a good excuse not to be confirmed. I shall never forget poor Sarah Kimpton, and all she said about it. She was rather a gay and thoughtless, but a very good-natured, girl. At the last confirmation held here, she was confirmed, and she came to tell me all about it afterwards. She said she had read over the service before, but it made no impression on her. However, when the Bishop asked, in such a solemn manner, whether they would confirm the promises made for them at their baptism, it seemed as if he was speaking to each one separately; and when they all answered, she hardly knew whether she spoke or not, but she felt as if suddenly called upon to promise something very serious, which she had not thought about before, and that she was binding herself to perform something, of which she had no very clear idea, but which she was sure she should never be able to do. She ended by saying, she thought it very awful to join in a religious service, without having ever considered much, or, indeed, the least seriously, about it. And this is what I feel. It is something more than a mere ceremony. I never can keep the promises I shall have to make."

Mary rejoined, in a very kind and gentle manner, "Not of yourself will you be able, dear Jane; but by God's help you will. God hath said, 'My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.'1 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.' Did Sarah Kimpton take

2

the first opportunity of receiving the holy communion afterwards? for she might then have renewed, 'in spirit and in truth,' those vows she had made so carelessly at the time of her confirmation."

Jane. "No. She said she did not feel serious enough-she would wait a little while, and think more seriously first. So she put it off till the summer; and when the summer came, she said she should have more time to reflect in the winter, for in the short days she should be more at home. But when winter came, she found she had so much to do in-doors, and Christmas time was too much a season of mirth, for her to prepare herself for the sacrament; so she would wait till spring. But poor Sarah died early in the spring, of a bad fever that was very prevalent at that time. She never saw another Easter."

Mary. "A sad warning to us all, never to put off till another time doing that which ought to be done without delay, lest that other time should never come. My dear good father used often to say to me, when I talked of doing something to-morrow, or some other day, which it was my business to do immediately, Boast not thyself of to-morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth;1 and would tell me to remember that was the advice given by King Solomon, the wisest of men. Sometimes, too, he would repeat a passage from the Epistle of James: 'Go to now, ye that say, To-day or to-morrow we 1 Prov. xxvii. 1.

1

For what is

will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy, and sell, and get gain: whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this or that.' But whether you should be confirmed or not, Jane, your responsibility would be the same, for that was incurred at your baptism. You know that, in the Church Catechism, in answer to the question, 'Why are infants baptized, when, by reason of their tender age, they cannot perform the promises made for them?' it is said, 'Because they promise them both by their sureties, which promise, when they come to age,'—which means, as soon as they are old enough to understand those promises,' themselves are bound to perform.'

Jane was silent a little time.

She appeared to be

I am

in deep thought. She then said, very gravely, "I see. I never thought of that before. even now bound to keep the promises made for me. But the Confirmation Service seems to bring it all so much more strongly before me."

Mary. "Yes. And that is one great benefit to be derived from the service; it impresses our duties more strongly upon our minds-it reminds us of all that was promised for us in our childhood, when we were too young to understand it. We promise nothing at our confirmation, but what has been 1 James iv. 13-15.

already promised for us at our baptism; and which promises we are as much bound to perform, as though we had spoken them with our lips. We are hereby reminded, too, of the great privileges to which we were admitted at our baptism. To refuse to be confirmed, when the opportunity is offered, seems to me to be almost the same as it would be if we were to refuse to acknowledge ourselves as Christians, seeming to be either ashamed or afraid to own Christ for our Lord."

Jane. "That would be very wrong, I am sure, and not at all what I feel. I was afraid of taking a great responsibility upon myself, forgetting that it was already undertaken for me at my baptism, and that the promises made for me then I am bound to keep, as soon as I become old enough to understand them. I believe we all think too little of our baptism."

Bessy observed, that she did not remember to have ever heard the Service of Baptism.

Mary replied, "I have heard it very often. At Hazels, the christenings always took place in the middle of the afternoon service, directly after the second Lesson, as appointed in the Prayer-Book, where there are reasons given for its being at that time, that the whole congregation may testify the receiving of the newly-baptized into the number of Christ's Church, and that every one may be put in remembrance of his own profession made to God in his baptism.

Bessy here jumped up, saying, "Stop a minute, Mary; I will get my Prayer-book, then we can refer to it as we go on.'

"And will you," said Mary, "get the Bible too? for we must refer to the Bible for the origin of confirmation."

Bessy. "I wonder the christenings are never in the middle of the service here."

Mary. "They always take place in the afternoon, I believe. The morning service is so much longer, that it is more convenient they should be in the evening service."

Jane. "Yes, and as we never go to church in the afternoon, we have never heard the Baptismal Service read."

66

Mary. My dear father often read over the Baptismal Service to himself, though he frequently heard it read in church. He used to say we could not be too often reminded of our Christian profession, and though we could be baptized but once, the benefit should be lasting, and be ever present in our memory."

Jane. "Confirmation is not of so much importance as baptism; the Catechism says, 'There are only two sacraments generally necessary to salvation, that is to say, Baptism and the Supper of the Lord.""

Mary. "True. Confirmation is a religious ordinance, enjoined by the Church of which we are members, and to which therefore we owe obedience. Like all our religious services, it has Scriptural authority for its origin, having been instituted by the