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I would inquire why you did it, that you turned towards the altar during the Belief. You have not done so since, and I am glad you have not; for it is rather a Popish custom, is it not?"

"I believe not, aunt," replied Mary. "I was turning towards the East, not intentionally towards the altar; but as churches are generally built with their chancels towards the East, the communion-table is, consequently, at the East end of the church. It has been the custom in the church at Hazels, for a very long time-I do not know how long, but, I believe, ever since the church was built, and it is a very old one—for the congregation to turn towards the East during the Creeds. Mr. Howard once asked us all if we knew why we did so? We could not assign any reason, except that our parents did so, and their parents before them; and we supposed it was always done. Mr. Howard then explained to us, that it was an ancient custom, generally ascribed to the Apostles, and that it was an emblem or sign of our faith in Christ, as the Sun of Righteousness;'1 that, as our Saviour is called 'the Day-spring from on high,' and as the day first appears in the East, so do we expect our Saviour to appear from thence at His second coming. He told us it was not the custom in every church, though one for which we had high authority; and he advised us, whenever we should be in any church where it was not observed, as it is but a custom, and not necessary, to conform to 1 Mal. iv. 2. 2 Luke i. 78.

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the habits of the congregation with whom we should be worshipping, rather than make ourselves remarkable by turning towards the East, particularly if the minister should not."

Mrs. Thorpe. "I am glad you have explained it so clearly. And if it can be traced back to the Apostles' time, it certainly cannot be merely a Popish custom."

Mary. “I think, Jane, my aunt would be pleased with the extract immediately following that which you have just read."

Jane again took up the book, and read aloud: "What kind of faith is that which you come forward to profess in Confirmation? Does that profession of faith mean no more than this-I believe that the Scriptures teach us that Jesus Christ is God, and that the Holy Ghost is God no less truly than the Father, and yet that there are not three Gods, but one God? My brethren, if this were all that is meant by Christian faith, who almost would perish ? Who amongst us doubts the divinity of Christ and of the Holy Ghost? or, on the other hand, the strict unity of the Divine essence? But is this indeed all that is required to make man a Christian? Is this all that we need to give us comfort in life and peace in death? No: the very devils believe thus much, and tremble. Our creed may be perfectly free from error, and yet our hearts may be dead in the sight of God. The faith which justifies is of a very different kind from this. It belongs only to one who is

thoroughly humbled and prostrated by the sense of his own guilt, corruption, and vileness-to one who feels himself lost, and longs earnestly to see the salvation of God. Our faith in the Divine Trinity is not a mere belief that such and such is the statement of Scripture that such and such are the offices of the Father, the Son, and Holy Ghost, in the salvation of sinners; but such a belief of this as constrains a person to apply to this blessed Trinity for the salvation of his own soul; such a faith as leads him to desire and to implore real access through Jesus Christ by the Spirit to the Father; such a faith as leads him to count everything but loss, for the sake of knowing Jesus Christ, and being found in Him in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God. This only is faith in the sight of God; this only is that faith which will make it safe for any one to come forth before the Church in the solemn act of Confirmation. This faith is the gift of God.

You must ask it from Him, who alone can open your hearts to attend effectually to the things which are for your everlasting peace.'

1 Rev. C. J. Vaughan.

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CHAPTER IX.

"O God our Saviour! in our hearts abide;
Thy blood redeems us; may Thy precepts guide;
In life our Guardian, and in death our Friend,
Sustain and lead us to our journey's end."-MASON.

"He gives the frail and feeble tongue
A doom to speak on sin and wrong:
Unsconscious Thy stern lightnings aim,
When His Ten Precepts they proclaim."
Lyra Innocentium.

THE following Sunday the parish church was unusually full. Novelty is a great attraction where religion is not the deep feeling of the heart; and all were anxious to hear the new clergyman. Many and various were the opinions formed, and remarks made, upon Mr. Groves. His sermon, his voice, and his manner were all freely discussed; much too freely, Mrs. Thorpe thought; and she did her utmost to avoid being drawn into any of these discussions. In one respect all were agreed; they were all surprised at finding that Mr. Groves was elderly; for,

hearing that he was unmarried and a curate, they had concluded he must be young. They did not know that he had entered Holy Orders when the days of his youth were already passed. The rector being obliged on account of his health, which was far from good, to absent himself for some time from his parish, had left all the concerns of it under the charge of his curate. Mr. Groves announced in the morning, that he would hear the children say the Catechism in the afternoon; and that instead of a sermon he would explain some part of the Catechism every Sunday afternoon. This was partly the reason of Jane and Bessy being anxious to accompany Mary to church that afternoon. On their way home they began talking about what they had heard; and particularly upon the third vow made by the sponsors for their god-children at their baptism, "to keep God's holy will and commandments, and walk in the same all the days of my life," as it is expressed in the Church Catechism.

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Mr. Groves said to-day," observed Jane, "that there is no command in the whole Bible, given by God to mankind in general, which cannot be found included under the head of the Ten Commandments, especially with the light our blessed Saviour has thrown upon them."

"He also showed," continued Bessy, "that the answer in the Church Catechism to the inquiry what we learn from the Ten Commandments, our duty towards God, and our duty towards our neighbour,

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