WITH A SUNDAY-SCHOOL GIRL.

41-3

for a girl who had been taken ill on the road, and who was then, with her mother, at her house. I inquired if I could see her; and being answered in the affirmative, after preaching I went to the house, and found a girl, very ill in bed, who appeared to me to be twelve or fourteen years of age. The following conversation took place.

P. H. "Well, my girl, did you feel the need of the prayers of the congregation which you requested to-night?"

Girl. "I did, Sir."

P. H. "How did you come to feel the need of prayer?"

Girl. "I saw myself a sinner."

P.H."How did you come to see your sinfulness?"

Girl. "In evil long I took delight,

Unmov'd by shame or fear,

Till a new object struck my sight,
And stopp'd my mad career.

I saw one hanging on a cross,

In agony of blood;

He seein'd to charge me with his death,
While near his Cross I stood."

P. II. "The sight of a crucified SAVIOUR, then, convinced you of the evil of sin. Have you reason to think that God has heard your prayer?"

Girl. "Yes, I know he has."

P. H. "How do you know?"

Girl. "Because I have redemption in his blood, the forgiveness of sins."

P. H." But as a sinner, are you not now afraid of GOD?"

Girl. "No: for being justified by faith, I have peace with GoD, through our LORD JESUS CHRIST."

P. H. "But do you never doubt of your having such an interest in the atonement of JESUS?"

Girl. "Sometimes I get into a doubting way; but then I lift my heart to GoD, and say,—

"Behold for me the Victim bleeds!

His wounds are open'd wide:

For me the blood of sprinkling pleads,
And speaks me justified."

P. H." But does Satan never tempt you to think that you are deceiving yourself, and that you do not love God?"

Girl. "Yes, sometimes; but I say, "Get thee behind me, Satan;' and I pray to GoD, and he delivers me."

P. H. "You do right, my girl; but are you not sometimes ready to think that GOD uses you hardly? You are young, very ill, and likely to die."

With a look which I can never forget, turning her head on the pillow, she replied, "Use me hardly? Sir! Why should a living man complain,—a man for the punishment of his sins?""

P. H." Where did you receive your religious instruction?"

Girl. In a Sunday-school.

P.H." And where do you remember first to have felt a serious concern about your soul?”

Girl. "At the Sunday-school."

I prayed with her, and gave her suitable advice; and heard that she died in a short time afterwards.

OBSERVATIONS ON YOUTHFUL PIETY.
By MR. W. B. BROWNE, of Kettering.

(Concluded from page 387.)

5. Early Piety will secure the soul against those painful regrets, which will certainly visit persons destitute of religion. The season of such regrets, though it may not occur until after the lapse of years, will surely arrive; when the description of SOLOMON will be verified in the experience of unnumbered myriads, who have "forsaken the guide of their youth," and disobeyed the commandments of their GoD:-"And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed, and say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof; and have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me." How distressing are these dying regrets, occasioned by the neglect of religion!

OBSERVATIONS ON YOUTHFUL PIETY.

415

But Christians, who have early begun to serve GOD, and persevered in his service to the end, so that they can humbly say, with the venerable OBADIAH, “Ï, thy servant, fear the LORD from my youth," will happily escape this misery: for though, according to the course of nature, their "flesh and heart fail,” yet God will be the "strength of their hearts, and their portion for ever." They will reflect upon the past with grateful pleasure, and look forward to the future with holy joy. Upon the subject of regret on account of having neglected religion, the language of EPHRAIM is remarkably striking: "After that I was turned I repented; and after that I was instructed I smote upon my thigh: I was ashamed, yea, even confounded," (mark the occasion of this poig nant lamentation,)" because I did bear the sins of my youth." To escape these torturing reflections in mature life, you must resist the beginning of evil, and pray that the moral stream may be purified at its rise. The maxim, anciently taught on this subject, is worthy of profound attention. "Boldly resist the first motions of sin. It is presumption to say, I will first survey, then approach, and then resist and retire." I would urge you with earnestness and solemnity, not to approach the current of vice, lest you be whirled into its vortex, and plunged with accelerated speed into the ocean of despair and ruin.

6. Religion will qualify you for usefulness, and afford you substantial happiness in the present world. For true piety is a generous and diffusive principle; it enlarges and ennobles the heart in which it dwells. Whoever possesses it, greatly desires the extension of its blessings to others. The "lights of the world," would fain illumine the universe. In all with whom the " cup of salvation" has been placed, there is an ardent desire to hand it all around. Blessed in themselves, they endeavour to be blessings unto others; yes, Blessed, and blessing, on they go,' like the glorious sun in the firmament, who emits both light and heat, from the time when he first comes forth from his eastern chamber, till he sets illus

triously in the western sky. But religion will make you happy as well as useful. For it is a salubrious and refreshing stream, issuing from the "river of the water of life." It is "the day-star from on high," pointing out the path of peace. It is the healing beam of the eternal Sun of Righteousness, irradiating, cheering, and influencing all the faculties of an im mortal spirit. It is the soother and the balm of life; and the source of tranquillity and triumph in death itself.

Finally: The Religion which we have now been recommending to you, will, through the merits of JESUS, prepare you for the blissful regions of eternal glory. There are roses without thorns, holiness without sin, and hearts without sorrow. In heaven is the "tree of life," the "river of the water of life," and "life for evermore." Myriads of happy spirits are there engaged in singing the song for ever new: they see GoD as he is, and enjoy his beatific presence without interruption, or fear of change. This transcendent blessedness will ultimately be the inheritance of all those, who, like the excellent OBADIAH, have "feared the LORD from their youth," and persevered in a course of scriptural holiness, even unto their lives' end.

Surely, my young friends, to live is a serious thing: and you are now about fully to enter into life, and to embark in its busy scenes. It is fit then, that you should make a pause,-a solemn pause,—at its portal, and consider well what is expected from you, and how you are prepared to perform your part. There are many delusive prospects; but recollect, all do not lead to the bowers of happiness. Many will only seduce you from the path of virtue, by false appearances of felicity, and draw you on, through false and unreal bliss, to a deceitful region, where snakes lurk under the grass, and

"'Mid the roses, fierce repentance rears

Her horrid crest."

Pray then for grace to refrain from every evil way, and to walk only in that which is safe and good.

Let

OBITUARY OF MISS MARY, CHAMBERS..

417

no part of your future conduct disappoint the hopes which some of you have excited. Strive to shine in every species of moral excellence, and to support the character and dignity of beings formed for endless duration. Remember, that superior abilities demand a correspondent superiority in the exercise of every good quality. What is all learning, without that wisdom, which has for its beginning the fear of the LORD, and for its end everlasting felicity?

May your lives be holy and happy; and when you approach even to the verge of your earthly existence, may your retrospect of the past afford abundant cause for gratitude and humble joy; so that, while you cast your souls, exclusively, upon the merits of the REDEEMER, you may depart in peace, saying, "I, thy servant, feared the LORD from my youth."

JUVENILE OBITUARY.

1. DIED, June 19, 1822, at Howsley-Hall, near Sheffield, aged 18, MISS MARY CHAMBERS, daughter. of MR. MATTHEW CHAMBERS, of Thorncliffe IronWorks. Very early in life, those amiable dispositions were discovered, which, during her short stay in this world, ensured the love and esteem of all who knew. her. But although Divine Providence had thus favoured her, she had not then experienced the work of saving grace on her soul; and before the fruits of the SPIRIT could be expected to appear, it was neces❤ sary that the heart should be renewed in righteousness. In the year 1818, she had very strong con victions of her state as a sinner against GoD; but did not, at that period, obtain a sense of divine mercy.. In the beginning of 1822, her health greatly declined; and the physician who was consulted gave no hope of her recovery. She regularly retired into. private, for the purpose of prayer, but did not, for some time, experience those strong consolations which she afterwards enjoyed. On the 20th of May, returning from a Missionary Meeting held at Thorncliffe,