembled all her scholars on a Monday morning, she addressed them as follows:"I have heard that some of you spend your Sundays idly in the country, instead of going to church. Remember, my dear girls, that if you forsake God, God will forsake you: and then what will become you, if you be without God in the world? The assembling of ourselves together upon the first day of the week for the purpose of public worship and religious instruction, is a law of Divine appointment. And what a blessing this day of rest is to the poor labourers! Yet, it is much to be

of

feared that they do not all make that use of it which they ought. The Sabbath was intended as a day of rest and of thanksgiving. But how do most of the labouring classes of this town give thanks for this day of rest? Do they assemble themselves in the house of God, or do they meet in crowds to blaspheme his holy name, to disobey his commands, to drown in riot his holy day, and to disfigure by intoxication the image of their Maker, putting themselves on a level with the beasts of the field?

"Is this a just return for the day of rest, and is our Creator to be disobeyed with impunity? Although the Almighty is slow to anger and of great mercy, yet he is also of purer eyes than to behold iniquity. Therefore, though he may bear long with those who dishonour the Sabbath, yet their punishment, unless they repent, will be sure and certain. Let me advise you, then, my little girls, never to absent yourselves from church.

"The Sabbath, you know, was given by God to the ancient Israelites as a sign that they were his people. Ye that are my chosen people,' said God, shall keep my Sabbaths.' The Sabbath was then kept on the seventh day of the week, because God rested on that day from all his works; but after the resurrection of Christ it was changed from the seventh to the first day of the week, because Christ rose from the dead on that day.

"The ancient Israelites were such strict observers of the Sabbath, that they, in the Maccabean

The

wars, suffered a thousand of their number to be slain, rather than fight in their own defence on that day. A respect for the Sabbath, is just as binding on the Christian as it was on the Israelites. I trust then, my dear little girls, that after this day, I shall never again hear of your spending the Sabbath in the country, instead of in the house of God. holy Scriptures require of us to assemble ourselves together, and exhort us to it as a great means of strengthening our love to God and man. The practice of all holy persons, from the time when men began to call upon the name of the Lord, and the example of our Lord and his disciples, gives us sufficient scriptural authority for the practice of public worship. The constant return of the weekly Sabbath keeps alive those impressions of religion which the cares, and business, and distractions of this world would wear away.

"The reading and preaching of God's holy word being joined with public worship, the young, the poor, and the ignorant have, by this means, an opportunity of acquiring religious instruction. The beneficial effects of this cannot easily be estimated.

"I by no means wish to prevent you from taking a quiet country walk on a Sunday evening after the church service is over : what I find fault with you is, the neglecting to go to church, and spending the whole day in the country. But as you now promise never to act so foolishly again, I will give you a lesson to read which will teach you how to get

wisdom, and after which, you shall have a very pretty story about a Magic Ring, and then another pretty story on Equality."

"Oh, thank you, ma'am," cried several of the scholars, "we shall be so glad to get wisdom, in order that we may never again do foolish things." Saying so, they took their books and read the following lessons very attentively.

CHAPTER XXX.

"To righteous men, the righteous Lord
His blessing will extend;
And with His favour all His saints
As with a shield defend."

HOW TO GET WISDOM.

How is a young man to acquire wisdom, and wherewithal shall he get understanding? The fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to keep his commandments, that is understanding.

"Thus you see, young people," said Agnes," how you are to acquire both wisdom and understanding. The perusal of the Bible will teach you all that is requisite to know, and if you will study it attentively, it will make you wise unto salvation. The Scriptures are plain and explicit; they teach us, that whosoever sows little shall reap little, for man shall

be rewarded according to his works. We ought therefore to govern our lives with all care; to keep a strict watch over ourselves by frequent examination; to seek to restrain ourselves from committing the least sin; for all our actions shall be exposed to public view, and made known at the last day to the whole world: and we ought to employ all the talents that have been intrusted to us; ⚫ and if we have but one single talent, it must be productive. None of our faculties are intended to lie dormant. We must work while it is day, in order to obtain the favour and acceptance of our Judge. As effect naturally follows cause, so moral works are the effects of faith and to make a moral people, they must first be made a religious people; for if the root be sound, so will be the branches.

"One source of evil was some years ago removed from the subject in the abolition of the state lottery. We ardently wish that the wisdom of the legislature would take into consideration those fruitful sources of immorality and improvident waste of the poor man's health, of his money, and of his character, in those gaudy gin-shops, which now begin to rear their painted fronts in almost every street. We never pass one of them without thinking of Christ's remark to the Scribes and Pharisees: They are like whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but within, are full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.'

"It is the duty, it is the interest of a government