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thinking of God's mercies, and is thankful for every blessing and every grace which God so mercifully bestows; and this gratitude shews itself in a desire to do the will of God, and in an earnest endeavour to walk in his ways.

T. To be sure: and I look upon a Christian's business to be stated in the service of Baptism; and no man is allowed to be called a Christian, unless he is pledged to act as such. But, as this pledge was entered into for us at Baptism by others, if we would be considered as Christians, now we are of age to think for ourselves, and if we would be so in the eyes of God, we must desire to renew this vow; and we must do it, as if we really wished and intended to keep it. We know what the vow is.

It is, 1st, "to renounce the devil and all his works," to give up every thing that we know to be contrary to the will of God;-"the pomps and vanities of this wicked world," every thing that is contrary to godliness, however it may be practised by the world around us ;-" all the sinful lusts of the flesh," all those practices which go to the indulgence of the body, if they are contrary to the purity of the soul.

2dly, We are bound as Christians" to believe all the articles of the Christian faith;" to accept with sincere trust and confidence all that is written in the Christian Scriptures, and to look for salvation to the method by which it is there promised, i.e. through the merits of our blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

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3dly, We are bound to live like Christians, keep God's holy will and commandments, and walk in the same all the days of our lives."-Now these are solemn promises. But they are all such as Christians are, and must be, bound by: but, when we engage publicly to be bound by them, we ought certainly to do this with the greatest seriousness, and most devout attention.

W. We ought, indeed.

T. I remember, when I went to be confirmed, the Churchwarden sent us all in a waggon, and we were laughing and playing the whole of the way, and so were in no very good state to go about such a solemn work; and then, after the Service was over, we were taken to the alehouse, and had bread and cheese and beer, and we all thought it nothing else but a fine holiday.

W. Why, Thomas, I must say a word for the Churchwarden there for the town is rather too far to walk to, and he took you in his waggon, that you might not go in hot and weary; so that this was meant as an accommodation to you. If you joined in improper conversation, and drove good thoughts out of your minds, it was your own faults, you know. T. To be sure it was.

W. And then again-after the Service, it was needful that you should have some refreshment, and you were therefore taken to the public-house to get it; if you behaved ill there, it was your own faults again.

T. O yes, I know it; but yet it seems to me that it is a great matter to keep the mind in a right state, on such occasions, and therefore nothing should be done which is likely to drive out good thoughts, and put in bad ones; I should be very sorry to have my boy led into any temptation, on that day, to forget what a solemn engagement he was undertaking; and, rather than run any risk of it, I would willingly give up my day's work for the sake of going with him myself, that he might thus stand a better chance of keeping out of harm's way.

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W. Why, I think it would be your duty to do so. But I should hope there would not be any occasion for it; for you know what great pains our good Clergyman has taken to teach all the young people how solemnly they ought to have their minds turned to the business they are engaging in:-and you

know how particular he and the Gentlemen of the Parish were in fixing upon such Churchwardens as had a right and religious knowledge of their Christian duties ;--and you know, besides, how desirous they were that both the Clerk and the Schoolmaster should be truly Christian men;-and I think they are such ;-so that whoever goes with the children to the Confirmation, they will en-' deavour to keep them out of the way of what is wrong, and will try to fix their minds on the subject which at such a time ought most to be in their minds.

T. Why, yes, I believe no Parish can be better off than our's in these respects. I know the Clergyman will have an eye to them himself:-and, when he is obliged to be away, still they will be in good, hands.

W. I think so; and I truly hope that God's blessing may be with them, they may all be, what in this Service they pledge themselves to be, the faithful servants of God-and that they may be his for ever.

T. Yes; we cannot pray for them in words, better than those which the Church appoints the Bishop himself to use on laying his hands on the children." Defend, O Lord, this thy child with thy heavenly grace, that he may continue thine for ever, and daily increase in thy Holy Spirit more and more, until he come unto thy everlasting kingdom."

V.

RICHARD MORGAN.

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THERE is not a neater cottage in the village of Brooksby than Richard Morgan's, and there is not a more creditable cleanly-looking man in the parish than Richard himself. It is a pleasant sight to see Richard and his wife going to church together on a Sunday morning, with their bibles and their prayer books in their hands.

Their children go to the Sunday School; and the Clergyman and the Schoolmaster both say, that they are the best children in the school. They always come to school in good time; and, when they are there, they give great attention to all that is said to them, and they try to get all the learning and improvement they can. When they are in the church, they never think of talking to the boys, or the girls that may be near them; but they consider that they are in the house of God, and that God hath said, "My house shall be called the house of prayer." They therefore think about what they are doing, when they are in the church; they consider the meaning of the prayers, and they offer them with a sincere desire to be heard, and to receive the blessings which they ask for and when

the lessons are read, they give great attention to profit by them; and they listen to the sermon with a desire to remember it and to be the better for it. Now every child in the school is taught to do the same; but every child does not mind what is said; therefore it is that we see many of them doing quite contrary to what they are told, and learning but very little at school, and, when they are at church, behaving just as if they did not know what a holy place they were in.

I remember Richard Morgan when he was quite a boy. There was not a more diligent lad in the school. Whatever his master required him to do, he did it willingly and cheerfully, and he took great pains to learn his lessons well, and to improve. "I know," said he, "that there would not be so much pains taken to teach us what is right, if it was not for the sake of doing us good; and I will try to get all the benefit I can from coming to school." Richard was always kind and good tempered to his school-fellows; and, instead of vexing them, and quarrelling with them, he always tried to be at peace with them. He was never heard to swear, or to use any other bad words, for he had learned to read his Bible in school, and he knew that wicked words were forbidden by our blessed Saviour himself, and that if he wished to be a true Christian, he must do what his Saviour had commanded. " Of. what use," he said, "is it to read the Scriptures, if we do not try to live according to them?" But Richard knew that it required great pains and diligence and prayer to walk faithfully in the way of the Lord. He therefore watched over his words and actions; and he sought, in prayer, for the Holy Spirit of God to enable him to strive against what was wrong, and to follow what was right. At church, therefore, Richard gave his whole mind to the service; and, in his prayers at home, he was devout and earnest. His good behaviour to his

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