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VOICE FROM RICHMOND, 
 
 AND 
 
 ®tt)er 5lbbr£00e0 
 
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 TO 
 
 CHILDREN AND YOUTH. 
 
 BY THE LATE. 
 
 / 
 
 / 
 
 REV. ROBERT MAY. 
 
 It 
 
 WITH 
 
 A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF THE AUTHOR. 
 
 BEVISED BY THE COMMITTEE OF PUBLICATION OF THE 
 AMERICAN SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION. 
 
 AMERICAN SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 
 No. 146 CHESTNUT STREET. 
 
 / ^' 
 

 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1842, 
 by Herman Cope, Treasurer, in trust for the American Sun- 
 day-school Union, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court 
 of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. 
 
 .<^, 
 
 Stereotyped by L. Johmon, PhUaddphia. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The Rev. Robert May was bom at 
 Woodbridge, in the county of Suffolk, 
 (England,) in 1790; and at the age of 
 sixteen we find him a pupil in the Mis- 
 sionary Seminary at Gosport, (England.) 
 He says of himself, that when he "was 
 about seven or eight years of age he was 
 deeply impressed with his lost state as a 
 sinner, by reading ^ Janeway's Token for 
 Children.' The address at the beginning 
 of the book, and the example in the first 
 part, made a deep impression on his 
 mind.'*' During one of his vacations he 
 joined two of his school-mates in a weekly 
 visit of charity to the parish poor-house, 
 
 and while there his heart was moved 
 
 3 
 
4 PREFACE. 
 
 with pity for the children who were at 
 play in the yard, and for whose souls 
 none seemed to care. Young May in- 
 vited them to come into the house, and 
 hear what was said to the sick people. 
 They were much pleased with the notice 
 that he took of them, especially as most 
 of them were either orphans or friendless 
 children, and seldom received such atten- 
 tion. Several of them followed him into 
 the house, who were soon joined by 
 others, and they were all very still and 
 attentive to what was said. 
 
 So pleasant and useful was the impres- 
 sion made on their minds by this exercise, 
 that it was regularly repeated for several 
 weeks. Mr. May was encouraged by 
 the success of this effort to extend his 
 labours, and in the course of the four fol- 
 lowing years his lectures were attended 
 by upwards of three thousand children. 
 
PREFACE. 5 
 
 In December, 1810, he embarked for 
 India, by way of the United States, and 
 arrived at Philadelphia in March, 1811. 
 He addressed large assemblies of children 
 on two or three occasions, and re-embarked 
 in May, but meeting a heavy gale of 
 wind, which occasioned damage to the 
 ship, he returned to Philadelphia to await 
 a more favourable opportunity for a 
 voyage to India. 
 
 He soon re-commenced his course of 
 lectures, which were attended by many 
 hundreds of children ; and he continued 
 them until he finally embarked for India, 
 where he arrived in August, 1812. He 
 laboured faithfully for six years in that pa- 
 gan land, and on the 11th of August, 1818, 
 he fell asleep in Jesus, and entered into the 
 rest that remaineth for the people of God. 
 
 During the closing hours of his severe 
 illness, his mind wandered, but even then 
 
 1* 
 
6 PREFACE. 
 
 his thoughts were evidently turned towards 
 the Saviour ; for when he fancied some one 
 had brought him a rich present of gold 
 and silver, he refused it, saying, " I want 
 none of your gold and silver, it is the 
 Lord Jesus Christ whom I want." He 
 was a man of a truly catholic spirit, and 
 mourned over every appearance of alien- 
 ation and bitterness among Christians. 
 He was also remarkable for his mildness 
 and evenness of temper, which was one 
 cause of the love which children felt 
 for him. 
 
 The following lectures have been care- 
 fully revised ; the typographical arrange- 
 ment improved, and some embellishments 
 added, under the impression that there 
 are few books better adapted to illustrate 
 and enforce the great principles of religion 
 and moraUty upon the minds of young 
 children. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Lecture Page 
 
 I. — A Voice from Richmond 9 
 
 11. — Divine Arithmetic 33 
 
 III. — David's Dying Advice to his Son . . 53 
 IV. — Advantages of an Early Love to Jesus 73 
 
 v.— The Character of the Child's best 
 
 Friend 101 
 
 VI.— Christ in the Temple 125 
 
 VII.— The Good Child's Petition .... 149 
 
 VIII.— The Way to be Wise 173 
 
 IX. — Danger of Bad Company . . . .195 
 
 X. — Obedience to Parents . . . . . .215 
 
 XL— Duties of the School 235 
 
 XII. — A Word in Season ; or, Death and 
 
 Judgment 255 
 
 XIIL— The Missionary's Farewell .... 280 
 
VOICE FROM RICHMOND. 
 
 LECTURE I. 
 
 A Voice from Richmond. 
 Rom. vi. 21. — " For the end of those things is deaths 
 My DEAR yOUNG FRIENDS, 
 
 You are come, this afternoon, to im- 
 prove the awful calamity which happened 
 about five weeks ago at Richmond, in 
 Virginia,* with the particulars of which 
 
 * The following brief narrative of the calamity 
 is authentic : 
 
 It took place on the night of the 26th of Decem- 
 ber, 1811. The theatre, which was built entirely 
 of wood, and otherwise badly constructed, stood 
 upon the brow of Shockhoe hill, and upon the 
 very spot which is now the site of what is called 
 the Monumental Church. On this night, particu- 
 
 9 
 
10 A VOICE FROM RICHMOND. 
 
 you are but too well acquainted. Would 
 
 to God they were less mournful, and the 
 
 young and lovely sufferers less numerous. 
 
 In the long list of the dead and missing 
 
 larly, a new play and pantomime had been got up, 
 and a large and brilliant crowd of gentlemen and 
 ladies, of the very flower of the population, em- 
 bracing the newly elected governor of the Common- 
 wealth, and many citizens of wealth and fashion, 
 were assembled at an early hour to enjoy the enter- 
 tainments of the evening. It was truly a brilliant 
 display ; and, for some time, all went on gayly and 
 happily enough. The play was over — the first act 
 of the pantomime had passed by — the second and 
 last was now begun — and all eyes were intently 
 fixed upon the actor, who had come forward on the 
 stage towards the lights, and was moving, to the 
 music of the orchestra — when suddenly a bustling 
 noise was heard from behind the scenes, towards 
 the rear of the building. This, it seems, was oc- 
 casioned by the fact that a servant who had been 
 ordered to hoist up a chandelier, in doing so had 
 got the rope entangled, and jerking to clear it, 
 had swung it against one of the painted scenes, 
 which instantly caught fire, and sent up a sheet of 
 flame to the roof. This was not plastered, but 
 consisting only of rafters covered with light pine 
 
A VOICE PROM RICHMOND. 11 
 
 we find no less than thirty-six young 
 persons, in the prime of life, lovely as 
 morning rose buds, and fair as the flowers 
 of spring. And to this list, I believe, may 
 
 boards and shingles, very dry, it kindled at once ; 
 and the actors, with their assistants, were trying 
 to tear down the scenes, to put out the fire. This 
 movement, however, was not immediately seen 
 by the spectators, being hidden from their view 
 by the interposing scene; and they were still 
 watching the progress of the piece, when they 
 saw a shower of sparks and burning matter fall 
 upon the actor before them. At this some were 
 startled, while others apparently thought that it 
 might be only a part of the show. A moment 
 afterwards, some one exclaimed, "There is no 
 danger," and only forced the sense of it more 
 strongly upon their fears ; when one of the per- 
 formers rushed forward to the front of the staore, 
 and cried, " the house is on fire," — pointing at the 
 same time to the ceiling, where the fire was now 
 seen running like lightning along the roof. In- 
 stantly, all was horror and dismay. The cry of 
 " fire !" " fire !" rang through the building, mingled 
 with the shrieks of women and children, in frantic 
 consternation. Husbands looked for their wives — 
 mothers for their children — while some, almost 
 
12 A VOICE FROM RICHMOND. 
 
 be added, six dear little children, who 
 perished in the flames. The exact num- 
 ber of persons, young and old, will per- 
 haps never be ascertained, but it is sup- 
 
 frenzied by the sense of danger, thought only of 
 themselves. 
 
 There was, of course, a general rush of all at 
 once to escape out of the house as fast as possible, 
 by the nearest way. Those in the pit easily got to 
 the outer door, which was not far off. Those in 
 the galleries also, or most of them, flying down the 
 stairs, soon passed into the street. But the spec- 
 tators in the boxes were not so fortunate. Some 
 few of them, indeed, had leaped into the pit, and 
 got out with the rest from that part, and a few 
 others had been helped on to the stage, and hurried 
 oflf the back way; while a small number still 
 bravely kept their seats, only to meet the fate 
 which they hoped to avoid ; but the great mass of 
 them, crowding tumultuously into the narrow lob- 
 bies, in the wildest disorder, stopped each others' 
 progress towards the door, while the suffocating 
 smoke, which soon filled the house, extinguished 
 the lights and stifled its victims ; and the flames, 
 which now flashed in lurid sheets, as they ran 
 along the light wooden work of the boxes, caught 
 the clothes of the fugitives in the rear, and wrapped 
 
A VOICE FROM RICHMOND. 13 
 
 posed to be nearly two hundred ! Let us 
 
 pause Is it true? Or did 1 only 
 
 dream, that thirty-six young persons 
 perished in the flames? Did I read that 
 
 them at once in palls of fire and death. Happy 
 
 now were those who had reached the windows, 
 
 where a stream of fresh air from without revived 
 
 their failing senses, and enabled them to hurry on 
 
 for their lives, or to escape perhaps to the ground. 
 
 For by this time, many of those who had got out 
 
 from the pit and galleries were seen gathered in 
 
 crowds below, stretching out their arms, and calling 
 
 on those within to leap into them for safely. 
 
 Some did so from the first, and some even from the 
 
 second story ; and a number escaped in this way, 
 
 while a few were either killed, or shockingly 
 
 mangled by the fall. Those, in the meantime, who 
 
 had succeeded so far as to clear the lobbies, found 
 
 themselves again stopped, and straitened in the 
 
 narrow angular stairs that ran from the landing of 
 
 the boxes into the common entry, or pent up in the 
 
 small passage at the bottom, where the only door 
 
 which opened inwards had been shut to by the 
 
 rushing crowd, and could not be forced back for 
 
 some time, even by the help of hands from without. 
 
 Here, then, some were crushed to death by others, 
 
 who, even less happy, escaped at last over their 
 
 2 
 
14 A VOICE FROM RICHMOND. 
 
 five or six children lost their lives in the 
 burning ruins of the theatre at Richmond? 
 What must their parents feel ? I think I 
 see their burnt and mangled bodies, 
 
 dead bodies, through the door now opened, but 
 horribly scorched or burnt, and only to die in the 
 arms of their shuddering friends. 
 
 By this time, (although only six or seven mi- 
 nutes had passed,) the whole house was in a light 
 blaze, that brightened the windows of the houses 
 far and near with its dismal light; the bells were 
 tolling with most appalling sound ; and hundreds 
 of citizens, roused from their beds, and alarmed 
 for the safety of their relatives and friends, were 
 rushing to the scene, but too late to save, or find 
 them. The rest may be imagined, but cannot, and 
 perhaps ought not to be described. There was no 
 sleep in Richmond that night; but the voice of 
 weeping was heard from many dwellings. 
 
 The day after this awful occurrence, the Com- 
 mon Council of the city convened, and passed a 
 resolution prohibiting all public amusements within 
 the limits, for four months ensuing ; and a meeting 
 of citizens was held in the capitol, at which it was 
 resolved, that the remains of the dead should be 
 collected and buried together on the spot where 
 they had expired ; and that a monument should be 
 
A VOICE FROM RICHMOND. 15 
 
 wrapped carefully up, and carried to their 
 houses of mourning from the house of 
 mirth. I see them but in part. Their 
 half burnt bodies and their smoking 
 bones ! I pity them, but they are now 
 beyond my pity I I could weep with 
 weeping parents, and sympathize with 
 sorrowful brothers and sisters, but they 
 cannot see my tears. 
 
 " may our sympathizing breasts 
 That gen'rous pleasure know, 
 
 Kindle to share in others' joy, 
 And weep for others' wo." 
 
 Their remains are now deposited in the 
 house appointed for all living. Their 
 ashes rest in peace, within the silent tomb. 
 There they will be undisturbed, till that 
 trump shall sound which shall call the 
 dead to arise and come to judgment. 
 
 raised over them to record the remembrance of their 
 fate. And it was also determined, that a day 
 should be set apart for fasting, humiliation, and 
 prayer, in commemoration of an event, in which all 
 who had any sense of piety could not but see and 
 acknowledge, that the hand of God had been most 
 strikingly and affectingly displayed. 
 
16 A VOICE FROM RICHMOND. 
 
 Hark ! from the eternal world, I hear a 
 voice ! To you, my dear young friends, 
 that voice is directed. Methinks the de- 
 parted spirit of one of those dear children 
 is now before me : — Attend to the solemn 
 admonition. 
 
 " I have a message from God unto you. 
 Shun the theatre: avoid the haunts of 
 Satan, the destroyer of your souls. Seek 
 for real pleasure. Do not pursue the 
 phantom of imaginary happiness, which 
 will at last deceive you. It may seem to 
 be delightful, it appeared the same to me, 
 but I now find that I have been fatally 
 mistaken. My sun went down while it 
 was yet day. How awful the change ! 
 From the meridian splendour of a noon- 
 day sun, to be suddenly enveloped in 
 midnight darkness ! Yes, with the black- 
 ness of darkness forever ! Five weeks 
 ago, I was in life, blooming, healthy and 
 gay. I thought, like many others, that 
 there was no harm in attending on the 
 amusements of the theatre, and from per- 
 suasion and example I was confirmed in 
 
A VOICE FROM RICHMOND. 17 
 
 my opinion. That very afternoon, I 
 laughed at a young lady for saying that 
 * the theatre was a very improper place ; 
 that many had been ruined, body and 
 soul, by attending at such places of amuse- 
 ment.' Ah, my young friends, I wish I 
 had felt the force of her observation. I 
 went. I expected pleasure, and for a 
 short time I joined the laugh of those 
 around me, and mingled my smiles with 
 their shouts of applause. The whole 
 scene was before us ; all around was mirth 
 and pleasure; but in two minutes after, I 
 was surrounded with cries of anguish and 
 despair. Suffocated with smoke, I fainted 
 and fell, blazing, into the pit, and was 
 crushed and covered with the burning 
 ruins. I was unprepared for death, and 
 hurried unexpectedly into eternity. My 
 state is now unalterably fixed forever." 
 Attend to the warning. Behold the dis- 
 pleasure of a holy God. Profit by the 
 warning thus awfully given, and remem- 
 ber that "the end of these things is 
 death." 2* 
 
18 A VOICE FROM RICHMOND. 
 
 " See the short course of vain delight, 
 Closing in everlasting night; 
 In flames that no abatement know, 
 Though briny tears forever flovi^." 
 
 Let us inquire, or rather speak of those 
 things, the end of which is sometimes 
 death. It is not necessary what things 
 those are, in particular, that the apostle 
 means. It is sufficient to say, that he 
 means all kinds of sinful pleasures in 
 general : all that is in the world, the lust 
 of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the 
 pride of life. These things are not from 
 God, but from man, from the world. 
 
 1. There are sports in which the young 
 engage, which sometimes prove, in the end, 
 to be both temporal and eternal death ; I 
 mean those which employ the leisure 
 hours of the thoughtless and wicked child. 
 At this season of the year, when you are 
 in the habit of skating on the weak ice, 
 it breaks under you, and you have no time 
 or warning to escape from being buried in 
 a watery grave. Sailing on the water in 
 a boat, conducted by unskilful managers : 
 
A VOICE FROM RICHMOND. 19 
 
 swinging, when the rope is not well se- 
 cured on the beam, or on the branch of a 
 tree, nor sufficiently strong: climbing a 
 lofty tree : walking on the roof of a house 
 &c., in many such ways you may receive 
 a fall, the end of which may be death. 
 A few months ago, a little boy fell from 
 the roof of a house, and was killed on the 
 spot. Bathing is extremely healthy, only 
 you should take care not to go in too far, 
 for fear of being out of your depth ; you 
 should not stop in the water too long at 
 once, and never bathe when you are warm. 
 Balancing upon a plank laid across a tree 
 or piece of timber sometimes proves dan- 
 gerous, for when the plank slips, the ba- 
 lance is lost ; and the child that is hoisted 
 up may fall and hurt himself. The plea- 
 sures of the dancing-room are also dan- 
 gerous. Let me ask you why you learn 
 to dance ? It may be answered, " that I 
 may know how to behave in a polite com- 
 pany, that I may know how to enter a 
 room and leave it in a suitable manner ; 
 
20 A VOICE FROM RICHMOND. 
 
 that I may be able to make an elegant 
 courtesy, or a graceful bow.'' 
 
 Cannot these be learned without spend- 
 ing so much time ? 
 
 " But where is the harm of dancing ?'' 
 
 The only harm that I can see in the 
 thing itself is, that time is wasted which 
 might be much better employed. It is 
 not the dancing only, but it is the time 
 it consumes, the company to which it 
 leads, the health which it destro^^s ; it is 
 that the mind is taken from things of 
 greater importance. 
 
 2. The follies of the card table. There 
 are different kinds of cards. There are 
 playing cards, and these are most general- 
 ly used. There are conversation cards. 
 There are geographical, and puzzling 
 cards; and there are Scripture cards. You 
 may not be acquainted with all these 
 different kinds of cards, but I have seen 
 them all. Playing cards are those used 
 in card parties in general, and they are the 
 cards which are the most useless, waste 
 the most time and the most property. 
 
A VOICE FROM RICHMOND. 21 
 
 " Well, but there is no harm in them, 
 if we do not play for money ?" 
 
 Yes, there is harm ; it is a kind of silent 
 gaming, which has often ended in pover- 
 ty, misery, shame and death. There are 
 conversation cards, but there are different 
 kinds of them ; some of which are more fit 
 for the fire than for the amusement of the 
 young. Some of them contain useful and 
 entertaining questions, which are answered 
 in such an interesting manner as to give 
 pleasure to all who use them. 
 
 3. There are geographical cards, which 
 are very useful and improving to the 
 young. For example, a geographical card 
 contains a geographical question, and this 
 is answered by a card which gives a short 
 description of the country, extent, bound- 
 aries, rivers, population, capital, curiosities, 
 &c. Puzzling cards are sometimes very 
 amusing and entertaining indeed, as eacli 
 card contains an emblem or representation, 
 and is the name of some animal, flower, 
 country, nation, or trade. There are Scrip- 
 ture cards, which are suitable for those 
 
22 A VOICE FROM RICHMOND. 
 
 children who love their Bibles, and who 
 love their Saviour and their Maker. They 
 contain some interesting questions or pas- 
 sage of Scripture. All these kinds, except 
 the first, will improve your minds, extend 
 your knowledge, and promote useful con- 
 versation; while, at the same time, you 
 are amused and entertained in a delightful 
 manner. But how persons who have souls 
 to be saved can spend so much time in 
 throwing down and taking up pieces of 
 painted paper, is indeed truly wonderful. 
 What conversation passes at the card table, 
 how insignificant, how trifling, how non- 
 sensical, how sinful and wicked, when the 
 same time might be usefully employed ! 
 
 4. Theamusementof the theatre. — Here, 
 my young friends, I shall have reason to 
 rejoice if I can but prevent one of you 
 from attending at this destructive place. 
 0, to save one soul from infamy and ruin 
 would give me more pleasure than to gain 
 ten thousand worlds ! 
 
 It has been said, that the theatre is a 
 useful school, in which persons may learn 
 
A VOICE FROJr RICHMOND. 23 
 
 much, if they please. Much of what? 
 Much of evil ; much of vice. Tell me 
 what the lessons are that are taught in a 
 theatre ? Is not the holy name of Jehovah 
 trifled with, blasphemed and profaned ? 
 Tell me of one rake reformed in a theatre, 
 and I will tell you of a thousand who have 
 been made the most abandoned rakes bv 
 it. Tell me of one drunkard who has been 
 made sober at the theatre, and I will tell 
 you of a thousand who have been made 
 drunkards there. Tell me of one spend- 
 thrift who has been taught at the theatre to 
 be careful of his character, his time, and 
 money, and I will tell you of many who 
 have been taught to be careless of their 
 time and their property. Tell me if at 
 the theatre the heart is made better, or the 
 mind improved, and I will tell you that 
 many learn their worst vices in a theatre, 
 that hearts have been more depraved there 
 than they were before, and the mind is 
 polluted there by poison the most deadly. 
 It has been said, that many good senti- 
 ments may be heard at the theatre ; but 
 
24 A VOICE FROM RICHMOND. 
 
 for one good one that you hear, there are 
 hundreds, nay, thousands of sentiments 
 that are evil. The sentiments contained 
 in plays are either immoral or impure. 
 That there are some few good sentiments, 
 I do not deny ; but the heart is so depraved 
 that it is prone to that which is evil and 
 averse to that which is good. 
 
 Some say, it is a harmless diversion ; an 
 innocent amusement. This I deny. The 
 scenes and amusements of the theatre are 
 not so. When the play is over, you are 
 unfit for serious reflection, the mind is 
 dejected, weakened, relaxed and injured. 
 Are there not amusements more rational, 
 better suited to an immortal mind, and less 
 expensive too ? 
 
 " But," says one, "you call the theatre a 
 bad place, and endeavour to persuade us 
 not to go. I have heard that a person may 
 learn as much by seeing a good play, as 
 by hearing a good sermon. '^ 
 
 A good play, did you say ? There are 
 none good, no, not one. Virtue is painted 
 in an angel's form and Vice wears the 
 
A VOICE FROM RICHMOND. 25 
 
 shape of the devil. ReUgion is ridiculed, 
 and serious things treated with mockery 
 and contempt. Can you learn at a theatre 
 that the heart is deceitful ? That your 
 natures are depraved ? That man is not 
 what he was when he came from the 
 hands of his Creator ? Did you ever hear 
 at a theatre that you were poor, lost and 
 guilty sinners ; that without a Saviour, 
 without pardon of sin and holiness of heart, 
 you must be miserable forever ? 
 
 " But," says another, "it is a place of di- 
 version, and we are not always to.be think- 
 ing about religion ; we should be poor, 
 moping, melancholy creatures, if we were 
 always thinking on that which is good." 
 
 True, it is a place of diversion, a place 
 of sinful pleasure and of guilty joy, where 
 you feast your eyes with evil, your ears 
 with profaneness, your hearts with impu- 
 rity and sin. All your depraved passions 
 are excited to the uttermost. 
 
 Are there no pleasures equal to those 
 of a theatre ? Can an immortal soul be 
 satisfied with such vain delights ? There 
 
 3 
 
26 A VOICE FROM RICHMOND. 
 
 are no pleasures equal to those which 
 religion and early piety can give. These 
 are suitable, solid, innocent and lasting. 
 They will bear repeating, they will endure 
 forever. 
 
 " I do not go often to the theatre.'' 
 
 But why go at all ? A play is such a 
 bewitching, captivating thing, that when 
 you have been once, you will want to go 
 again. The eye is never satisfied with 
 seeing, nor the ear with hearing. 
 
 " If I do go, I will take care to sit where 
 I can easily escape." 
 
 But however good your situation may 
 be, you may be prevented from escaping. 
 Where you think yourself most secure, 
 you may be in the greatest danger. 
 
 "But there are no less than 'sixteen 
 ways' of escape, if the theatre should take 
 fire ; the doors open 'outward and inward,' 
 so that there would be no danger." 
 
 Notwithstanding all these doors and 
 windows, you may be in danger. You 
 do not consider, that upon the alarm of 
 fire, what confusion, what agitation of 
 
A VOICE FROM RICHMOND. 27 
 
 mind follows on such occasions. If all 
 these means of safety could be employed, 
 yet such would be the state of mind, that 
 amidst the bustle they would be forgotten. 
 Drury Lane theatre, in London, was burnt, 
 notwithstanding every means used to pre- 
 vent it. It would be almost a miracle if 
 all these doors could be opened, and amidst 
 the crowd and hurry of escape some were 
 not beaten down, and trodden under foot. 
 Who so likely as the fainting female, or 
 the little boy ? and if one life were lost, 
 can you tell that it would not be yours ? 
 
 " But my parents, my companions go ; 
 they think there is no harm, no danger in 
 attending the theatre, why should I ? I 
 shall be as safe as they; do you think they 
 would go if there Avas any harm or dan- 
 ger !" 
 
 Too many persons think only of the 
 pleasure, and forget the pain ; if they can 
 taste the sweet of a play, they run the 
 hazard of swallowing the bitter with it. 
 So intent were the inhabitants of Rich- 
 mond on the pleasures of the theatre, that 
 
28 A VOICE FROM RICHMOND. 
 
 they forgot those means of safety which 
 might have been provided. They were 
 thoughtless of the danger. They delayed 
 to open new doors, to make the narrow 
 winding staircase, open, straight, and wide : 
 they "trusted and were ruined !" They pe- 
 rished at last, as they think, by their own 
 neglect; but it was the hand of God alone. 
 " But to suppose the worst, and I 
 should lose my life and perish in the 
 flames, I am safe after all. I shall go to 
 heaven. I read these words, written by 
 a gentleman at Richmond — 'Yes, all Rich- 
 mond is in tears ; children have lost their 
 parents, parents have lost their children. 
 Yesterday, a beloved daughter gladdened 
 my heart with her innocent smiles. To- 
 day she is in heaven. God gave her to 
 me, and God — yes, it has pleased Almighty 
 God to take her from me. sir, feel for 
 me ; and not for me only. Arm yourself 
 with fortitude, whilst I discharge the 
 mournful duty of telling you, that you 
 have to feel also for yourself Yes, for it 
 must be told, you also were the father of 
 
A VOICE FROM RICHMOND. 29 
 
 an amiable daughter, now, like my be- 
 loved child, gone to join her mother in 
 heaven. moment of inexpressible hor- 
 ror ! Nothing I can say can paint the 
 awful, shocking, maddening scene. The 
 images of both my dear children were 
 before me ; but I was removed by an im- 
 passable crowd from the dear sufferers. 
 The youngest, with gratitude to Heaven 
 I write it, sprang towards the voice of her 
 father, reached my assisting hand, and was 
 extricated from the overwhelming mass 
 that soon choked the passage by the stairs; 
 but no efforts could avail me to reach, or 
 even gain sight of the other. And my 
 dear, dear Margaret, and your sweet 
 Mary, with her companions. Miss G * * * * 
 and Miss G ***** *, passed together and 
 at once into a happier world.' " 
 
 Whatever influence these expressions 
 may have upon your minds, it is my duty 
 to remove them. The young persons 
 here spoken of are unknown to me ; but if 
 they were like other young persons who 
 generally attend the amusements of the 
 
 3* 
 
30 A VOICE FROM RICHMOND. 
 
 theatre, however beautiful or lovely in 
 their person, however amiable in their dis- 
 position, and moral in their conduct, yet, 
 if they were strangers to the grace of God; 
 if their hearts were not renewed and their 
 sins pardoned ; if they were lovers of 
 pleasure more than lovers of God, my 
 Bible tells me, they are not in heaven. 
 The fondness of a parent's love may think, 
 or rather wish them there, but if they were 
 not beloved by their heavenly Father, as 
 well as their earthly parents, they are not 
 the inhabitants of that place, where " there 
 is fulness of joy, and where there are 
 pleasures for evermore." They might be 
 ignorant of the danger of attending a 
 theatre ; but I think no pious parents 
 would permit their children to attend at a 
 place so dangerous and injurious to their 
 morals, their reputation, and their souls. 
 
 It is the duty of parents to put their 
 children in mind of these things. I would 
 much rather meet death in any other place 
 than a theatre. Therefore, my young 
 friends, take heed ; be not carried away 
 
A VOICE FROM RICHMOND. 31 
 
 with the hasty expressions of mourning, 
 affectionate parents : " Be not deceived ; 
 whatsoever a man soweth, that he shall 
 also reap ; for he that soweth to the flesh, 
 shall of the flesh reap corruption ; and he 
 that soweth to the Spirit, shall of the Spirit 
 reap life everlasting." 
 
 And now, my dear young friends, let 
 me earnestly exhort you to seek such 
 amusements as are healthy, innocent, and 
 useful: but avoid, as you would a serpent, 
 the amusement of the theatre. 
 
 The haunts of the theatre lead down 
 to the gates of eternal death ; but the 
 ways of religion " are ways of pleasant- 
 ness, and all her paths are peace." 
 
 then, my dear young friends, be not 
 partakers in the sins of others, lest God, 
 in his awful displeasure, should make you 
 partakers in their punishment. Remem- 
 ber that, whatever you may think, the 
 word of God says *'the end of these things 
 is death." It has been so in the awful 
 experience of many — death to the body, 
 and eternal death to the soul. 
 
32 A VOICE FROM RICHMOND. 
 
 "Children, awake, nor slumbering lie 
 Amidst the gloomy haunts of death ; 
 Perhaps the awful hour is nigh 
 That takes away your parting breath. 
 
 " That awful hour will soon appear ; 
 Swift on the wings of time it flies : 
 When all that pains or pleases here 
 Will vanish from your closing eyes. 
 
 " Death calls your friends, your parents hence, 
 None can resist the fatal dart ; 
 Continual voices strike your sense, 
 And shall they fail to reach your heart 1 
 
 ** Shall gay amusements rise between, 
 When scenes of horror spread around 1 
 Death's pointed arrows fly unseen, 
 
 But ah, how sure, how deep they wound ! 
 
 "Think, dear young friends, how much depends 
 On the short period of a day ; 
 Shall time, which Heaven in mercy lends, 
 Be negligently thrown away 1 
 
 " Insure your nobler life on high, 
 
 Life from a dying Saviour's blood! 
 Then, though your minutes swiftly fly, 
 They bear you nearer to your God." 
 
DIVINE ARITHMETIC. 33 
 
 LECTURE IL 
 
 Divine Arithmetic. 
 
 Psalm xc. 12. — "<Sb teach us to number our days^ 
 that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.''^ 
 
 My young friends, 
 
 Time is short, eternity will last forever. 
 Youth and beauty are but fading flowers. 
 Health is the greatest blessing we can 
 enjoy. Therefore, let us improve the 
 morning of life. Youth is indeed a time 
 of harvest. In it, you may reap an abun- 
 dant crop of real pleasure and useful 
 knowledge. Now it is summer time with 
 my dear young friends, but remember 
 that the winter of old age will soon ap- 
 proach. Make your hay while the sun 
 shines. " Remember now thy Creator in 
 the days of thy youth." 
 
 Time is represented as a little old man 
 with a bald head, except a lock of hair 
 
34 DIVINE ARITHMETIC. 
 
 on the forehead, intimating that we should 
 improve the present moment, for when it 
 is past, it cannot be laid hold of. 
 
 " One lock in front the ancients placed; 
 The head behind was bald, 
 To show that time, when once 'tis past, 
 Can never be recalled." 
 
 He has also an hour-glass and a scythe, 
 beside him or in his hand, all of which 
 are to remind us that all things beneath 
 the sun are transitory and swiftly pass 
 away. 
 
 We are told that time has four eyes, 
 two before and two behind, two of which 
 are always open and two are shut, to de- 
 note that time regards what is past as 
 well as what is to come. 
 
 Time is also painted with four wings, 
 two stretched out as if he was flying, and 
 two lying close to his back, as if he was 
 standing still. 
 
 Time and tide, the proverb says, stay 
 for no man. You may think that there 
 is time enough yet to think of religion, 
 death and eternity ; but remember how 
 
DIVINE ARITHMETIC. 35 
 
 much there is to do, and how short a space 
 of time there may be in which to do so 
 great a work. Bad children are in general 
 very great wasters of time. As every 
 shred of gold is precious, so is every mo- 
 ment of time. Make good use of your 
 time, if you wish to be happy in eternity. 
 Yesterday cannot be recalled. Seize 
 time by the forelock. 
 
 To-morrow is not yours ; to-day is all 
 that you can call your own, which, if 
 you delay, you lose ; and when lost it is 
 lost forever. One day present, is worth 
 two to come. Time is given us that we 
 may prepare for eternity, and eternity will 
 not be too long to regret the loss of our 
 time, if we have mispent it. Time is one 
 of those blessings which we want most, 
 but use the worst, and for which we must 
 give an account when time shall be no 
 more. 
 
 A very rich, but a very wicked man, 
 who died in England some years ago, 
 with his last agonizing breath cried out, 
 "Twenty thousand pounds for a week, 
 
36 DIVINE ARITHMETIC. 
 
 sixty thousand for a day, and an hundred 
 thousand for an hour." With these awful 
 but unavaiHng expressions on his lips, he 
 expired, leaving behind him a solemn 
 warning to all to redeem their time. 
 my dear young friends, let us turn the 
 words of our text into a prayer, and say 
 with Moses, that holy man of God, " So 
 teach us to number our days that we may 
 apply our hearts unto wisdom." 
 
 I. Let us look at the school in which 
 this holy art of numbering our days is 
 taught. The only school in which we can 
 learn to number our days, improve our 
 time, and apply our hearts to true wisdom, 
 is the present world. It is in this life only 
 that we can seek the salvation of the soul, 
 and by the Spirit of God be prepared for 
 eternal life in the world to come. 
 
 In what respects does this world resemble 
 a school ? 
 
 In a school different branches of educa- 
 tion are taught. It is there that children 
 are instructed to speak properly, to think 
 closely, to hear attentively, to read correct- 
 
DIVINE ARITHMETIC. 37 
 
 ly, and to copy faithfully whatever is laid 
 before them for imitation. In the world, 
 different examples of evil and good are 
 before our eyes, and those who cannot read 
 books can read lives, and though unable 
 to copy a single letter in the alphabet, yet 
 they can and do follow the examples of 
 others, and tread in the steps of playmates, 
 school-fellows and parents. Youth are too 
 apt to follow a bad example rather than a 
 good one. This world is a place of learn- 
 ing, and its inhabitants are growing wiser 
 every day. 
 
 In a school, children are under some 
 restraint. It is so in the present world. 
 What a great regard have many for the 
 opinion of the world. Many there are 
 who would not be ashamed to sin openly, 
 were it not for fear of what the world 
 would say of them. 
 
 In a school, children are divided into 
 difterent classes. The world, or the peo- 
 ple in it, are divided by the Bible into 
 two great classes, the righteous and the 
 wicked, or the good and the bad. 
 
 4 
 
38 DIVINE ARITHMETIC. 
 
 In a school, tliere is sometimes much 
 noise and bustle, especially in coming in 
 and going out. So it is with many persons, 
 there is much noise and bustle when they 
 enter this world, and when they go out. 
 
 In a school, the scholars frequently re- 
 move and others fill their places. So 
 it is in the present world, one generation 
 passeth away and another cometh. 
 
 In a school, there is a vacation or holi- 
 day when children usually rest from their 
 lessons and duties for a time. At death, 
 when persons leave the present world, 
 they rest from all their toils and all their 
 labours ; they die and go to their long home. 
 
 "'Tis God has placed us in this school, 
 Where every lesson of his grace 
 And all the discipline and rule 
 Prepare us for a heavenly place." 
 
 II. Inquire for the Teacher. The art 
 of numbering our days is a holy art, and 
 can be taught only by a divine teacher. It 
 is heavenly wisdom to which we are to 
 apply our hearts, and this can only be done 
 by the assistance of a divine teacher. It 
 
DIVINE ARITHMETIC. 39 
 
 is the Lord alone that can give us time. 
 It is to him that we must give an account 
 of a talent so precious, and it is He alone 
 that can teach by his Spirit how to improve 
 it. Happy, my dear young friends, will 
 it be for you to have such a Teacher as the 
 Spirit of the Lord. 
 
 It is the Lord alone that can teach us 
 the true value of our time. We are often 
 reminded in the word of God of the short- 
 ness of time. " What is your life ?" saith 
 the apostle ; " it is even as a vapour which 
 appeareth for a little time and then vanish- 
 eth away." Remember the time is short. 
 Redeem the time, because the days are evil. 
 God, who is liberal in all other blessings, 
 teaches us by the wisdom of his provi- 
 dence how careful we ought to be in the 
 improvement of our time. God never 
 gives two moments together. He gives 
 us only the second as he takes away the 
 first, and keeps the third moment entirely 
 in his own power, and we are left in an 
 absolute uncertainty whether he will give 
 it to us or not. 
 
40 DIVINE ARITHMETIC. 
 
 "To-day improve," is Wisdom's voice, 
 "To-morrow,*' Folly cries; 
 And still to-morrow 'tis; when oh ! 
 To-day the sinner dies. 
 
 III. The scholars are mentioned next in 
 the words of the text. So teach us. One 
 is saying, Lord, teach me, and another is 
 saying, Lord, teach ine, and a third is say- 
 ing. Lord, teach me. But this is what you 
 ought to say. Lord, teach us all. The scho- 
 lars are very numerous ; what a noble com- 
 pany of scholars do I see before me at this 
 time, and attentive ones too. There are 
 not only a few hundreds or a few thou- 
 sands, but the children in the universe are 
 scholars in this school ; and though it is so 
 very large, yet the Lord is able to teach 
 you all without the assistance of any other 
 teacher. But though the Lord does not 
 
 o 
 
 stand in need of any assistant teacher, yet, 
 like other teachers, he thinks fit to make 
 use of a monitor in this large school. 
 
 Now I think I hear a whisper," Who is 
 the monitor ? who is the monitor?" I will 
 tell you, my dear young friends. The 
 
DIVINE ARITHMETIC. 41 
 
 name of the monitor is Conscience. By 
 him we are reminded of the shortness of 
 time, and the account that we must give, to 
 the great Teacher and Master of assem- 
 bhes, of the manner in which it has been 
 spent. And by this monitor we are fre- 
 quently sharply reproved for the many 
 hours and days that have been wasted in 
 idleness and sinful delight. 
 
 what a sad report does this monitor 
 give to the Teacher, concerning many of 
 the scholars in this school ! 
 
 Some are obstinate scholars ; some are 
 dull scholars ; some are hard-hearted scho- 
 lars ; some are veiy careless, and take no 
 pains at all to improve their time ; but there 
 are a few who seem desirous of numbering 
 their days and applying their hearts unto 
 wisdom. They appear serious and though t- 
 ful, and may soon be distinguished from 
 the other scholars in this school. 
 
 The only school book made use of in 
 this school, is the Bible. The copy you 
 should imitate is a good example, and the 
 
 4* 
 
42 DIVINE ARITHMETIC. 
 
 arithmetic they study is divine. This is 
 the song of the scholars — 
 
 " Well, if our days must run, 
 We'll keep their end in sight, 
 We'll spend them all in wisdom's way. 
 And let them speed their flight." 
 
 IV. I come next to consider the educa- 
 tion spoken of in the text ; that is, what 
 you have to learn. This I shall divide into 
 two branches. 
 
 1st. The art of numbering our days. 
 That you may do it aright, let us begin 
 by enumerating the mercies you have 
 received. 
 
 How many are the days and nights 
 that you have been preserved ! God has 
 blessed you with health and strength; 
 with food and clothing; with kind and 
 indulgent parents. To some of you, God 
 has given pious parents, by whose pray- 
 ers and instructions you have been blessed ; 
 and they have given you a suitable educa- 
 tion. You have been taught a variety of 
 the useful and ornamental branches of 
 education. Some of you have been bless- 
 
DIVINE ARITHMETIC. 43 
 
 ed with pious teachers, and have been 
 taught the principles of that reKgion which 
 alone can make you happy in this life and 
 in the life to come. Many of you not only 
 enjoy every necessary, but the delicacies 
 and comforts of life, and even the super- 
 fluities of life. Many are the religious 
 advantages that you enjoy ; you hear the 
 gospel of Jesus ; you can read the word 
 of God; Jesus is ready to be your best 
 friend, the Holy Spirit waits to teach you, 
 and God himself will be your guide. 
 Even this lecture is a privilege. 
 
 " Great are the blessings we enjoy, 
 Above what millions know ; 
 And when we hear thy holy word, 
 A blessing, Lord, bestow." 
 
 2d. Let us add up, or count the returns 
 that have been made to God for all these 
 mercies. Do you thank God sincerely for 
 his goodness to you ? Have you been obe- 
 dient to your parents and attentive to their 
 advice ? Are you diligent in the duties 
 of the school, and have you made that 
 improvement there which you ought ? 
 
44 DIVINE ARITHMETIC. 
 
 Do you know the principles of religion, 
 or, I might say, do you know your cate- 
 chism ? Have you attended these lectures, 
 or the house of God to hear his word on 
 the Sabbath-day ? Are you thankful for 
 your food and raiment, and other comforts 
 which you enjoy ? I think you ought to 
 be, when you know how many are desti- 
 tute of them. Many persons in Switzer- 
 land, in the year 1803, had no other food 
 than that which was made of bones, chaff, 
 and the bark of a fir-tree. This they dipped 
 in hot water and salt, and ate it instead of 
 bread. And yet how many unthankful 
 children there are in the world ? Do you 
 not often neglect to pray to God ? Do 
 you know Jesus Christ ? Do you love 
 him ? Have you prayed to be taught, by 
 the Spirit of God, how to improve your 
 time and to number your days.^ Did 
 you ever say, 
 
 " O may thy Spirit teach, 
 
 And make my heart receive 
 Those truths which all thy servants preach, 
 And all thy saints believe 1" 
 
DIVINE ARITHMETIC. 45 
 
 3d. Endeavour to subtract the time 
 that has been wasted and lost. So much 
 time wasted in saying, "a Httle more sleep 
 and a httle more slumber ;" so much time 
 wasted in waiting for and eating your 
 food; so much time in dressing and adorn- 
 ing the body ; so much time in idleness 
 and play ; so much time in walking, riding, 
 skating, sliding, on the Sabbath-day; so 
 much time in loitering in the street as you 
 go and as you come home from school ; 
 so much time in learning an idle song, in 
 reading a novel or a romance; so much time 
 spent at the theatre ; so much time at the 
 horse-race; so much time in idle company; 
 so much time in doing nothing at all. A 
 wise man once said, " We all complain of 
 the shortness of time, and yet we have 
 much more than we know what to do 
 with. Our days are either spent in doing 
 nothing at all, or in doing nothing to the 
 purpose ; or in doing that which we ought 
 not to do." Take away the time that has 
 been lost or wasted, and the time spent in 
 
46 DIVINE ARITHMETIC. 
 
 that which is really necessary, how little 
 will remain for God and religion ! 
 
 4th. Proceed to multiply the sins that 
 you have committed during the past year, 
 allowing three sins in each day, one idle 
 word, one sinful action, one evil thought ; 
 multiply this by three, and it will amount 
 to one thousand and ninety-five sins in one 
 year. If we count from the time that 
 you were five years old, and suppose you 
 to be now ten years, by multiplying by 
 five it will amount to five thousand four 
 himdred and seventy-five. If you are 
 fifteen years of age, we may double this 
 number, and by so doing you will find that 
 you have committed ten thousand nine 
 hundred nnd fifty sins in the space of ten 
 years. But this is only allowing you to 
 have committed three sins in one day, while 
 many of you have committed twice and 
 perhaps three times as many. what an 
 amazing number of sins, and for every one 
 of these you must give an account to God ! 
 
 5th. Let us divide the present 3^ear in a 
 suitable manner. There are twenty-four 
 
DIVINE ARITHMETIC. 47 
 
 hours ill one day. Allow eight hours for 
 sleep, eight hours for eating,drinking,dress- 
 ing, reading the Scriptures, praying to God, 
 and other necessary things, and eight hours 
 for going to school, learning your lessons, 
 and storing every knowledge that is good 
 and useful. Let your sport be improve- 
 ment, harmless, useful and healthy. Let 
 no day pass without prayer and reading 
 the Bible or Testament ; and if you were 
 to learn two or three verses every day, 
 only think how many verses that would be 
 in a year ! Let no day pass without doing 
 or obtaining something good. You ought 
 to think that day lost in which you have 
 not learned any thing. An emperor, re- 
 markable for his benevolent actions, cried 
 out one day, at supper-time, " I have lost 
 a day," because in that day he had done 
 not one good action. 
 
 6th. If you would number your days 
 aright, you must pray for the Holy Spirit 
 to assist you to put in practice those di- 
 rections which have been given. Endea- 
 vour to form for yourselves a certain plan 
 
48 DIVINE ARITHMETIC. 
 
 for the regulation of your conduct and 
 the improvement of your time. Abide by 
 that plan, and never depart from it, unless 
 from absolute necessity. One plan will 
 suit you, and another will suit others. All 
 cannot adopt the same, because of their 
 circumstances. Never put off till to- 
 morrow that which ought to be done to- 
 day. 
 
 A second branch of this education is 
 the application of the heart to wisdom. 
 Wisdom consists in using the best means 
 to obtain any particular purpose or end. 
 In every study or business in life, applica- 
 tion is necessary. If you read, you must 
 be attentive. If you hear, you must 
 pay attention. If you write, you must 
 take pains with your copy. If you cipher, 
 you must think and apply your minds. 
 If you are drawing, you must take parti- 
 cular care to imitate the painting before 
 you. If you learn a trade, you must ap- 
 ply your mind ; if you are in business, you 
 must be dihgent. Therefore, if applica- 
 tion is necessary in the things of this life, 
 
DIVINE ARITHMETIC. 49 
 
 it is much more so when we are seeking 
 the salvation of the soul ; for that is the 
 best wisdom. Be wise betimes, and re- 
 member that the beginning of wisdom is 
 the fear of the Lord : 
 
 "The little ants for one poor grain 
 Labour and tug and strive ; 
 But we who have a heaven to obtain. 
 How negligent we live !" 
 
 God may say to some of you, " This 
 year thou shalt die ; with thee time shall 
 be no longer." Now, my young friends, 
 look back upon the year that is past, think 
 how that has been spent, and how much 
 of it has been wasted and lost. Think 
 how little time may now remain. Im- 
 prove it to the utmost of your power. 
 Think on the shortness of human life and 
 the length of eternity. Compare one with 
 the other. 
 
 " 'Tis greatly wise to talk with our past hours, 
 And ask them what report they bore to Heaven, 
 And how they might have borne more welcome 
 news." 
 
 " Seek the Lord while he may be found, 
 call upon him while he is near," for it is 
 
 5 
 
50 DIVINE ARITHMETIC. 
 
 time to apply your heart to that which 
 will engage your souls through an end- 
 less eternity. That you may know how 
 many sins you commit in one year, allow- 
 ing three to each day, it is here set down. 
 
 Days in a year 
 
 Sins in a day .... 
 
 . 365 
 3 
 
 Sins in a year 
 
 Sins in five years, multiply by . 
 
 . 1095 
 5 
 
 
 5475 
 
 For ten years 
 
 . 1095 
 10 
 
 Sins in ten years . . . 10950 
 Offer up the words of the text every day 
 in your prayers to God that he would 
 teach you rightly to number your days. 
 
 " How long sometimes a day appears ! 
 And weeks, how long are they ! 
 Months move along, as if the years 
 Would never pass away. 
 
 " It seems a long, long time ago, 
 That I was taught to read ; 
 And since I was a babe, I know ! 
 'Tis very long indeed. 
 
DIVINE ARITHMETIC. 51 
 
 " But months and years are passing by, 
 And soon must all be gone ; 
 For day by day, as minutes fly, 
 Eternity comes on. 
 
 " Days, months and years must have an end ; 
 Eternity has none ; 
 'Twill always have as long to spend 
 As when it first begrun ! 
 
 o 
 
 " Great God ! an infant cannot tell 
 How such a thing can be; 
 I only pray that I may dwell 
 That long, long time with thee." 
 
David's dying advice to his son. 53 
 
 LECTURE III. 
 
 David's dying Advice to his Son, 
 
 1 Chron. xxviii. 9. — '■'' And thou, Solomon my son, 
 know thou ike God of thy father, and serve him 
 with a perfect heart, and with a luilling mind: 
 for the Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth 
 all the imaginations of the thoughts : if thou seek 
 him, he will be found of thee ,• but if thou forsake 
 him, he will cast thee off forever.'''' 
 
 My dear young friends, 
 
 Let me entreat your serious attention. 
 If you would know the difference between 
 early piety and early wickedness, let me 
 beg of you to be very attentive. Come, 
 ye children, hearken unto me, and I will 
 teach you the fear of the Lord. Let it be 
 your business on earth, to prepare for 
 heaven. 
 
 True religion, or the fear of the Lord, 
 is the greatest ornament you can wear in 
 this world. It is the only jewel that you 
 
 5* 
 
54 David's dying advice to his son. 
 
 can carry with you to heaven. It is 
 highly important and will be highly bene- 
 ficial for you all to be on the side of the 
 Lord. The tender buds of childhood 
 should be devoted to God, as well as the 
 opening blossoms of youth ; for out of the 
 mouths of babes and sucklings God will 
 perfect praise. 
 
 David had assembled all the princes 
 and captains of Israel, and he was about 
 to leave his people and his crown. In 
 the presence of the people he gave this 
 advice to his son: "x\nd thou, Solomon 
 my son, know thou the God of thy father, 
 and serve him with a perfect heart, and 
 with a willing mind : for the Lord search- 
 eth all hearts, and understandeth all the 
 imaginations of the thoughts : if thou 
 seek him, he will be found of thee ; but 
 if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off 
 forever." They are the words of a 
 dying father, given in the most impressive 
 and solemn manner. Where is the child 
 who will not listen to them with attention 
 and seriousness? I have adopted them 
 
David's dying advice to his son. 55 
 
 as the most suitable advice that could be 
 given you at this time. I shall therefore 
 make a few plain remarks, and tell you a 
 few plain things. I will not keep you 
 long, therefore I hope you will not go to 
 sleep. 
 
 In the first place, I remark, what a good 
 thing it is to have religious parents. It 
 was of the greatest importance to Solo- 
 mon that he had such a father as David, 
 for he was called The man after God's own 
 heart. The pious example he had seen, 
 and the good instructions he had received 
 from the lips of his father, led him to the 
 knowledge of the true and living God. 
 
 Solomon received a crown and a king- 
 dom from the hands of his earthly parent : 
 but they are not worthy to be compared 
 with the unfading crown and the ever- 
 lasting kingdom which good children will 
 receive from the hands of their heavenly 
 Father at the last day. 
 
 Some of you are blessed with pious 
 parents, who fear God. You enjoy ad- 
 vantages far above others. Listen to their 
 
56 David's dying advice to his son. 
 
 instructionsj and follow their good exam- 
 ple. Seek to know the true God and to 
 be acquainted with the only Saviour, and 
 then you will be secure and blessed 
 indeed. 
 
 There Avas a little boy who had a very 
 pious and good mother, but his father 
 was a very wicked man. The good 
 instructions and frequent prayers of his 
 mother were so blessed to the soul of 
 little John, that he was converted to God, 
 while very young. Little John had a re- 
 markable gift in prayer, so that his mother 
 allowed him to pray in the family. His 
 father overheard him Avhile he was en- 
 gaged in this duty. He was struck with 
 remorse and shame. He heard a little 
 boy, his own child, not more than twelve 
 years old, lead that important exercise 
 in his house, which he himself had neg- 
 lected. This was followed by a deep 
 conviction of his lost and miserable state, 
 so that, under the blessing of God, it was 
 the means of the salvation of his soul. 
 
 See here, my dear children, how im- 
 
David's dying advice to his son. 57 
 
 portant it is to know God, and to seek him 
 with a perfect heart and a willing mind. 
 You may save the souls of your parents ; 
 you may do good to your companions and 
 school-fellows, while other children are 
 losing all their time in trifles and play. 
 
 2d. I will tell you what you ought lo 
 know. What did David say to Solomon ? 
 "Know thou the God of thy father." 
 Till you know God you know nothing. 
 Till you know God you have no religion. 
 This is true religion, to know God in his 
 real character, and the way of salvation 
 through Jesus Christ. Till you know 
 this you cannot be happy. Know thou 
 the God of thy father. Know him as a 
 spiritual God ; for God is a Spirit, and 
 those who worship him must worship 
 him in spirit and in truth. Know him as 
 the eternal God, the same yesterday, to- 
 day and forever. Know him as the un- 
 changeable God, for with him there is no 
 variableness, neither shadow of turning. 
 Know him as a powerful God, able to do 
 all things. He is great in power and as 
 
58 David's dying advice to his son. 
 
 able to punish you for sin as he was to 
 punish the children of Sodom and Go- 
 morrah, upon whom he rained fire and 
 brimstone. Know him as a God that 
 beholds you at all times, that knows all 
 you do and hears all you say. 
 
 " There's not a sin that we commit, 
 Nor wicked word we say, 
 But in God's awful book 'tis writ. 
 Against the judgment day." 
 
 Know him as a wise God. He knows 
 better what is good for you than you do 
 yourself. Know him as a just and holy 
 God, in whose sight the wicked shall not 
 stand, who liateth every sinner, and who 
 is angry with wicked children every day. 
 Know him as a true and faithful God, 
 faithful to his promises and true to his 
 threatenings. God cannot lie. Know 
 him as a good, gracious and merciful 
 God. He supplies all your wants ; he is 
 gracious and merciful in sending his Son 
 Jesus to die for you. 
 
 Christ, the Son of God, came down 
 from heaven to save you from your sins 
 
David's dying advice to his son. 59 
 
 and from God's anger. His goodness is 
 infinite. God is good to all. He de- 
 lighteth in mercy; his mercy endureth 
 forever. "Like as a father pitieth his 
 children, so the Lord pitieth them that 
 fear him." Know him as a God of love 
 and compassion. Know him as your 
 Creator. It was God that formed your 
 curious and wonderful bodies. David 
 says, that you are fearfully and wonder- 
 fully made. It was God that made your 
 hands to do his will, to be lifted up to 
 liim in prayer. It was God that made 
 your feet to run in the way of his com- 
 mands, that they might bring you to the 
 house of God. It was God that made 
 you a tongue to pray to him and to praise 
 him. It was God that gave you an ear 
 to hear his word, and eyes to see all the 
 works that he has made. The sun and 
 the moon were made by God. The sky 
 and the stars are the works of his hands. 
 The sea is his, for he made it, and his 
 hands formed the dry land. It is God 
 that hath made us, and not we ourselves. 
 
60 David's dying advice to his son. 
 
 " In heaven he shines with beams of love, 
 With wrath in hell beneath ; 
 'Tis on his earth you stand or move, 
 And 'tis his air you breathe. 
 
 " His hand is your perpetual guard. 
 He keeps you with his eye ; 
 "Why should you then forget the Lord, 
 Who is forever nigh?" 
 
 Know God as your Preserver. Know 
 him as your Redeemer; Jesus, the Saviour 
 of sinners ; Jesus, the Friend of little 
 children ; Jesus, the Shepherd of Israel ; 
 Jesus, the Lamb of God ; Jesus, the 
 Mighty God ; Jesus, the Prince of Peace ; 
 Jesus, the eternal Son of God, who came 
 down from heaven to redeem your pre- 
 cious souls. God so loved the Avorld, 
 (that is, the people that were in it,) that 
 he sent his only begotten Son, that who- 
 soever believeth in him should not perish, 
 but have everlasting life. 
 
 But, my dear young friends, do you 
 know God as the God of your fathers, or 
 as the God of your parents ? If so, then 
 the parents and the children may both 
 kneel at one throne of grace. Is there 
 
David's dying advice to his son. 61 
 
 not pleasure in the thought that you know 
 and love your father's God ? The God 
 who has preserved them and watched 
 over them for good, will do the same for 
 you. 
 
 Hear what your parents say : My child, 
 know thou the God of thy father. He 
 has been my God, and he will be yours. 
 He has been my best Friend, and he will 
 be yours also. He has been my Father, 
 and he will be yours also. When we are 
 taken away by death, then the Lord will 
 take care of you. That God, who par- 
 doneth the sins of parents, is able and 
 willing to pardon the sins of the children. 
 
 But there are some children who know 
 not the God of their fathers, because they 
 have no other God but the God of this 
 world, the prince of the power of the air. 
 There are some children who are entirely 
 ignorant of their fathers' God. They 
 have followed after strange gods. All 
 the good instructions they have received 
 and the good examples they have beheld, 
 have been in vain to them. Happy the 
 
 6 
 
62 David's dying advice to his son. 
 
 parent and thrice happy the children who 
 serve the same God. Let the children 
 praise him ; let them sing for joy ; for 
 Jehovah is the God of their fathers, and 
 therefore they will exalt him. 
 
 Those children are the wisest that know 
 most of God, but those children are the 
 best and wisest of all that know him as 
 the God of their fathers. 
 
 " My son, know thou the Lord, 
 Thy father's God obey ; 
 Seek his protecting care by night, 
 His guiding hand by day." 
 
 3dly. But it is time to direct you how 
 to serve the God of your fathers : and the 
 text says, it is to be " with a perfect heart 
 and willing mind." Two things are ne- 
 cessary; first, sincerity of heart; secondly, 
 willingness or cheerfulness of mind. 
 
 1st. Serve him with a sincere or perfect 
 heart. Seek, my dear children, that the 
 Spirit of God may assist you when you 
 worship him. Remember, it is the heart 
 that God beholds ; it is the heart that he 
 requires. Surely you would not wish to 
 
David's dying advice to his son. 63 
 
 be called hypocrites; therefore, let your 
 hearts be engaged. Hypocrites endeavour 
 to deceive themselves as well as others. 
 They endeavour to mock God, by appear- 
 ing to serve him in sincerity and truth. 
 But they do not, and God knows it. 
 
 " Their lifted eyes salute the skies, 
 Their bended knees the ground ; 
 But God abhors the sacrifice 
 Where not the heart is found." 
 
 When you serve God, if the heart is not 
 engaged, then you only mock God. Let 
 not your heart deceive you. You may 
 deceive yourselves, but you cannot deceive 
 God. To serve God with a perfect heart, 
 is to serve him sincerely, and not to think 
 on your sports, or play, or on trifles, but 
 to think on God alone. Remember you 
 are in his presence, and are speaking to a 
 great and holy God. All the follies of 
 childhood and the vanities of youth must 
 be banished from your minds. This is 
 the way to serve God with acceptance 
 through Christ. Many profess to worship 
 God, while their hearts are thinking on 
 
64 David's dying advice to his son. 
 
 other things. Remember, if you do this, 
 you do not serve God with a perfect 
 heart; for you do not serve him at all. 
 
 2dly. But you must serve God with a 
 willing mind. God loveth the cheerful 
 giver, and cheerful servants, however 
 young they are. Many children, when 
 they are in the house of God, would 
 rather be at play. But I am glad that 
 God hath brought so many of you here 
 at this time. Whosoever is of a willing 
 heart, says Moses, let him bring it, an 
 offering unto the Lord. Many children 
 would gladly retire to rest at night, and I 
 fear many do, without praying to God. 
 If so, this is not serving God with a per- 
 fect heart and willing mind. Satan has 
 your heart still in his possession. You 
 have not given it to God. But God, 
 when he comes at the last day, will make 
 a difference between those children who 
 serve him with willingness and sincerity 
 and those who are deceitful and unwilling. 
 
 In the third place, I will tell you the 
 reason why you should serve God with a 
 
David's dying advice to his son. 65 
 
 perfect heart and willing mind; for "the 
 Lord searcheth all hearts, and understand- 
 eth the imaginations of the thoughts." 
 This is the reason which David gives to 
 Solomon, and I cannot give a better one 
 to you, my dear children. All things are 
 known to God, past, present and to come. 
 Your state and condition in life, your 
 temper and disposition of mind, your 
 whole conduct is all well known to God ; 
 you cannot hide any thing you think, say, 
 or do, from God. 
 
 " Your thoughts, before they are your own, 
 Are to your God distinctly known; 
 He knows the words you mean to speak, 
 Ere from your opening lips they break. 
 
 " Within his circling power you stand; 
 On every side you find his hand : 
 Awake, asleep, at home, abroad, 
 You are surrounded still with God." 
 
 David knew this, therefore he reminded 
 Solomon of it. Think thus, my dear 
 children, when you serve God: "Now 
 God sees me ! he knows what I am doing, 
 what I am thinking, and what I am 
 
 6* 
 
66 David's dying advice to his son. 
 
 going to say to him !" Thus you will be 
 better prepared to serve him in the right 
 manner, with a perfect heart and a willing 
 mind. 
 
 4th. I will now tell you what advan- 
 tages you will obtain by seeking God in 
 early life. " If thou seek him, he will be 
 found of thee.'^ When you are in distress 
 or exposed to danger, you will find a 
 Friend that can support and deliver you. 
 Seek the Lord as the friend of your souls, 
 call upon him, and he will hear you in the 
 day of trouble. Seek him, and he will 
 teach you by his Holy Spirit. He will 
 save you from every evil. How happy 
 are those who have God on their side ! 
 They have nothing to fear, for if God be 
 for you, who can be against you ? 
 
 Seek the Lord in the morning of life, 
 and it will be attended with numerous 
 advantages to yourselves and to others. 
 It is the best time to seek God ; the sooner 
 you seek him on earth, the greater will 
 be your glory in heaven. It is a great 
 pity to serve Satan in yoiu- best days, and 
 
David's dying advice to his son. 67 
 
 God with the worst; to spend the best of 
 your time in seeking happiness where it 
 is not to be found, while true happiness 
 and the joys of heaven are neglected 
 and despised. How bright is your morn- 
 ing sun ; how full of vigour and bloom 
 are your countenances ; how warm your 
 hearts ; how active you are ! These are 
 your best days, your spirits are lively, 
 your minds tender. Now is the time for 
 learning and for acting ; the beauties of 
 holiness will shine with double lustre ; 
 others will imitate your example. Your 
 morning sun may go down at noon. 
 While it is yet day, the rose may fade on 
 your cheeks, and the hour of death may 
 come before you are prepared. How 
 happy will it be to have God for your 
 God, Christ for your Saviour, and heaven 
 for your home. 
 
 " Why should you say 'tis yet too soon 
 To seek for heaven or think of death 1 
 A flower may fade before 'tis noon, 
 
 And you this day may lose your breath." 
 
 It is not only the best time, but it is the 
 
68 david's dying advice to his son. 
 
 surest and safest time to seek the Lord 
 now. Life is uncertain. You cannot 
 call to-morrow your own. Like flowers, 
 you flourish in the garden of life, in the 
 morning ; but before your sun arrives at 
 its meridian, or before it sets in the evening 
 of old age, death may come ; the flowers 
 may wither and die; sickness and pain 
 may be your lot. Happy will you be if 
 you seek the Lord, for then you will only 
 be taken from his garden below, to be 
 transplanted into his garden above, where 
 you shall flourish in immortal youth. 
 Now is the time to enjoy the pleasures of 
 religion. The remembrance of the sins 
 of youth is painful in the extreme. Many, 
 when they grow up to years of maturity, 
 have to lament that they have laid a foun- 
 dation in youth for bitter repentance, and 
 go down with sorrow and gray hairs to 
 the grave. If you seek the Lord in the 
 morning of life, it will increase your hap- 
 piness in this world and in the world to 
 come. Every right step you take leads 
 you farther into the ways of pleasantness 
 
David's dying advice to his son. 69 
 
 and paths of peace. The path of religion 
 is not only pleasantness now, but it leads 
 to the paradise of God. It will produce 
 happiness sweeter than life, and happiness 
 which will outlive death itself. If you 
 seek God now, it will prevent many evils 
 and preserve you from many temptations. 
 
 " 'Tis easier work, if you begin 
 To fear the Lord betimes. 
 While sinners who grow old in sin 
 Are hardened in their crimes. 
 
 " 'Twill save you from a thousand snares, 
 To mind religion young; 
 Grace will preserve your following years, 
 And make your virtues strong." 
 
 Now is the time to set a good example 
 to your young companions. Joseph, 
 David, Timothy, Abijah, Josiah, Samuel 
 and Obadiah have all set a good example 
 for you to follow. Now, therefore, let 
 your parents have the unspeakable plea- 
 sure of beholding, in your tender years, 
 the signs of real piety, of love to God. 
 Let them see that you are resolved to set 
 a good example to others. Now is just 
 
70 David's dying advice to his son. 
 
 the time to do good : seek God, and you 
 will find him to be a father, a friend, a 
 guide, and a protector. It will be far 
 more pleasing to him, and it will be more 
 for his glory, if you devote your youth to 
 God and to Christ. Religion will abide 
 with you while young, grow up with 
 your riper years, and be your companion 
 in the closing scenes of life. For godli- 
 ness is profitable to all things, having the 
 promise of the life that now is, and of 
 that which is to come. But it is time for 
 me to conclude. 
 
 Therefore let me give yon, in the last 
 place, this warning. It may be the last 
 you will hear : " Bnt if thou forsake him, 
 he will cast thee off forever." To be 
 turned out of the family of God ! To be 
 given up, by him, to your father, the devil ! 
 To be shut out from heaven ! To be 
 cast off from God, whose favour is life, 
 and whose loving-kindness is better than 
 life itself! How awful ! Your immortal 
 souls will live forever; they can never 
 die, but they will be cast down to hell. 
 
David's dying advice to his son. 71 
 
 If you forsake God, they will be con- 
 demned to spend an eternity in everlasting 
 flames. Will you forsake the guide of 
 your youth, and wander on in sin to ever- 
 lasting misery ? The thought is too pain- 
 ful. I cannot give you up. Rather let 
 me weep over your careless and sinful 
 conduct. that mine head were waters, 
 and mine eyes fountains of tears, that I 
 might weep day and night over your pre- 
 cious souls. Think of your misery. Who 
 will be your friend, if God is not ? Who 
 will be your Saviour, if Christ is not? 
 Who will change your heart, if the Spirit 
 of God does not ? Where will you go, if 
 you do not go to heaven ? I tremble for 
 you. 1 pity you. Many of you, I fear, 
 will be still careless, and run on in the 
 downward road to everlasting misery, 
 which I pray God to prevent for Christ's 
 sake. Amen. 
 
 " Call while he may be found, 
 And seek him while he's near ; 
 Serve him with all thy heart and mind, 
 And worship him with fear. 
 
72 DAVID S DYING ADVICE TO HIS SON. 
 
 " If thou wilt seek his face, 
 His ear will hear thy cry ; 
 Then shalt thou find his mercy sure, 
 His grace forever nigh. 
 
 " But if thou leave thy God, 
 
 Nor choose the path to heaven, 
 Then shalt thou perish in thy sins, 
 And never be forgiven." 
 
ADVANTAGES OF EARLY PIETY. 73 
 
 LECTURE IV. 
 
 Mvantages of an early Love to Jesus. 
 
 1 John ii. 28. — ^^A7id now, little children, abide in 
 him, {Christ,) that when he shall appear, we may 
 have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at 
 his coming.''^ 
 
 My DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS, 
 
 If you wish to be happy in this world 
 and happy in that which is to come, you 
 must fear God and love Christ while you 
 are young. 
 
 *' You can't too early serve the Lord, 
 Nor love his name too dear, 
 Nor prize too much his precious word, 
 Nor learn too soon his fear." 
 
 Permit me, my dear young friends, to 
 ask you a few questions. 
 
 Thomas, what did vou come for ? 
 "To hear the sermon, sir." 
 And what did you come for, William ? 
 
 7 
 
74 ADVANTAGES OF EARLY PIETY. 
 
 " Because my parents told me to come, 
 sir." 
 
 And what did you come for, John ? 
 
 " Because I love to hear of Christ." 
 
 And what did you come for, Benjamin? 
 
 " Because all the rest of the children 
 came, and I did not like to stay behind by 
 myself." 
 
 Well, Ann, how happened you to come? 
 
 " Because I wish to hear the word of 
 God." 
 
 And, Rebecca, what was the reason you 
 came ? I heard that you were not so 
 good as you should be. 
 
 "Why, I am sorry I have been so 
 wicked, and hope I shall be a better girl 
 for the time to come." 
 
 Well, Eliza, how was it that you came? 
 
 "Because I like to hear you talk of 
 Jesus Christ." 
 
 Mary, I am glad to see you; tell me 
 the reason of your coming here this 
 evening. 
 
 " I came to follow the example of my 
 namesake." 
 
ADVANTAGES OF EARLY PIETY. 75 
 
 Who is your namesake ? 
 
 " She is spoken of in the tenth chapter 
 of Luke and thirty-ninth verse." 
 
 What is said of her in that verse ? 
 
 " That * she sat at the feet of Jesus and 
 heard his words.' " 
 
 What did Christ say of her ? 
 
 " He said, ' Mary has chosen that good 
 part which shall never be taken away 
 from her.' " 
 
 Well, my dear child, you are come to 
 the house of God for a good purpose. I 
 wish all the rest of the children would 
 follow your example, and may the choice 
 of Mary be their choice. 
 
 '* Father divine, diffuse thy light, 
 And guide my doubtful footsteps right, 
 Engage this frail, this wavering heart, 
 To fix on Mary's better part." 
 
 Have any of you read Bunyan's Pil- 
 grim's Progress ? 
 
 " Yes, sir, I have." 
 
 Can you tell me the names of those four 
 little boys, who went on a pilgrimage with 
 their mother? 
 
76 ADVANTAGES OF EARLY PIETY. 
 
 " Yes, sir ; James, Joseph, Samuel and 
 Matthew.'' 
 
 Now, as they went on their way, they 
 came to a certain great house ; can you tell 
 me the name of that house ? 
 
 " The Interpreter's house." 
 
 No ; it was after they had been there ; 
 and it stood on the top of a hill called 
 Difficulty. 
 
 " yes, the name of it was Beautiful." 
 
 Very right, that is the same I mean. 
 Now, at this house they said their catechism 
 to a young lady ; what was her name ? 
 
 " I think it was Prudence, sir." 
 
 Yes, it was, and she began with the 
 youngest, whose name was James. Come, 
 James, said she, can you tell me who 
 made you ? 
 
 " God the Father, God the Son and 
 God the Holy Ghost." 
 
 Good boy, can you tell who saved you? 
 
 " God the Father, God the Son and 
 God the Holy Spirit." 
 
 Good boy still. How does God the 
 Father save you ? 
 
ADVANTAGES OF EARLY PIETY. 77 
 
 " By his grace." 
 
 How does God the Son save you ? 
 
 " By his Ufe and obedience to the law 
 of God, and by his sufferings and death 
 upon the cross.^' 
 
 How does God the Spirit save you ? 
 
 " By convincing me of the evil of sin, 
 by renewing my heart, and by guiding 
 and preserving me in the ways of God." 
 
 She then called Joseph : and said, Let 
 me catechise you, Joseph. 
 
 "With all my heart," said the child. 
 
 What is man ? 
 
 " A reasonable creature, (created with 
 a body and a soul.") 
 
 What is meant by the word saved, or 
 salvation .'' 
 
 " It means a deliverance from every 
 evil, and possession of every good." 
 
 What is God's design in saving man ? 
 
 "To glorify his name, to display hif:* 
 grace and honour his perfections." 
 
 What are the perfections of God ? 
 
 " His truth, justice, holiness, goodness, 
 patience, power, mercy and love." 
 
78 ADVANTAGES OF EARLY PIETY, 
 
 Good boy, Joseph, says Prudence, thy 
 mother has taught thee well. 
 
 Come, Samuel, are you willing to be 
 catechised ? 
 
 " Yes, if you please.'^ 
 
 What is heaven? 
 
 "A blessed place, because God lives 
 there." 
 
 What is hell ? 
 
 " A place of misery, because it is the 
 dwelling-place of sin, of Satan and his 
 angels." 
 
 Why should you like to go to heaven ? 
 
 " That I may see God, and serve him 
 without weariness ; that I may see Christ, 
 and dwell with him in love forever ; that 
 I may have the fulness of the Holy 
 Spirit in me, which I cannot here enjoy." 
 
 A very good boy, indeed. 
 
 She then called Matthew, the oldest, 
 and said. Are you willing to be catechised? 
 
 " With a very good will." 
 
 Was there any thing before God ? 
 
 " No, for God is eternal, without begin- 
 ning of days or end of years." 
 
ADVANTAGES OF EARLY PIETY. 79 
 
 What do you think of the Bible ? 
 
 " I think it is the word of God." 
 
 Is there any thing in it which you do 
 not understand ? 
 
 " Yes, a great many things." 
 
 What do you do with what you cannot 
 understand in it ? 
 
 " I think that God is wiser than I am, 
 and I pray that he would be pleased to 
 let me know every thing that is for my 
 good." 
 
 Do you believe in the resurrection of 
 the dead ? 
 
 "I believe it, because I read in the 
 Bible that the trumpet shall sound and the 
 dead shall be raised incorruptible, and 
 that we shall all be changed in a moment, 
 in the twinkUng of an eye, at the last 
 trump." 
 
 My dear children, you have heard how 
 well these young pilgrims have said their 
 catechism. Can you say yours as well ? 
 If not, 1 hope you will try to imitate 
 them. But it is time for me to explain 
 the words of my text. 
 
80 ADVANTAGES OF EARLY PIETY. 
 
 I. Who were the words of the text 
 spoken to ? 
 
 "Little children." 
 
 And now, Uttle children, the evangelist 
 John was an old man, and often makes 
 use of the word children to men and wo- 
 men. It is related of him, that when he 
 was grown old and not able to stand to 
 preach to them, and not being able to say 
 much, he was carried in a chair to the 
 church, and said to all, men, women and 
 children, "Little children, love one ano- 
 ther." Whether these words were spoken 
 particularly to men and women, or to those 
 who were but children, or babes in Christ, 
 I cannot determine. I hope, however, I 
 shall meet with indulgence from the liberal 
 and candid mind, as to the manner in 
 which I have accommodated them. There- 
 fore, as the words little children are found 
 in the text, they may mean persons young 
 in knowledge and grace, or young in 
 years. The last of these meanings I have 
 chosen as most adapted to the subject and 
 persons before me. 
 
ADVANTAGES OF EARLY PIETY. 81 
 
 As these words are now addressed to 
 you, my dear children, I hope you will 
 attend to them. There are two different 
 kinds of children here, as well as in the 
 world ; good and bad. God is the Father 
 of the good, and he loves them. Satan 
 is the father of the Avicked children, and 
 they do as he bids them. " He that com- 
 mitteth sin is of the devil ; for the devil 
 sinneth from the beginning. Ye are of 
 your father the devil, and his lusts or sins 
 ye will do." Those children who tell 
 lies may be called Satan's children; for 
 John saith, when he (that is, Satan) speak- 
 eth a lie, he speaketh of his own ; for he 
 is a liar and the father of lies. But we 
 are not all children. Some are fourteen 
 years old, and others are fifteen and six- 
 teen, &c. 
 
 But surely you are not too proud to be 
 called a child. What did Christ say to 
 those who were twenty or thirty, perhaps 
 forty, years old ? " Verily, verily, I say 
 unto you, whosoever shall not receive the 
 kingdom of heaven as a little child, he 
 
82 ADVANTAGES OF EARLY PIETY. 
 
 shall ill no wise enter therein." You 
 must be teachable and humble, like child- 
 ren. You must sit down at the feet of 
 Jesus, and, like Mary, learn of him to be 
 meek and lowly in heart, and " ye shall 
 find rest to your souls." 
 
 II. And now, little children, I will 
 niform you who you are to abide in ; that 
 is, who you are to continue to love. 
 Can any of you tell me what Paul says.^ 
 " Yes, sir, he says, ^ If any man be in 
 Christ, he is a new creature, old things 
 are passed away, behold all things are 
 become new.' " 
 
 There are a great many children here. 
 Your faces are all new to me, and there 
 may be some here with new clothes. 
 But I fear there are not many cliildren 
 who have new hearts. 
 "O,sir,you cannot tell howgood we are." 
 I know not your hearts, my dear child- 
 ren, and can only judge by your outward 
 conduct; but God, who knows the heart, 
 can tell better than I can. Are your ac- 
 tions better than they were ? Have you 
 
ADVANTAGES OP EARLY PIETY. 83 
 
 left off to do evil, and forsaken your old 
 sinful ways? If not, then you are not 
 walking in Christ Jesus; for he is the 
 new and living way. How can your 
 actions please God if your hearts are 
 wicked ? Depart from evil and do good. 
 All things must become new. If you wish 
 to live in Christ Jesus, or according to his 
 word, your heiarts must be new, and then 
 your actions will be new, your companions 
 will be new, your joys will be new, your 
 pleasures will be new, you will have new 
 thoughts, and they will produce new words ; 
 you will have new employments, you will 
 make new resolutions. Before, you only 
 wished to go to heaven ; now, you have 
 good reason to hope that you shall go 
 there ; therefore it is, that you have new 
 expectations ; and if you have all these 
 new things, you will be new creatures 
 indeed ; you shall dwell at last with God 
 and Christ forever, in the new Jerusalem, 
 in heaven, where all things will be new 
 to you all. Remember, your hearts must 
 be entirely changed by divine grace : 
 
84 ADVANTAGES OF EARLY PIETY. 
 
 God says, Give me thy heart, thine whole 
 heart. God will not bestow half a new 
 heart. He will not be satisfied with half 
 your love. Christ is not a half Saviour. 
 Hear what Jesus says to you, my dear 
 children : 
 
 " Christ. Give me thy heart; I'll not delay 
 
 To make it clean; then, child, obey. 
 Child. Here, Lord, then take a part, the best, 
 
 And tarry till I mend the rest. 
 Christ. Give me thine heart; I'll have it all, 
 
 A part's a gift by far too small. 
 Child. Forbear, O Lord, and longer stay, 
 
 Excuse me till a future day. 
 Christ. Give me your hearts ; now, children, say, ' 
 
 "What! will you all send Christ away? 
 Child. No, Lord, thy Spirit's power impart. 
 
 Help us to give thee all our heart; 
 
 Had we ten thousand hearts our own. 
 
 We would unite them all in one ; 
 
 And in one offering freely send 
 
 Them up to thee, our dearest Friend." 
 
 III. I will tell you in what manner you 
 are to abide in Christ. In the first place, 
 you must be taught your need of Christ, 
 and that if he does not save you from the 
 wrath of God, there is no other that can, 
 
ADVANTAGES OF EARLY PIETY. 85 
 
 either in heaven or on earth. You have 
 heard that it is the Holy Spirit alone that 
 can change the heart; and it is that 
 Spirit for which you must pray to God. 
 It is the Spirit alone that can teach you. 
 "What will the Spirit teach me, sir ?" 
 He will not only teach you your need 
 of a Saviour, but he will teach you that 
 you are a sinner. 
 
 " I know that I am a sinner." 
 So you do, perhaps ; but it is one thing 
 to say that you are a sinner, and another 
 thing to know that you really are one. 
 The Spirit will teach you the evil of sin. 
 One leak will sink a ship, and one sin 
 will sink your soul to the pit of destruc- 
 tion. The Spirit will teach you the 
 necessity of a new heart, and the advan- 
 tage of real and early piety; that you 
 must love God and Christ, and that you 
 must pray to God for the forgiveness of 
 your sins for Christ's sake, and pray that 
 the Holy Spirit may be your teacher. 
 
 " Imprint thine image on my breast, 
 Thy Holy Spirit give, 
 8 
 
86 ADVANTAGES OF EARLY PIETY. 
 
 A mind, with true repentance blest, 
 That I may turn and live." 
 
 2. You must believe that Christ is able 
 and willing to save you. To believe is 
 to think that all the Scriptures say con- 
 cerning him is really true. It is called 
 faith, in the last line of the following 
 verse : 
 
 "Believe in Christ, no more pursue 
 The path that leads to death ; 
 This Jesus bled and died for you. 
 Look, and be saved by faith. 
 
 " His sons and daughters you shall be, 
 Through his atoning blood ; 
 For you may seek and find in him 
 A Saviour and a God." 
 
 Do you think that Christ is able to save 
 you? 
 
 " Yes, sir ; the Bible says that * we shall 
 be saved from wrath through him.' '' 
 
 Do you not think that he is as willing, 
 as he is able, to save you ? 
 
 "Yes, Christ himself hath said, * Him 
 that Cometh unto me, I will in no wise 
 cast out.' " 
 
ADVANTAGES OF EARLY PIETY. 87 
 
 3. You mast obey all the commands 
 of Christ. Can any of you tell me what 
 Christ said to his disciples ? 
 
 " Yes, sir ; ' If you love me, keep my 
 commandments.' '' 
 
 Attend to me, and I will tell you what 
 the commands of Christ are : Love one 
 another. Search the Scriptures, or in 
 other words, read your Bibles, and pray 
 in secret to him who seeth in secret, that 
 is, God. Do unto others as you wish 
 them to do unto you. Do not swear, 
 nor speak evil of any one. Love your 
 brothers and sisters, and forgive them 
 even till seventy times seven. Love your 
 enemies, and pray for them that hate you. 
 Love God, and believe in Christ. Obey 
 your parents, honour your superiors, 
 respect the aged. Call not your brother 
 fool ; for those who call ill names are in 
 danger of hell-fire. Indulge not sinful 
 thoughts. Lay up treasure in heaven, 
 for where your treasure is there will your 
 heart be also. Judge not hastily of any 
 one's conduct, before you have examined 
 
88 ADVANTAGES OF EARLY PIETY. 
 
 the matter for yourselves. Do not find 
 fault with others, when you do the same 
 things yourselves. 
 
 Yes, my dear young friends, you are to 
 keep these commands, and to do them, 
 for in so doing, you shall not perish, but 
 have everlasting life. 
 
 " Why should you shrink at his command 
 Whose love forbids your fears, 
 Or tremble at that gracious hand 
 Which wipes away your tears'?" 
 
 IV. What you will gain by living a life 
 of love to Christ, and obedience to his 
 commands. But let me first see what you 
 would like to have, because all children 
 do not love the same thing. 
 What do you want, little boy } 
 "I should like to be wise, sir." 
 Well, really I did not expect to find a 
 little Solomon here. 
 
 Did you ever read Solomon's prayer ? 
 " No, sir ; what did he pray for ?" 
 He said to the Lord, Give me now wis- 
 dom and knowledge, that I may go in and 
 
ADVANTAGES OF EARLY PIETY. 89 
 
 come out before this people. He was king 
 over Israel. 
 
 " Did the Lord give him what he asked 
 for ?" 
 
 Yes, and more besides. He gave him 
 riches and honour, as well as wisdom and 
 knowledge. 
 
 "Where can I find Solomon's prayer?" 
 
 In the second book of Chronicles i. 7. 
 They only are wise who are wise unto 
 salvation. 
 
 " One thing I ask ; Lord, wilt thou hear, 
 And grant a youth a gift so dear 1 
 Wisdom descendins from above, 
 The choicest token of thy love. 
 
 "Wisdom betimes to know the Lord, 
 To fear his name, to keep his word ; 
 To lead my feet in paths of truth. 
 And guide and guard my wandering youth." 
 
 Do you want any thing else, my dear 
 boy? 
 
 " Yes, sir ; I want to be happy." 
 
 Well, my dear child, remember that the 
 
 way to be happy is to be good ; and the 
 
 way to be good is to be wise ; and the 
 
 beginning of wisdom is the fear of the 
 
 8* 
 
90 ADVANTAGES OF EARLY PIETY. 
 
 Lord ; and the fear of the Lord is the way 
 to heaven. Good children are happy in 
 life and in death ; and happy forever, after 
 death, in heaven. Wicked children are 
 never happy, neither in this world nor in 
 that which is to come. 
 
 A poor little boy who was bound ap- 
 prentice to a chimney sweeper, as he could 
 not go to school on week-days, attended a 
 Sunday-school for instruction, and there 
 is every reason to believe that what 
 was taught at that school made a great 
 impression on his mind. A little while 
 afterwards he was sent to sweep a chimney, 
 and while in it, he was heard to sing, 
 
 "The sorrows of the mind 
 
 Be banished from this place ; 
 Religion never was designed 
 To make our pleasures less." 
 
 Think of this, my dear children. The 
 poor little chimney sweeper could bid 
 sorrow depart, and though he was sur- 
 rounded with darkness and soot, yet he 
 was happy, and could sing of the plea- 
 sures of religion. What a proof this is 
 
ADVANTAGES OF EARLY PIETY. 91 
 
 of what Solomon says ! Can any little boy 
 tell me what it is? 
 
 "Yes, sir; ' Her ways are ways of plea- 
 santness, and all her paths are peace.' '' 
 
 " O did the young around but know 
 How great their pleasures are, 
 They would each golden joy forego, 
 Such matchless bliss to share." 
 
 Well, now I will ask that dear little 
 girl who has been so attentive to what I 
 have said; what do you wish for, little 
 girl ? 
 
 " I should like to go to heaven when I 
 die, sir." 
 
 So you shall, if you live a life of early 
 love and obedience to Christ. 
 
 " But cannot I do any thing to obtain 
 the favour of God ?" 
 
 No. 
 
 " Why ?" 
 
 Because all your duties are mixed with 
 sin. 
 
 " Tf I be very good indeed, will not God 
 love me for that ?'' 
 
 Not unless you love Christ and trust 
 
92 ADVANTAGES OF EARLY PIETY. 
 
 him to save your soul. You cannot, do 
 any thing without God. All your good 
 thoughts come from God first, so that if 
 you are very good, it was God that first 
 made you so; because you were born a 
 sinner. 
 
 "But cannot I go to heaven without 
 Christ ?" 
 
 No, that I am sure you cannot. 
 
 " But could not I buy heaven if I had 
 plenty of money?" 
 
 No, not if you were as rich as a Jew. 
 
 A certain nobleman in Ireland took a 
 particular pleasure in showing a good 
 minister his house, his garden and lands ; 
 and among other things he showed him a 
 fine church which he had built. 
 
 "Now, sir," said the nobleman, "don't 
 you think that will merit heaven ?" 
 
 The minister paused a moment and said, 
 " Pray, sir, how much may your whole 
 estate be worth a year?" 
 
 "I think," said the nobleman, "about 
 fourteen or fifteen thousand pounds, or 
 about sixty thousand dollars." 
 
ADVANTAGES OF EARLY PIETY. 93 
 
 " And do you think, sir, God would sell 
 heaven for fourteen or fifteen thousand 
 pounds, or sixty thousand dollars ?" 
 
 But there is one great advantage spoken 
 of in the text, which I must now consi- 
 der ; that is, when he shall appear, you 
 shall have confidence and not be ashamed 
 before him at his coming. When Christ 
 shall come to judge the world at the last 
 day, then those good children who have 
 trusted in Christ and his righteousness, 
 and lived a life of love and obedience to 
 God, shall not be in the least afraid. 
 
 Now let us suppose that the day is already 
 come. The trumpet sounds. The dead 
 arise. The rocks and mountains are all 
 fled away. The world is on fire, and the 
 heavens in flames. Christ the judge ap- 
 pears, with his holy angels, in flaming fire ; 
 and the dead, small and great, are brought 
 before his bar, to receive their last sen- 
 tence. 
 
 " That awful day will surely come, 
 The appointed hour makes haste, 
 When we must stand before the Judge, 
 And pass the solemn test." 
 
94 ADVANTAGES OF EARLY PIETY. 
 
 Perhaps there may be two of your 
 school-fellows standing close by you; and 
 for the sake of distinction, I shall call 
 them James and Charles : 
 
 " Well, Charles,'^ says James, " what do 
 you think of Christ now ?" 
 
 "Think of him ?" says Charles ; " I can- 
 not bear to think of him. Once he would 
 have been my Saviour, but I did not love 
 him or obey any of his commands, and 
 now I behold him as my Judge. James, 
 let me get behind you, till I can hide my- 
 self among the crowd yonder." 
 
 " Ah, Charles, the Judge will see you 
 wherever you are." 
 
 " James, James, what shall I do ? 
 Where shall I go ? Where can I hide ?" 
 
 '* Charles, it is in vain for you to think 
 of hiding yourself. You cannot escape." 
 
 " But, James, why are you not afraid ?" 
 
 "Because I love Christ. I trusted in him 
 when I was on earth. He is my Saviour. 
 I shall now be with him in eternal glory. 
 Why do you tremble so, Charles?" 
 
 "Because I am afraid of the face of 
 
ADVANTAGES OF EARLY PIETY. 95 
 
 Him that sits upon that throne. I am 
 ashamed to see my Judge, and endless 
 misery will be my portion." 
 
 " How will you bear that dreadful day, 
 And stand the fiery test ! 
 Give all your sinful joys away, 
 And be forever blest." 
 
 There are two little girls talking with 
 each other; let us hear what they say. 
 
 '' Maria, Maria, why do you hang down 
 your head? what are you ashamed of?" 
 
 " Sarah, I shall soon be called before 
 the Judge, to give an account of my bad 
 conduct while I was on earth ; I have 
 been very careless and wicked." 
 
 " Ah, Maria, I often told you what 
 would be the consequence of your break- 
 ing the Sabbath and disobeying your pa- 
 rents. You would not hearken to me, but 
 was angry with me, because I told you 
 of your faults and gave you good advice. 
 You only laughed at what I said about 
 religion." 
 
 " Sarah, I wish I had taken your ad- 
 vice and followed your good example. I 
 
96 ADVANTAGES OF EARLY PIETY. 
 
 wish I had read my Bible and prayed to 
 God, and then I should now have been as 
 happy as you. But now what shall I do ?" 
 
 " Maria, it is now too late to seek a 
 Saviour, to ask for pardon, or to hope to 
 find a friend in that Judge whom you 
 have despised." 
 
 " Sarah, I am without a Friend ! 
 without a Saviour ! without a heaven ! 
 and without a crown ! I wish I could go 
 with you to the right hand of the Judge." 
 
 " I wish you could, Maria, but that is 
 now impossible ! We shall soon be sepa- 
 rated forever." 
 
 " Think ! Sarah, only think ! There 
 my misery will never have an end ! Good 
 bye, Sarah, farewell ! I shall never see 
 you any more." 
 
 my dear, dear children, how many 
 of you, at the last day, will be the com- 
 panions of Charles and Maria, and be 
 found among those who are at the left 
 hand of the Judge ? Many of you, my 
 dear children, I fear, will be as much 
 ashamed and afraid as Charles and 
 
ADVANTAGES OF EARLY PIETY. 97 
 
 Maria. Some will be ashamed because 
 they have told so many stories. Some will 
 be ashamed because they have behaved 
 so unkindly to their parents and brothers 
 and sisters. Others will be ashamed of 
 their disobedience to their parents and 
 teachers. Some will tremble and hang 
 down their heads with shame, because they 
 have been guilty of cursing and swearing, 
 and have often taken the name of God in 
 vain. Others will be ashamed to see 
 Christ because they did not love him, but 
 despised him who offered to save their 
 souls. Ah, my dear children, there are 
 many more wicked things which you have 
 done that you will be ashamed of at that 
 day, when Christ shall come to judge the 
 world in righteousness. 
 
 " And must the crimes which we have done 
 Be read and published there 1 
 Be all exposed before the sun, 
 While men and angels hear ?" 
 
 But the text begins with these two 
 words, "And now.'' The meaning of 
 these words is, that you must begin to love 
 
 9 
 
98 ADVANTAGES OF EARLY PIETY. 
 
 Christ and obey his commands now ; that 
 you ought to " remember your Creator in 
 the days of your youth." Let it be said, 
 that from the day you heard or read this 
 lecture, you began to seek the Lord ; to 
 pray for pardon, and to ask for grace. 
 " Well, I think I shall begin to-morrow." 
 To-morrow, did you say ? To-morrow 
 is not yours ; be wise, consider your latter 
 end. You may die to-night ; To-day if 
 you will hear the voice of God, harden 
 not your hearts, lest he swear in his wrath 
 that you shall never enter into his rest. 
 
 *' Then why should you so long delay 
 What others learned so soon ? 
 O do not pass another day, 
 Without this work begun." 
 
 You cannot tell what a day or an hour 
 may bring forth. There may be but a 
 step between you and death. 
 
 *' 'Tis dangerous to provoke a God 
 
 Whose power and vengeance none can tell ; 
 One stroke of his almighty rod 
 Can send the sinner quick to hell." 
 
 " And now, little children, abide in him, 
 
ADVANTAGES OF EARLY PIETY. 99 
 
 that when he shall appear you may have 
 confidence and not be ashamed at his 
 coming." 
 
 " Young as I am, with pilgrim feet, 
 Father, I travel to thy seat ; 
 And, leaning on my Saviour's hand, 
 Prepare to leave this barren land. 
 
 *' My cradle was beset with fears, 
 My infant eyes o'erflowed with tears ; 
 Ere I could good or evil know. 
 My little heart was filled with wo. 
 
 " Diseases threatened to destroy 
 All the young buds of rising joy : 
 And thus in early life began 
 The cares and sorrows of the man. 
 
 *' Oft sickness shades a mother's eyes, 
 And many a friend around me dies ; 
 And oft I feel oppressed with care, 
 A stranger, as my fathers were. 
 
 " While o'er this desert world I roam, 
 Teach me to seek a better home, 
 Unstained by wo, unchanged by years, 
 Unlike this gloomy vale of tears.' 
 
 »» 
 
THE child's best FRIEND. 101 
 
 LECTURE V. 
 
 The Character of the Child's best Friend. 
 
 Prov. xviii. 24. — " There is a Friend that sticketh 
 closer than a brother. ^^ 
 
 My very dear young friends, 
 
 Never have I proposed a more inte- 
 resting subject to your attention. I think 
 I hear some one say, Who can be a better 
 friend to us than our father and mother ? 
 Yes, my young friends, your brother may 
 be, if you have one, and he should live after 
 you are deprived of your parents. An 
 elder brother might perform a double duty, 
 that of a parent and that of a brother : but 
 such kind and affectionate brothers are 
 rarely to be found. 
 
 The text speaks of a Friend that sticketh 
 closer than a brother. It may not be 
 amiss to introduce this subject with the 
 outlines of a story which you have perhaps 
 
102 THE child's best FRIEND. 
 
 read many times. Dionysius, the tyrant 
 of Syracuse, had passed sentence of death 
 upon Pythias, and the day of his execu- 
 tion was fixed. The poor man begged 
 but one favour from the tyrant, which 
 was, that he might be permitted to visit 
 his family, who were at that time a con- 
 siderable distance from him, promising 
 faithfully to return on a day appointed. 
 This Dionysius refused, unless some per- 
 son could be found who would consent 
 to suffer death in his stead, if he failed to 
 fulfil his promise. It so happened, that 
 Damon, the friend of Pythias, heard of 
 the tyrant's proposal ; and, unknown to 
 Pythias, offered himself to Dionysius and 
 was accepted. Pythias was therefore libe- 
 rated, and Damon imprisoned. 
 
 Various circumstances occurred to pre- 
 vent the return of Pythias at the appointed 
 time. The very morning of the execution 
 dawned upon Syracuse, before his arrival. 
 Dionysius had the curiosity to visit Damon 
 in the prison, as the day of the intended 
 execution drew near, that he might learn 
 
THE child's best FRIEND. 103 
 
 what his views now were, of what he 
 deemed the folly of his conduct. 
 
 He found the generous man full of joy 
 at the prospect of death, that he might 
 thereby save a life more valuable than his 
 own; hoping, at the same time, that 
 unfavourable winds would prevent his 
 friend's return. 
 
 When the hour arrived, Damon was led 
 forth to the place of execution, Dionysius 
 the emperor being present. In a short 
 speech, Damon told the surrounding multi- 
 tude, that his dear friend Pythias would 
 soon arrive, but he hoped not before his 
 death had saved a life so valuable as that 
 of Pythias was to his family, his friends 
 and his country. He then begged them 
 to consider, that from contrary winds 
 which had blown from one point of the 
 compass many days past, it was impossible 
 for him to have returned. "But since 
 yesterday," said he, "the wind is changed, 
 and Pythias will soon be here. — Make 
 haste," said he to the executioner, " and 
 do your office." 
 
104 THE child's best FRIEND. 
 
 At that moment a voice was heard from 
 among the crowd. 
 
 " Stop, stop the execution !" The multi- 
 tude joined the cry, until it was echoed 
 from all quarters. It was Pythias. He 
 was mounted on a horse covered with 
 foam from the rapidity with which he had 
 rode. In a moment he leaped from his 
 horse, and was on the scaffold. He could 
 say no more but, " You are safe, you are 
 safe, my friend, and I am happy." Damon, 
 on the other hand, exclaimed, "0 fatal 
 haste ! that hath brought you here too 
 
 soon." 
 
 Dionysius saw what passed, and, for the 
 first time, felt the force of generous friend- 
 ship. He descended from his throne, 
 mounted the platform, and from a convic- 
 tion not to be resisted, cried out, " Live, 
 ye generous friends, both of you, and form 
 my mind, by such an illustrious example 
 of friendship, to imitate virtue so truly 
 noble." This was a friend in need, as 
 well as a friend indeed. "Greater love 
 
THE child's best FRIEND. 105 
 
 hath no man than this, that a man lay 
 down his Ufe for his friend." 
 
 " On thee our lives and souls depend, 
 Our Heavenly Father, Guide and Friend ; 
 And we are happy, if we share 
 Thy smiles, thy counsels and thy care." 
 
 The text speaks of a greater friend than 
 Damon was to Pythias. "There is a 
 Friend that sticketh closer than a brother." 
 I proceed, 
 
 I. To inquire, who this Friend is ? To 
 which I shall give six answers. 
 
 1. I will tell you his name : it is Jesus 
 Christ, the eternal son of God. The pro- 
 phet Isaiah calls him the Mighty God — 
 
 e Everlasting Father — the Prince of 
 Peace. This name was given him by 
 God his Father. Jesus signifies a Saviour. 
 For the angel of the Lord appeared to 
 Joseph, the reputed father of Jesus, and 
 told him, that Mary, his espoused wife, 
 who was then a virgin, should bring forth 
 a son ; that she should call his name Jesus, 
 for he shall save his people from their 
 sins. Joseph was a carpenter by trade, 
 
106 THE child's best FRIEND. 
 
 and Mary his wife was an humble virgin ; 
 yet they both descended from David, the 
 king of Israel. This, my young friends, 
 is the name of your Friend. 
 
 "Jesus, to multitudes unknown, 
 O name divinely sweet! 
 Jesus, in tiiee, and thee alone, 
 Health, honour, pleasure meet," 
 
 2. I will tell you the place where he 
 was born : he was born at Bethlehem 
 of Judea, the city of David. Bethlehem 
 signifies the house of bread : he could not 
 be born in a more proper place, because 
 he is not only the Friend of sinners, but 
 the bread which came down from heaven. 
 Jesus is called the Bread of Life. The 
 prophet Micah foretold, more than seven 
 hundred years before it came to pass, that 
 Bethlehem would be the birth-place of 
 the true Messiah. This is the place where 
 your Friend was born. 
 
 " Ye humble shepherds, go, 
 To David's city fly ; 
 The promised infant born to-day 
 Doth in a manner lie." 
 
THE child's best FRIEND. 107 
 
 3. I will tell you about the time when he 
 was born. The exact time when Christ was 
 born is not certainly known. The evan- 
 gelist Matthew tells us, that it was in the 
 days of Herod the king ; and Luke says, 
 it was in the reign of Caesar Augustus. 
 Herod was an Edomite, and was made 
 King of Judea by Caesar Augustus, who 
 was then ruler of the Roman empire, 
 which, on account of its great extent, was 
 called the whole world. It included 
 Parthia one way, and Britain another. 
 It was never so extensive before or since. 
 The prophet Daniel, who lived six hundred 
 years before Christ was born, said that 
 this was to be the time. Now the fulness 
 of time was come, and that was God's 
 time, and the most proper time for the 
 birth of Jesus. It was at a time of univer- 
 sal peace. 
 
 "We see the prophecies fulfilled 
 In Jesus, that most wondrous child ; 
 His birth, his life, his death combine 
 To prove his character divine." 
 
 4. I will tell you what he did on earth. 
 
108 THE child's best FRIEND. 
 
 Till he was about thirty years of age, 
 he lived with his parents at Nazareth 
 in Galilee. Then he entered on his 
 public life, and went about doing good. 
 He called his disciples, who were only 
 twelve in number, and ordained them to 
 preach his gospel, and they were con- 
 tinually with him, and may be called his 
 family. They were his scholars, and he 
 taught them the mysteries of the kingdom 
 of heaven. He turned water into wine. 
 He hushed the tempest to a calm. The 
 winds and waves obeyed him. He fed 
 the hungry, healed the sick, made the 
 lame to walk, opened the eyes of the blind, 
 unstopped the ears of the deaf, caused the 
 dumb to speak, and raised the dead to life 
 again. He received all that came to him 
 for relief or instruction, both rich and poor, 
 old and young. He frequently spent the 
 night in prayer to God, and the day in 
 doing good to men. But he had many 
 enemies, and they sought to take away 
 his life. This is the manner in which 
 your Friend spent his time on earth. 
 
THE child's best FRIEND. 109 
 
 " Behold, the blind their sight receive, 
 Behold, the dead awake and live ; 
 The dumb speak wonders, and the lame 
 Leap like the hart, and bless his name. 
 
 ii 
 
 5. I will tell you how he died. Jesus 
 was betrayed by one of his own disciples 
 into the hands of his enemies, who bound 
 him and led him away. They falsely 
 accused him, smote him, spit upon him, 
 bufteted him, mocked him, scourged him, 
 and then led him away to be crucified be- 
 tween two thieves, on Calvary. They 
 nailed his hands and his feet to the cross, 
 and gave him vinegar mingled with gall 
 for his drink. To complete the whole, 
 one of the soldiers, with a spear, pierced 
 his side, and there came out blood and 
 water. He was crucified between ten 
 and twelve o'clock in the morning, and 
 died between three and four in the after- 
 noon. At his death, there was darkness 
 over the whole land for three hours. The 
 rocks rent, the graves opened, and the 
 veil of the temple was rent in twain. 
 Thus Jesus died a painful and shameful 
 
 10 
 
110 THE child's SEST FRIEND. 
 
 death ; and have you no tears to shed for 
 him who is your best Friend ? 
 
 "But drops of grief can ne'er repay 
 The debt of love you owe; 
 To Jesus give your hearts and lives, 
 'Tis all that you can do." 
 
 Lastly. Though your Friend was dead 
 and buried, yet after three days he arose 
 from the grave. After he had been forty 
 days on earth, he ascended to heaven in a 
 cloud, in the presence of his disciples, from 
 a mountain in Gahlee. Your Friend, my 
 dear children, is now in heaven. But he 
 will come again, and then every eye shall 
 see him. At the last day, he will come 
 in the clouds of heaven, in flaming fire, 
 to judge the world ; to take vengeance on 
 them that know not God and obey not 
 his gospel. Yes, my dear young friends, 
 we must all appear before the judgment- 
 seat of Christ. Then will wicked children 
 see him who would now save their souls, 
 and hear him condemn them to eternal 
 misery. Then will good children behold 
 
THE child's best FRIEND. Ill 
 
 *\im as their Saviour, and their best, their 
 -^.verlasting Friend. 
 
 II. Having told you who this Friend 
 is, I must describe the particular marks 
 of his character. 
 
 1. He is an affectionate and compas- 
 sionate Friend. His love for you, my 
 dear young friends, is very great, so 
 great that he left his Father's bosom, 
 and came down from heaven to earth, to 
 save you from your sins and from God's 
 anger. His love was so great, that he 
 who was the Son of God, the brightness 
 of his Father's glory, and the express 
 image of his person, condescended to 
 become a poor, feeble, helpless infant ; to 
 be born of a poor virgin, to be wrapped 
 in swaddling-clothes and laid in a manger, 
 that he might teach you the way to 
 heaven. He came to be despised and 
 rejected for you ; to endure hunger and 
 thirst for you ; to suffer and die for you. 
 When he was in heaven, surrounded 
 with angels and all the glories of the 
 upper world, he saw you were miserable, 
 
113 THE child's best FRIEND. 
 
 and pitied you ; he saw you were poor, 
 and came to enrich your souls with his 
 grace. For he who was rich, for your 
 sakes became poor, that you, through his 
 poverty, might be rich. He saw you 
 were sinful, and he came to make you 
 holy. He saw you were naked, and he 
 came to clothe you with his righteousness. 
 He saw you were wandering, and he 
 came to guide you to his Father's fold. 
 He saw you were the children of Satan, 
 and he came to make you the sons and 
 daughters of the Lord Almighty. He 
 bore the wrath of God, the rage of men, 
 the malice of devils. He bore every kind 
 of reproach and contempt, suffered the 
 greatest hardships, and endured the most 
 painful sufferings, that you might be saved 
 from endless misery, and enjoy eternal 
 happiness. 
 
 "It cost him death to save your lives, 
 To buy your souls it cost his own; 
 And all the unknown joys he gives 
 Were bought with agonies unknown." 
 
 2. He is a constant and powerful 
 
THE child's best FRIEND. 113 
 
 Friend ; he not only loves you now and 
 then, but he loves you at all times. He is 
 the same yesterday, to-day and forever. 
 He is able to save your souls, and not only 
 able, but willing to save the most sinful 
 children in the world. He can pardon all 
 your sins, though they are more in num- 
 ber than the hairs of your head, or the 
 stars of the heavens. 
 
 " Can Jesus save me ? I have disobeyed 
 my parents ; broken the Sabbath ; told 
 the greatest falsehoods, and called my 
 brothers and sisters by the worst of names. 
 I have been idle, as well as wicked, and 
 as to praying to God, or reading my Bible, 
 or loving Christ, I have not done one of 
 them. Can Jesus love or pardon such a 
 sinful child as I am ?" 
 
 Yes, his merits are so great, that he can 
 save you, because his blood cleanseth 
 from all sin. Delay no longer. Jesus is 
 waiting to save you. God is waiting to 
 be gracious to you. Christ invites you 
 to come to him, and he will be your con- 
 stant and powerful Friend. 
 
 10* 
 
114 THE child's best FRIEND. 
 
 " Dear Jesus, can a child so vile 
 Be numbered with thy own"? 
 No grace but thine can reconcile, 
 No blood but thine atone." 
 
 3. He is one that sticketh closer than 
 a brother. 
 
 " That cannot be," you say, "for no one 
 can love me better than my brother. He 
 always endeavours to please me. He 
 weeps when I am hurt. He cannot bear 
 to see my parents punish me, and he would 
 rather be beaten himself than that I should 
 be beaten. Wherever I go, he will go 
 with me. Once I was at play by the side 
 of a river, at the bottom of the garden. 
 By accident I fell in, and he, in endea- 
 vouring to save me, had nearly lost his 
 own life." 
 
 Your brother cannot give you a new 
 heart: Jesus can. Your brother cannot 
 preserve you from wicked thoughts : 
 Jesus can. Your brother did not die that 
 you might be saved from hell : Jesus did. 
 Should your brother die first, he cannot 
 secure you a place in heaven : but Jesus, 
 
THE child's best FRIEND. 115 
 
 your elder brother, can. " I go/' said he," to 
 prepare a place for you, that where I am 
 there ye may be also." Your brother can- 
 not intercede with God for you in heaven : 
 but Jesus is gone to appear in the presence 
 of your heavenly Father, and there he 
 continually makes intercession for all 
 those who love him and put their trust in 
 him. Wherever you are, there will Jesus 
 be. Wherever you go, Jesus will go 
 with you. Besides, your brother cannot 
 be always with you. When he grows 
 older, then you must part. But Jesus 
 sticketh closer than a brother, and will be 
 with you at all times and in all places. 
 Jesus will be with you in sickness and 
 health, in poverty and riches; in child- 
 hood and youth ; in the years of maturity; 
 in old age ; at the hour of death and 
 through eternity. When all friends for- 
 sake you, Jesus will be with you. When 
 your father and mother are dead, then the 
 Lord Jesus will take you up. When 
 your dear brother and sister are taken from 
 you by the hand of death, then Jesus, 
 
116 THE child's best FRIEND. 
 
 your elder Brother; Jesus, your affec- 
 tionate Friend; Jesus, your compassionate 
 Redeemer; Jesus, your constant interces- 
 sor; Jesus, your powerful Saviour, lives. 
 He lives in heaven, lives at the right hand 
 of his Father, and he lives forever and 
 ever. delightful thought ! He lives 
 to show his love by pleading with your 
 God. 
 
 4. He is indeed your best Friend. 
 No person can claim this title but Je- 
 sus. Not the best of men on earth, nor 
 the highest angel in heaven. Consider 
 what Jesus has done. He died to save 
 your souls. None of you, my young 
 friends, can redeem your brother or your 
 sister from death, or give to God a ransom 
 for their souls. He died that you might 
 receive pardon of your sins. Many, if 
 not all of you, I fear, are yet enemies to 
 God and Christ. But even while you 
 were enemies to him, Jesus died that you 
 might be reconciled to God, through his 
 blood. He died to purify your hearts 
 from sin; he wore a crown of thorns, 
 
THE child's best FRIEND. 117 
 
 that you might wear a crown of glory. 
 Even now he is pleading before God his 
 Father in heaven. It is Jesus that pre- 
 sents your prayers to God, purified from 
 every thing that would hinder their accept- 
 ance with him. It is he that gives you 
 the Holy Spirit, to teach you how to pray 
 and what to pray for. The friendship of 
 Jesus began long before you were born, 
 and it will continue till time shall be no 
 more. 
 
 " With tender pity in his heart, 
 He acts the Mediator's part; 
 A Friend and Brother he appears, 
 And well sustains the names he bears." 
 
 III. Be attentive, my dear young friends, 
 while I relate his acts of friendship to 
 children when he was on earth. 
 
 1. He healed the nobleman's son, who 
 was sick of a fever. 
 
 A certain nobleman, who lived at Ca- 
 pernaum, had a little boy who was very 
 ill of a fever. As soon as this nobleman 
 heard that Christ was come to Cana of 
 Galilee, he set off from Capernaum, which 
 
118 THE child's best FRIEND. 
 
 was fifteen miles from Caiia, to ask Jesus 
 to come and heal the child, telling him that 
 he was at the point of death. " Go thy 
 way," said Jesus to him, " thy son liveth." 
 He believed Christ, and went home. 
 
 On the way, he was met by the ser- 
 vants, who told him that his child was 
 well and in health. '^Yesterday at the 
 seventh hour," said they, " the fever left 
 him all at once ;" and this was the same 
 hour in which Jesus said. Thy son liveth. 
 And himself believed and his whole 
 house; that is, they all became the disciples 
 of Christ. The child's sickness was made 
 the means of saving the souls of his pa- 
 rents, and all the servants. Christ can 
 cure the fever of the mind as well as that 
 of the body. This is the second miracle 
 which Jesus wrought in Galilee.* Jesus 
 was this little boy's best Friend. 
 
 2. He raised the ruler's daughter from 
 the dead. He was a ruler of the syna- 
 gogue. His name was Jairus, or Jair. 
 
 * John iv. 46, &c. 
 
THE child's best FRIEND. 119 
 
 He came to Christ, and fell at his feet, 
 and with humility and earnestness en- 
 treated him to cure his sick child, a little 
 daughter, about twelve years old, the joy 
 of his heart, the darling of his family. 
 She appears to have been very much be- 
 loved, too, by the neighbours and friends ; 
 for at her death they wept and wailed 
 greatly. The ruler entreats Christ to 
 come and lay his hand on her, believing, 
 that if he did this, she would return even 
 from the borders of the grave, for she was 
 at the point of death. 
 
 As Jesus went with the ruler, a woman 
 came behind him and touched the hem 
 of his garment, and was healed of her 
 disease. 
 
 But now the painful tidings came to the 
 ruler, that his daughter was really dead. 
 Christ encourages the heart of the sorrow- 
 ful father, for he said, " Be not afraid, but 
 only believe." 
 
 And when he came into the chamber 
 where the little girl was, he took her by 
 the hand, and said unto her, " Damsel, I 
 
120 THE child's best FRIEND. 
 
 say unto thee arise :" and she arose and 
 walked; and he commanded that some- 
 thing should be given her to eat.* Jesus 
 can raise those who are dead in trespasses 
 and sins. 
 
 3. He cast out an evil spirit, and cured 
 a poor little boy who had the falling 
 sickness and was subject to fits. As 
 Christ came down from the mount of 
 transfiguration, there came a man from 
 among the multitude who kneeled before 
 him, and said, " Lord, have mercy on my 
 son, for he is mine only child, and he is a 
 lunatic and sore vexed ; for oft times he 
 falleth into the water, and oft times into the 
 fire.*' A lunatic is one whose distemper 
 commonly lies in the brain. The child 
 may have had the falling sickness, and by 
 it Satan tormented him and made it more 
 painful. In his fits the child was dumb, 
 and the fit was so violent that he foamed 
 at the mouth and gnashed with his teeth, 
 like one in great pain and misery, for the 
 
 * Mark v. 22, &c. 
 
THE child's best FRIEND. 121 
 
 spirit tore him and almost pulled him to 
 pieces. This was a constant grief to the 
 afflicted father. He carried him to Christ's 
 disciples, but they could not cast him out. 
 And Jesus said, " Thou dumb and deaf 
 spirit, I charge thee come out of him, and 
 enter no more into him." This evil spirit 
 was so malicious, when he heard this, that 
 he would have killed the child if possible : 
 but Jesus effectually cured the poor child, 
 and thus became his best Friend.* 
 
 4. He taught humility to his disciples 
 by the example of a child. They in- 
 quired, "^ Who is the greatest in the king- 
 dom of heaven?" And Jesus called a 
 little child, and set him in the midst of 
 them. He tells them, that as children, 
 they must be harmless, inoffensive, void 
 of malice ; they must be subjects of his 
 kingdom, and not rulers ; that they must 
 obey, and not command ; that they must 
 be humble, and not exalt themselves 
 above measure. The disciple is not above 
 
 * Mark ix. 14. 
 11 
 
122 THE child's best friend. 
 
 his Lord, nor the servant above his 
 master. 
 
 5. Notice his kind attention to the 
 hosannas of the children in the temple, 
 and the rebuke he gave the scribes and 
 Pharisees. Some children do not sing at 
 all in the temple. The word hosanna 
 means, " save now," or " save us, we be- 
 seech thee." The children were astonish- 
 ed and delighted. They rejoiced to see 
 Christ. They united in singing his praise. 
 They wished him happiness, prosperity 
 and success. They prayed that he would 
 save them from sin, misery and the wrath 
 of God ; that they might be with him 
 in heaven, and sing his praise there. 
 This song became them. They were 
 Jewish children. Some might be playing 
 near the temple, and so left off to sing 
 the praises of Christ. And some of them 
 might have been brought by their parents 
 to worship God. Christ was far from 
 being ashamed of them. He took parti- 
 cular notice of them. God may be ho- 
 noured by babes and sucklings as much 
 
THE child's best FRIEND. 123 
 
 as by those who are grown up unto years 
 of maturity. His praise was perfected or 
 finished, completed, by the children. It 
 had a peculiar tendency to glorify God. 
 Think of his tender regard and attention 
 to them when brought to him by their 
 parents and friends. It is said, that he 
 took them up in his arms, and put his 
 hands upon them, and blessed them. 
 
 what a sight ! what highly favoured 
 children they were ! I think I hear you 
 say, ! if Jesus was here now, I would 
 go to him that he might bless me, and 
 pardon my sins. 0, says another, I should 
 like to be taken up in his arms, and to sit 
 on his knees. 0, says a third, I would 
 ask him to make me one of his lambs. 
 0, says a fourth, I would ask him to be 
 my friend, and if he would, then I should 
 not want any other Friend but Jesus. 
 
 Ah, my dear young friends, is Jesus 
 your Friend, or is he not? Have you 
 sought his friendship ? Do you love him, 
 or do you not ? seek that he may be 
 your best, your kindest, your everlasting 
 Friend. Amen. 
 
124 THE child's best friend. 
 
 " Young children once to Jesus came, 
 His blessing to entreat; 
 And I may humbly do the same, 
 Before his mercy-seat. 
 
 " For when their feeble hands were spread, 
 
 And bent each infant knee, 
 * Forbid them not,' the Saviour said ; 
 
 And so he says for me. 
 
 "Though now he is not here below. 
 Bat on his heavenly hill, 
 To him may little children go. 
 And seek a blessing still. 
 
 " Well pleased those little ones to see, 
 The dear Redeemer smiled : 
 O, then, he will not frown on me, 
 A poor, unworthy child. 
 
 " If babes, so many years ago. 
 His lender pity drew. 
 He will not surely let me go, 
 Without a blessing too. 
 
 "Then while this favour to implore 
 My little hands are spread, 
 Do thou thy sacred blessing pour. 
 Dear Jesus, on my head." 
 
CHRIST IN THE TEMPLE. 125 
 
 LECTURE VI. 
 
 Christ in the Temple. 
 
 Luke ii. 46. — " And it came to pass, that after three 
 days, they found him in the temple, sitting in the 
 midst of the doctors, both hearing them and asking 
 them questions.''^ 
 
 My dear young friends, 
 
 There are many young people, who, 
 though they are in general dutiful and 
 obedient to their parents, yet are apt 
 sometimes to forget themselves, and com- 
 mit faults worthy of blame. Kitty At- 
 kins was a child of this disposition. She 
 had frequently been told by her mother 
 always to hasten home from school, and 
 in general she did so. But it happened 
 one afternoon, that a schoolfellow (a little 
 girl about her own age) invited her to go 
 and drink tea with her, and promised her 
 a variety of amusements in the evening. 
 
 11* 
 
126 CHRIST IN THE TEMPLE. 
 
 Kitty was so delighted with the pros- 
 pect of her pleasures, that she quite forgot 
 what her mother had often told her ; and 
 went, without even telling her where she 
 was going. Her mother, finding that she 
 did not return for more than three hours, 
 concluded that she was lost, and actually- 
 employed the bell-man to go about the 
 streets, and offer a reward to any person 
 that would bring her home. 
 
 Just as the bell-man had finished his 
 round, Kitty came home. On being asked 
 where she had been, she told the whole 
 truth, (for she never told a falsehood, even 
 to screen herself from punishment.) She 
 then begged her mother's pardon, and 
 promised never to do so again. Her 
 mother told her how wrong it was to do 
 so, and that she should speak to the mother 
 of the Uttle girl who had enticed her, and 
 also to the teacher of the school. 
 
 And it was determined, to prevent the 
 ill effects of such an example, that on 
 the very next half holiday, all the girls 
 should be assembled in the play-ground ; 
 
CHRIST IN THE TEMPLE. 127 
 
 that Kitty and her companion should be 
 placed in the middle, and their school- 
 mates around them in a ring, and that a 
 man with a bell should go three times 
 round the yard proclaiming "A lost child !" 
 in the same manner as the bell-man did 
 when Kitty was lost. Vain were the en- 
 treaties of the two girls to be excused 
 from the shame of this punishment ; they 
 were obliged to submit to it, and it had so 
 good an effect upon them, that they have 
 behaved well ever since. 
 
 I. We find that Jesus was lost; at least 
 his parents did not know where to find 
 him. Jesus was then twelve years old; 
 so that you here find that what is said in 
 one of your little hymns is really true. 
 
 " At twelve years old he talked with men ; 
 The Jews all wondering stand : 
 Yet he obeyed his mother then, 
 And came at her command." 
 
 Here I wish you to remember three 
 things: — 1. That children are sometimes 
 accidentally lost. This is often the case 
 with children in the country, as well as 
 
128 CHRIST IN THE TEMPLE. 
 
 children in the city. They frequently 
 wander from home without the knowledge 
 of their parents ; and a little child may 
 soon get so far from home as not to know 
 its way back again. Parents should teach 
 children to tell their names, and the name 
 of the place or street where they live, as 
 soon as they are able to speak. Little 
 children should not go beyond the bounds 
 of their habitation, unless there is some 
 person with them, or they are quite sure 
 of finding their way back. 
 
 2. That all children are naturally lost. 
 They are lost in sin. They wander in the 
 paths of iniquity, till Christ, the good 
 Shepherd, finds them, and brings them 
 back to the fold of God. Children know 
 not the right way to heaven, and many 
 have none to teach them the way to eter- 
 nal happiness. By nature you are all sin- 
 ners The Bible says that we are all born 
 in sin, and shapen or made in iniquity. 
 These are the words of David, the man 
 after God's own heart. While you con- 
 tinue in sin, like the prodigal son, you are 
 
CHRIST IN THE TEMPLE. 129 
 
 lost to your heavenly Father. Though he 
 knows you, and all that you say, think, or 
 do, yet you do not know who and what 
 he is, or what he has done for you. You 
 are lost to every thing that is good ; but 
 you know how to do evil things fast 
 enough. You have read many books, 
 and know Avhat they contain ; but you 
 seldom read your Bibles. Do you know 
 who Jesus Christ is, any of you? 
 
 " Yes, sir : he is God's own Son, who 
 came down from heaven, to save us from 
 our sins and from God's anger." 
 
 Hark ! what is that I hear ? 
 
 "The praises of my tongue 
 I offer to the Lord ; 
 That I was taught and learned so young 
 To read his holy word. 
 
 "That I am brouorht to know 
 The danger I was in, 
 By nature and by practice too, 
 A wretched slave to sin. 
 
 "That I am led to see 
 I can do nothing well ; 
 And whither shall a sinner flee, 
 To save himself from hell ] 
 
130 CHRIST IN THE TEMPLE. 
 
 " Dear Lord, this book of thine 
 Informs me where to go 
 For grace to pardon all my sins, 
 And make me holy too." 
 
 3. Remember, that many children who 
 die while they are so wicked and without 
 a new heart, are eternally lost. 
 
 Can you think, my dear children, that 
 those who curse and swear and tell stories, 
 can go to heaven when they die ? No, 
 God is angry with wicked children every 
 day. 
 
 Can you think that those who disobey 
 their parents and break the Sabbath can 
 live with God and his holy angels ? No, 
 they cannot. No, you never will dwell 
 with God, unless you love him ; and if you 
 love God, you will not do any thing that 
 will make him angry. But why should 
 you be afraid of God's anger ? 
 
 "Because he can kill my body, and 
 make my soul miserable after my body is 
 dead." 
 
 You know what your little hymn says, 
 *' There is beyond the sky 
 A heaven of joy and love, 
 
CHRIST IN THE TEMPLE. 131 
 
 And holy children, when they die, 
 Go to that world above. 
 
 " There is a dreadful hell, 
 And everlasting pains ; 
 There sinners must forever dwell, 
 In darkness, fire and chains." 
 
 II. We find that search was made for 
 Jesus, "and they sought him among their 
 kinsfolks and acquaintance.^' Under this 
 remark, I will mention three things more, 
 which I wish you to remember. 
 
 1. That children, when accidentally lost, 
 are sought for with the greatest anxiety 
 and sorrow by their parents. Could you 
 see them, I think you would not go from 
 home, without their knowledge, any more. 
 Could you hear them saying, " Have you 
 seen my little girl, and where ?" — " Do you 
 know where my little boy is gone ?" Every 
 possible inquiry is made, every place 
 where you are accustomed to play or to 
 visit is searched; but no such little boy 
 or girl is to be found. 
 
 Many accidents may happen to you 
 while absent from home. You may fall 
 
132 CHRIST IN THE TEMPLE. 
 
 or Otherwise hurt yourselves, and be 
 obliged to be carried home to your tender 
 parents. If you play near the water, you 
 may fall in and be drowned, and be brojght 
 home to your parents dead. You may be 
 run over by a horse or wagon ; and many 
 other things might happen to you. There- 
 fore, you should never go from home, 
 without first telling your parents where 
 you are going ; and, if they refuse to let 
 you go, you may be sure that the place is 
 improper, or else they would not make 
 any objection. 
 
 2. That as all children are naturally 
 born in sin, they are sought for by the . 
 Lord Jesus Christ and his ministers, with 
 the tenderest regard for the salvation of 
 their souls. That is the reason of my 
 talking to you now, that you may know 
 Jesus Christ, and who he is, and what he 
 has done for you. I hope I shall be able 
 to persuade some Uttle boy or girl who is 
 here to love him, and to ask him for a 
 new heart and the pardon of his or her 
 sins. 
 
CHRIST IN THE TEMPLE. 133 
 
 " Seek Jesus, he alone can give 
 That grace by which a child must live; 
 All other hope is false and vain, 
 None enter heaven till born again." 
 
 Jesus Christ came to seek and to save 
 those that are lost. And as I said before 
 that all children are lost in sin, therefore 
 Christ came to seek and to save little girls 
 and boys, as well as men and women. 
 Little children are all sinners, and Christ 
 Jesus came into the world to save sinners; 
 even the very chief, the greatest sinner, 
 Christ is able to save. The most sinful 
 child Christ is able to pardon and make 
 one of his lambs. 
 
 Come to Christ, my dear children, and 
 he will give you a new heart, the pardon 
 of all your sins, and save you from the 
 wrath to come. 
 
 "Come, children, 'tis Jesus that calls, 
 The voice of your Saviour obey ; 
 When Jesus invites you to come, 
 No disciple shall turn you away. 
 
 " The children he folds in his arms 
 Must surely be blessed indeed ; 
 12 
 
134 CHRIST IN THE TEMPLE. 
 
 For Jesus alone can bestow 
 
 The heavenly blessings they need." 
 
 3. That children are sought for with 
 
 the greatest maUce and hatred by Satan, 
 
 that he may tempt them to commit sin, 
 
 which makes God angry. Sin is the 
 
 cause of your souls being lost forever. 
 
 The Bible says, that " the devil goeth 
 
 about Uke a roaring hon, seeking whom 
 
 he may devour." It is Satan that makes 
 
 children disobedient to their parents. It 
 
 is he that persuades them to tell stories, 
 
 and teaches them to curse and swear; 
 
 and when they hear other children say 
 
 wicked words, Satan tempts them and 
 
 tells them to say the same. He makes 
 
 them idle and lazy. 
 
 " Some children, by old Satan taught, 
 Can dare to use the liar's tongue; 
 Such children must to Satan go, 
 Such, to eternal flames belong." 
 
 It is Satan that entices children to break 
 the Sabbath. It is he that lulls them to 
 sleep when they go to church, that they 
 may not hear the sermon, because he 
 
CHRIST IN THE TEMPLE. 135 
 
 hates every thing that is good. It is he 
 that teaches children to cheat and deceive 
 persons. He fills their hearts with pride, 
 anger, malice, hatred, and makes them 
 quarrel and fight, and do mischief. 
 
 "The devil tempts one mother's son 
 To rage against another ; 
 Thus wicked Cain was hurried on, 
 Till he had killed his brother." 
 
 Satan makes children hate God and their 
 Bible. He endeavours to keep them from 
 praying to God, because he hates prayer. 
 
 HI. That Jesus was found in the tem- 
 ple. Here are three things more which I 
 hope you will remember. 
 
 1. Children are sometimes found at 
 very improper places. In the word of 
 God, among other marks of the prosperity 
 of Jerusalem, Zechariah mentions that 
 the streets of the city shall be full of boys 
 and girls playing in the streets thereof; 
 but, my dear children, the street is very 
 often an improper place to play in. If 
 the streets are not very wide, you cannot 
 play with safety. Children should not be 
 
136 CHRIST IN THE TEMPLE. 
 
 found in roads where many carriages are 
 continually passing by. I had rather see 
 children at play ni a yard, or garden, or 
 field, where they are not in any kind of 
 danger. Children should not be found in a 
 stable where there are horses. Children 
 should not be found near the water. Child- 
 ren should not be found among a crowd of 
 people, because they are likely to be pushed 
 down and trampled on. Children should 
 not be found in Beelzebub's temple, — the 
 devil's school : it is a school of scandal 
 and of vice ; the certain road to ruin and 
 everlasting misery. There you will learn 
 all kinds of wickedness, every thing that 
 can corrupt the mind, or ruin the soul — I 
 mean the play-house, or any such place 
 of public amusement. 
 
 2. Sometimes children are found at 
 places where they are not expected to be 
 found. I have read of three little boys, 
 who used to meet to pray in a saw-pit. 
 Who would think of finding children in a 
 saw-pit at prayer to God, for the pardon 
 of their sins, through the blood of Christ ? 
 
CHRIST IN THE TEMPLE. 137 
 
 3. What a delightful thing it is, when 
 children are found in the place where 
 Jesus was ; in the temple, the house of 
 God. The church is the temple of God. 
 There you hear the word of God. There 
 you hear how much Christ loves little 
 children. There you hear the commands 
 of God, and you are bound to obey them. 
 There you hear how happy good children 
 will be, and how miserable wicked child- 
 ren will be. There you are told of the 
 joys of heaven and the miseries of hell. 
 There you hear the ministers of God 
 praying for you, that you may be good 
 and obedient children, — the lambs of 
 Christ ; that you may go to heaven when 
 you die. 
 
 " For you the public prayer is made, 
 O, join the public prayer; 
 For you the secret tear is shed, 
 O, shed yourselves a tear. 
 
 " We pray that you may early prove 
 The Spirit's power to teach ; 
 You cannot be too young to love 
 That Jesus whom we preach." 
 12* 
 
138 CHRIST IN THE TEMPLE. 
 
 IV. We find that Jesus was found in 
 the midst of company. He was sitting in 
 the midst of the doctors. Here are three 
 more things for you to remember. 
 
 1. Children should not be found in idle 
 company. Idleness is a root from whence 
 many other sins spring, that are very 
 offensive to God. You cannot learn to 
 pray from those who never pray them- 
 selves. Children learn the ways and 
 words of those children with whom they 
 play. 
 
 "From one rude boy that's used to mock, 
 They learn the wicked jest; 
 One sickly sheep infects the flock, 
 And poisons all the rest." 
 
 Good children will not be idle, they 
 will always find something to do. If they 
 are in want of employment, they will 
 study their Bibles, where they will find 
 both instruction and entertainment. Idle- 
 ness brings want: it is very sinful to 
 waste your time in idleness. Samuel was 
 not idle. When he was a very little boy 
 he waited upon the Lord. Timothy was 
 
CHRIST IN THE TEMPLE. 139 
 
 not idle. No, he knew the Scriptures 
 from a child. So he read his Bible, and 
 remembered what he read. Bees are not 
 idle, ants are not idle, birds are not idle. 
 It is a shame for children to be idle. 
 
 " In books, or work, or healthful play, 
 Let your first years be past, 
 That you may give for every day 
 Some good account at last." 
 
 2. Children should behave in a suita- 
 ble manner when they are in company. 
 There are some children who take the 
 advantage wlien they are in company, 
 because they know that their parents can- 
 not then correct them for their faults. 
 
 My dear children, you do not know how 
 much you injure yourselves and your 
 characters, as well as hurt the feelings of 
 your parents, by this conduct. The per- 
 sons who are present take notice of your 
 behaviour; and when they go home, they 
 say to their children or others, "I was 
 quite sorry to see how such a little boy 
 or such a little girl behaved. If it had 
 been a child af mine, I should have been 
 
140 CHRIST IN THE TEMPLE. 
 
 ashamed, and have punished it severely 
 for such bad conduct. I hope, my dear 
 child, you will never behave so ; if you did, 
 I should be very angry with you." 
 
 Those children may go and tell their 
 school-fellows and playmates of your bad 
 behaviour, and they will shun you. They 
 will avoid your company. They will re- 
 prove and tell you of your faults, and 
 reproach you. Then learn, my dear child- 
 ren, how necessary it is for you to behave 
 well when you are in company. A good 
 name is better than great riches. 
 
 3. Children should be found in the 
 company of the wise and good. Christ 
 was found among the doctors. If you are 
 in the company of those who are truly 
 wise, you will gain much knowledge. 
 
 " Away from fools I turn mine eyes, 
 Nor with the scoffers go ; 
 I would be walking with the wise, 
 That wiser I may grow." 
 
 You will find a greater delight in the 
 company of wise and good children than 
 in the company of those who are mischiev- 
 
CHRIST IN THE TEMPLE. 141 
 
 ous and wicked. Children should take 
 delight in going to school, for there, if 
 they are diligent scholars, they will learn 
 much and grow wiser every day. I wish 
 it may be said of you, my dear children, 
 as it was of Christ, that he grew in wisdom 
 and stature, and in favour Avith God and 
 man. 
 
 Good children are never alone. God 
 is always with them. They are not afraid 
 in the dark ; for God their Father is with 
 them there. 
 
 A little boy who was at sea in a great 
 storm was playing about the cabin, while 
 all the passengers and sailors were much 
 terrified and alarmed. When the storm 
 Avas over, he was asked why he was not 
 afraid. " 0," said the child, " why should I 
 be afraid when my father is at the helm ?'^ 
 Remember to keep company with wise 
 and good children. 
 
 V. We find that Jesus was well em- 
 ployed in this company, both hearing 
 them and asking them questions. Here, 
 my dear children, you may learn much 
 
142 CHRIST IN THE TEMPLE. 
 
 from the example of Jesus Christ when 
 he was a Httle boy. What was he doing 
 among the doctors in the temple ? 
 
 1. He was hearing them; that is, hst- 
 ening attentively to what they said. 
 From this part of the employment of 
 Christ, first learn to be attentive. How 
 is it possible for you to know what any- 
 body is saying to you, if you are looking 
 about you, and playing and laughing, 
 when you should be looking at the minis- 
 ter? You should be attentive to your 
 parents when they speak to you ; to the 
 minister when he speaks to you from the 
 pulpit ; to your teacher when he instructs 
 you in the school. 
 
 2. Learn to be humble. Never think 
 that you know enough. Always be 
 learning. You cannot know too much. 
 Remember what you are made of, that 
 you are dust, and must return to dust 
 again. What have you to be proud of? 
 Nothing. Be always ready to learn, and 
 remember that there are others who have 
 been many more years in the world than 
 
CHRIST IN THE TEMPLE. 143 
 
 you. Why, you are but beggars, after all 
 your pride and vauity. 
 
 " And what are children, at the best, 
 But beggars charitably drest ; 
 Poor little beggars, who receive 
 Nothing but what their parents givel" 
 
 3. Learn to be teachable. Good child- 
 ren are humble, modest, teachable and 
 attentive, and so must all those children 
 be who wish to go to heaven. In that 
 happy place, the angels are all lovely and 
 amiable, and so must all good children be, 
 if they wish to dwell with Jesus in his 
 heavenly kingdom. How delightful it 
 was to the Lord Jesus to see Mary sitting 
 at his feet, listening attentively to the 
 words which he spoke ; and she did not 
 hear in vain. How pleasing it is, my 
 dear children, to see you all so still and 
 attentive. I wish you may all say, by 
 your looks and actions, 
 
 " Give us, dear Jesus, ears to hear, 
 And hearts to understand ; 
 In trouble may we find thee near, 
 A Saviour dose at hand." 
 
144 CHRIST IN THE TEMPLE. 
 
 VI. We read that Jesus was hearing or 
 attending to what they said. The text 
 tells us that he was employed also in 
 asking them questions. From this part 
 of his employment you may learn, my 
 dear children, 
 
 1. To seek instruction. There are 
 many children who are very curious, and 
 discover very early an inquiring mind. 
 Some children will puzzle their parents to 
 give them answers to some of their in- 
 quiries. A little girl once asked me this 
 question. " If I should go to hell when I 
 die, and pray to God when I am there, will 
 he not take me to heaven afterwards?" 
 "No, my dear child," I replied; "don't you 
 know what is said in one of your hymns? 
 
 "Then 'twill forever be in vain 
 To crj^ for pardon or for grace; 
 To wish I had my time again, 
 Or hope to see my Maker's face. 
 
 It will then be too late to pray; there- 
 fore you had better pray to God now." 
 
 2. Children should manifest an earnest 
 desire to be instructed, by asking questions 
 
CHRIST IN THE TEMPLE. 145 
 
 when they are reading about what they 
 do not understand. A httle boy, who 
 used to read the Bible to me on the Sab- 
 bath-day, whenever he came to a word or 
 sentence which he did not understand, 
 used to stop and ask the meaning. 
 
 3. Children should endeavour to re- 
 member what they hear, that they may 
 profit by it. This may be the last time ; 
 you may not hear of Jesus Christ any 
 more ; you cannot tell how soon you 
 may die. 
 
 I will now conclude, my dear children, 
 with a few admonitions. Have a little 
 patience, and listen to me a little longer. 
 I will not keep you many minutes. 
 
 1. Remember that you are lost in sin; 
 that you are all sinners, and stand in need 
 of a Saviour to pardon your sins. 
 
 2. Remember to search or seek for 
 salvation ; that is, to seek to have Christ 
 for your Saviour; to be delivered from 
 the bondage of sin and the dominion of 
 Satan ; to be delivered from all evil, and 
 to possess that which alone can make you 
 
 13 
 
146 CHRIST IX THE TEMPLE. 
 
 happy in this world and in that which is 
 to come. None but Christ can save 
 your souls from hell. 
 
 3. Pray that you may be found in the 
 temple of heaven at last. There you 
 shall see Jesus face to face, and dwell 
 with holy men and holy angels. Then 
 shall you sit at his right hand, where 
 there is fulness of joy and pleasures for- 
 evermore. 
 
 4. Children should be very careful to 
 avoid bad company, and keep company 
 with wise and good children, or none at 
 all. Bad company has been the ruin of 
 thousands. It is the first step to ruin. 
 
 5. Learn of those who can and will 
 instruct you. If they think it a pleasure 
 to instruct you, you should think it a pri- 
 vilege and pleasure to attend to their 
 instructions. 
 
 6. Go often to the house of God. 
 Jesus always went to the synagogue on 
 the Sabbath, wherever he was. Children 
 should be always ready to go to the 
 house of God. A very little girl, who 
 
CHRIST IN THE TEMPLE. 147 
 
 had been at play with her school-fellows on 
 a Saturday afternoon, said that she wished 
 every day was Saturday, except one. 
 
 "And what do you wish that to be?" 
 said her mother. 
 
 " Sunday," said the child. 
 
 "Why?" 
 
 "Because then I can go to the house 
 of God, and hear about Jesus Christ." 
 
 7. Remember to behave in a proper 
 manner in the house of God. Do not 
 laugh and play, or be inattentive ; but 
 listen to what the minister is saying, that 
 you may hear the word of God. Take 
 heed also of going to sleep when you are 
 there. 
 
 8. Read your Bibles. Study the life 
 of Christ, and imitate his example. And 
 may the Lord give you understanding in 
 all these things, and bless you all, for 
 Christ's sake. Amen. 
 
 "Bright were the beams of love divine, 
 When God's own Son, an infant, came, 
 And all his actions, as he grew. 
 Our growing admiration claim. 
 
148 CHRIST IN THE TEMPLE. 
 
 " Twelve years (his age) divinely led, 
 He came to do his Father's will ; 
 Though God himself, forever blest, 
 He would his Father's law fulfil. 
 
 "There, clad like us, Jehovah sat 
 Among the tribes of Israel's race ; 
 Each elder wondered where he learned 
 Such words of wisdom and of grace. 
 
 " For more than man, though yet a child, 
 His deity divinely shone ; 
 He filled his Father's temple well, 
 And well he fills his Father's throne- 
 
 "Then, holy Saviour, may we seek, 
 As we in years and stature grow, 
 To follow thee, the living way. 
 And do thy Father's will below. 
 
 "To Sion, as thy parents led 
 
 Thine infant footsteps in the way, 
 So may our parents lead us on, 
 While v/e with willing feet obey 
 
 ») 
 
THE GOOD child's PETITION. 149 
 
 LECTURE VII. 
 
 The good Child^s Petition. 
 Luke xi. 1. — '■^ Lordy teach us to pray. 
 
 ?» 
 
 My dear young friends, 
 
 It is a painful thought, that there are 
 thousands in hell, who, while here on earth, 
 never uttered one prayer to God, from 
 the hour of their birth to the time of their 
 death. Many have died with an oath or 
 a curse upon their lips. Many have died, 
 and many children too, praying to God ; 
 and, full of holy joy, have sung his praise, 
 while passing through the dark valley of 
 the shadow of death. What are the 
 prayers which you offer to God ? Some 
 there are, now within these walls, who 
 never pray at all. Some who only say 
 a short prayer which they were taught 
 Avhen quite young. Some there are who 
 say, perhaps, "I believe in God," but this 
 
 13* 
 
150 THE GOOD child's PETITION. 
 
 is not a prayer. It is only telling God 
 
 what you believe ; while, at the same 
 
 time, you know nothing at all about the 
 
 matter. There are some children who 
 
 say the Lord's prayer, "Our Father," &c., 
 
 and this, indeed, is an excellent prayer. 
 
 It was taught by Jesus to his disciples, 
 
 when they came to him and said. Lord, 
 
 teach us to pray as John also taught his 
 
 disciples ; and he said unto them, When 
 
 ye pray, say 
 
 " Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be 
 thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be 
 done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this 
 day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, 
 as we forgive them that trespass against us. And 
 lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from 
 evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power 
 and the glory forever. Amen." 
 
 How many of you, my dear children, 
 understand the meaning of this prayer? 
 Not one half of you. You say, " Oar 
 Father who art in heaven," when at the 
 same time you curse and swear and lie 
 and break the Sabbath. You disobey 
 your parents, You never read the Bible, 
 
THE GOOD child's PETITION. 151 
 
 unless you are obliged to read it, and yet 
 you say, " Our Father," while at the same 
 time you have a wicked heart, keep 
 wicked company, indulge wicked thoughts 
 and do wicked actions. 
 
 Remember, that God is the Father of 
 good children only ; but wicked children 
 are a part of the devil's family. Satan is 
 their father, and he was a liar from the 
 beginning of the world; so that we are 
 not to wonder when his children tell so 
 many lies as they do. Are you not often 
 cross, ill-natured, cruel and mischievous ? 
 You call God your Father, and at the 
 same time you obey the devil. 
 
 You say, "Hallowed, or sacred, be thy 
 name ;" and upon the most trifling occa- 
 sion you will say, " Lord ! God ! 
 Christ ! God bless us ! Lord, look !" This 
 is taking the Lord's name in vain. 
 
 You say, " Thy kingdom come ;" and 
 at the same time, you are the servants of 
 the wicked one and slaves of sin. You 
 belong to Satan and to the kingdom of 
 darkness and iniquity. 
 
152 THE GOOD CHILD S PETITION. 
 
 You say, " Thy will be done on earth 
 as it is in heaven ;" and, at the same time, 
 you oppose the will of God and do all 
 you can to hinder it from being done, 
 either by yourselves or others. It is his 
 will that you should come here from time 
 to time to hear of God ; but you do not 
 come. It is his will that you should pray; 
 but you do not pray. It is his will that 
 you should read the Bible ; but you do 
 not. It is his will that you should be 
 good children ; but you are not. Why 
 do you say one thing and mean ano- 
 ther? 
 
 You say, <'Give us this day our daily 
 bread." If you were to be asked who it 
 is that gives you food, you would say, 
 your parents : but who gives it to your 
 parents ? God. 
 
 You say, "Forgive us our trespasses, 
 or sins, as we forgive those who trespass 
 against, or injure us." Now when any 
 one has done any thing amiss to you, do 
 you forgive them ? Do you not take 
 revenge by treating them ill, or speaking 
 
THE GOOD child's PETITION. 153 
 
 ill of them ? If you expect God to forgive 
 your sins, you must forgive others, your 
 brothers, your sisters, your school-fellows 
 and playmates. 
 
 You say, " Lead us not into temptation, 
 but deliver us from evil." My dear 
 children, you should not only pray to God 
 to keep you from sin, but you should try 
 and keep yourselves from it, by watching 
 against the very appearance of evil ; by 
 forsaking your evil ways and wicked 
 companions, for they will lead you not 
 only into evil and sorrow, but to misery 
 without end. 
 
 " Thine is the kingdom ;'' and may all 
 these children be subjects of the kingdom 
 of God. '^ Thine is the power." Lord, 
 exert thy power at this time, let thy work 
 appear to thy servant and thy glory unto 
 these children. "Amen." If but one soul 
 be taught to seek the Lord, if but one 
 child be brought to pray to God, (for he 
 will hear the prayers of a little child,) to 
 Him shall be all the glory and all the 
 praise. 
 
154 THE GOOD child's PETITION. 
 
 Thus the prayer is concluded. Now, 
 my young friends, attend to the lecture, 
 and I hope you will go away wiser than 
 you came, and know more of the nature, 
 importance and necessity of prayer. 
 
 The first question a child would natu- 
 rally ask me is this, To whom should I 
 pray? You say it is my duty: tell me the 
 name, nature and attributes of that Being 
 to whom my petitions are to be offered. 
 
 His name is God. In his nature he is 
 spiritual and eternal, and those who wor- 
 ship or pray to him must worship him in 
 spirit and in truth. He made you, there- 
 fore it is your duty to pray to him : he ex- 
 pects that you should love and serve him, 
 and how can you pretend to love and serve 
 him, if you never pray to him ? Could 
 you but see God only once, you would 
 think him the most lovely and most ex- 
 cellent of all beings. 
 
 Are you not very young? A few years 
 ago you had no being at all. Twenty 
 years ago you were not born. You can- 
 not preserve your own lives. He that 
 
THE GOOD child's PETITION. 155 
 
 made you can destroy you. Besides, you 
 are sinful creatures. You have provoked 
 that God who made you, to be angry with 
 you, and to take away all your comforts. 
 Are you willing to continue under the an- 
 ger of Christ forever ? 
 
 God is very gracious. He has not only 
 encouraged you to pray to him, but pro- 
 mised to hear your prayers. Do you know 
 how terrible the anger of God is ? He can 
 make you miserable in this world and in 
 that which is to come. 
 
 " To Christ, who reigns above the sky, 
 Your Father and your Friend, 
 To him let all your vows be paid, 
 And all your prayers ascend. 
 
 " With all the love a Father feels, 
 He pities and forgives ; 
 And though our earthly parents die, 
 Our heavenly Father lives." 
 
 The second question a child would ask 
 is, What should I say when I pray to 
 God? Before I answer this, let me ask 
 you a question, and I should like to hear 
 one of you answer it. What is prayer ? 
 
156 THE GOOD child's PETITION. 
 
 " Prayer is an offering up of our desires 
 to God, for things agreeable to his will, in 
 the name of Christ." 
 
 Yes, prayer is the desire of the heart. If 
 you are hungry, you will ask for food: if 
 you are thirsty, you will ask for drink : if 
 you are lost, you will ask for the right way. 
 You will not ask for what you do not want. 
 Do you know what your wants are? At- 
 tend. 
 
 1. The wants of your bodies. I mean, 
 the things you want in this world. They 
 are called temporal wants. You stand in 
 daily need of food and raiment, that you 
 may not suffer hunger or cold. You 
 want the continuance of your health and 
 strength, or you would pine away in sick- 
 ness and pain. Can you preserve your 
 own lives, or can any of your friends save 
 you from dying ? Do you not know that 
 Christ is the author of all your comforts ? 
 It is on him that you depend for daily 
 food and clothing, for health and strength, 
 for recovery from sickness, for preserva- 
 tion from danger and death. It is cer- 
 
THE GOOD child's PETITION. 157 
 
 tainly from God that you must seek all 
 these things by prayer. You never heard 
 a beggar complain for want of words to 
 express his wants, or that he did not know 
 how to beg, or what to say. Are you not 
 exposed to dangers every day and every 
 night ? Do you not want the care of God 
 to keep you, to preserve you from mischief, 
 from fires, from violent and cruel men, and 
 from all evils of every kind ? You can- 
 not walk without his help. You cannot 
 learn without his assistance ; therefore you 
 should pray for a retentive memory. 
 
 2. Spiritual wants. You are guilty crea- 
 tures, and need the pardon of your sins. 
 You have hearts, but they are not holy ; 
 therefore they must be renewed. And, 
 since you cannot atone for your sins, or 
 change your hearts, how earnestly should 
 you pray that God would forgive your 
 sins and change your hearts, for the sake 
 of his well beloved Son, Jesus Christ. Re- 
 member how sinful you all are by nature. 
 Are you not ready to commit new sins 
 every day ? Are you not apt to be angry 
 
 14 
 
158 THE GOOD CHILD S PETITION. 
 
 without a cause ; to strike others too soon, 
 and call them names, for which, after- 
 wards, you are very sorry ? Do you not 
 fret and grow uneasy if other children 
 have things better than you? Are you 
 not apt to disobey your parents, or your 
 teacher, when their commands are not 
 pleasing to you ? Are you not sometimes 
 inclined to hide your faults by telling a lie ? 
 Do you not find yourselves too ready to 
 learn that which is evil; and to be indiffer- 
 ent or careless about that which is good ? 
 Are you not ready sometimes to do a 
 thing privately wliich is not allowed you, 
 or which is forbidden ? 0, my dear young 
 friends, do you not find that there are a 
 great number of things that you want? 
 And when you pray, you need not be at 
 a loss for words, or for a blessing to ask 
 of God. See how much you need the 
 grace of God to keep you from sin daily. 
 
 *' What is there, Lord, a child can do 
 That feels with sin oppressed 1 
 There's evil which I never knew 
 Before, within my breast. 
 
THE GOOD child's PETITION. 159 
 
 " My thoughts are vain, my heart is hard, 
 My temper apt to rise ; 
 And when I seem upon my guard, 
 It takes me by surprise.' 
 
 9i 
 
 3. There are eternal blessings of which 
 you stand in need, and for these you 
 ought to pray to God. You cannot al- 
 ways live in this world. Your body must 
 die, and be buried, and turn to dust in the 
 grave. But your soul or spirit cannot 
 die ; it must then go into another world. 
 You have been told, that Jesus, who was 
 once on earth and died for sinners, is now 
 gone to heaven to prepare a place for all 
 that serve God and love him. Do you 
 think he will prepare a place for you ? 
 Can you bear to go like a stranger into 
 another world, and not know where you 
 are going? You must stand before the 
 Judge of all — are you prepared ? There 
 is a heaven for the righteous, who love 
 Christ and pray to him; and a hell for 
 the wicked, Avho neither pray to him nor 
 love him. Can you even hope that God 
 will save you from hell, and receive you 
 
160 THE GOOD child's PETITION. 
 
 to dwell with him and the holy angels, if 
 you never pray to him for blessings? 
 Now I have told you what you should 
 say to God when you pray to him. 
 
 A third question that a child should ask 
 is, Who should I pray for besides myself? 
 
 Your parents claim part of your prayers 
 to God. Have you not a father and a 
 mother that you are bound to love and 
 obey? Would you not pray that God 
 would give them grace, and enable them 
 to instruct you, and bring you up in his 
 nurture and admonition? Have you bro- 
 thers and sisters ? Pray for them. Have 
 you friends and relations? Pray for 
 them. Your teachers, too, pray for them. 
 You should pray for ministers also ; they 
 catechise and instruct you ; and when you 
 hear them preach, you should pray for a 
 blessing on what you hear. They pray 
 for you, and you should pray for them. 
 Pray for your school-fellows, and for 
 those poor children who never pray, and 
 who have no parents to pray for them. 
 0, my young friends, say with all your 
 
THE GOOD child's PETITION. 161 
 
 hearts, "Lord, teach us how to pray, and 
 what to pray for. We cannot remember 
 all these things without thy help." 
 
 My dear young friends, after offering 
 up this short petition, a child would ask a 
 fourth question. Who will teach Tue to 
 ,pray ? Hear the text. I will read it. 
 "Lord, teach us to pray." By these 
 words you find it is the Lord that will 
 teach you. Yes, my dear young friends, 
 by his Holy Spirit he will bring all these 
 things to your remembrance. The Holy 
 Spirit will sanctify your hearts and make 
 them holy. By the Spirit you are taught 
 the evil nature and awful consequences 
 of sin against God. By the Holy Spirit 
 you are taught the necessity and import- 
 ance of prayer. It is the Spirit that 
 creates in your hearts a desire to pray. 
 It is the Spirit that will teach you what 
 you are to pray for. It is the Spirit that 
 will keep your thoughts from wandering 
 when you pray to God. It is he that 
 keeps you from weariness, dulness and 
 carelessness in prayer. True prayer from 
 
 14* 
 
162 THE GOOD child's PETITION. 
 
 the heart comes from God to the heart, 
 and then arises from the heart to God 
 again. See, then, my dear young friends, 
 how necessary it is to have such a teacher 
 as the Holy Spirit. 
 
 Again, a fifth question that a child 
 would ask is, How, or in what manner, 
 am I to pray to God? Remember, 
 when you are going to pray, to whom 
 you are going to speak. It is God, and 
 not man. It is a holy, just, merciful and 
 majestic God ; who regards the hearts and 
 thoughts more than the words or the pos- 
 ture. 
 
 "When daily you kneel down to pray, 
 As you are taught to do, 
 God does not care for what you say, 
 Unless you feel it too." 
 
 Remember, then, that you are praying 
 to God, and not to man ; therefore, speak 
 as if you were speaking to God alone. 
 A low voice in prayer is proper. It may 
 be so loud that yourself can just hear it, 
 and you will find it of some use to keep 
 your thoughts from wandering. Let your 
 
THE GOOD child's PETITION. 163 
 
 thoughts be composed. The reading of a 
 chapter or a psalm will help to compose 
 your thoughts and fix them on divine 
 things. Take care that you do not mock 
 God with your lips, while your hearts are 
 far from him. 
 
 »' What foolish thoughts your hearts beguile ; 
 And when you pray or sing, 
 You're often thinking all the while 
 About some other thing. 
 
 " Some idle play or foolish toy 
 
 Can send your thoughts abroad, 
 Though this should be your greatest joy. 
 To love and serve the Lord." 
 
 Be sincere in what you say to Christ. 
 Pray as if you earnestly wished that God 
 would hear you, not as though you did 
 not care whether he heard you or not. 
 Be humble, when you remember that 
 you are dust. It is a great condescension 
 in God, who is infinitely great as well as 
 infinitely good, to listen to the prayers of 
 sinful children, such as you are. It shows 
 that he is very gracious and kind, to 
 attend to the wants of little children -, that 
 
164 THE GOOD child's PETITION. 
 
 he will not only hear, but that he will 
 answer their prayers, and give them every 
 blessing which they need. 
 
 " God is so good that he will hear 
 Whenever children humbly pray; 
 He always lends a gracious ear 
 
 To what the youngest child can say." 
 
 Pray with submission to the will of 
 Christ. Imitate Jesus, and after you have 
 prayed for every blessing you want, say, 
 "Not my will, but thine be done ;" not as 
 I please, Lord, but give me what thou 
 knowest to be good and proper for me. 
 Remember to ask for every blessing and 
 every favour in the name of Jesus Christ, 
 for the sake of what he has done for 
 children. 
 
 "Dear children, never, never dare 
 To act the trifler's part ; 
 Nor think that God will hear a prayer 
 That comes not from the heart." 
 
 A sixth question that a child would ask 
 is. How often should I pray ? At least 
 every morning and evening. There are 
 some children who only pray to God, or 
 
THE GOOD child's PETITION. 165 
 
 rather say their prayers, in the evening. 
 Some say the Lord's prayer and a hymn. 
 Some say only a hymn, or part of a hymn, 
 and then they think they have done all 
 that is required of them. Their parents 
 are satisfied. The children are satisfied. 
 But God is not satisfied. 
 
 " You never can be said to pray, 
 From what your lips are saying; 
 'Tis when your lips and heart unite, 
 That God beholds you praying." 
 
 Can you lie down to rest at night, be- 
 fore you have thanked God for his care 
 of you during the day? You should 
 likewise endeavour to remember what 
 sins you have committed during the day, 
 and beg of God to pardon them, for 
 Christ's sake. You ought to implore his 
 protection through the night, that you 
 may lay yourselves down in peace and 
 sleep. For remember that it is God 
 alone who makes you to dwell in safety. 
 
 When you rise in the morning, can you 
 sit down to your breakfast, or go abroad 
 to school or anywhere else, before you 
 
166 THE GOOD child's PETITION. 
 
 return your thanks to God for his kind- 
 ness to you through the night, and entreat 
 his blessing upon yourselves and friends, 
 and on what you are about to do in the 
 day? 
 
 But you may pray oftener than night 
 and morning. Daniel prayed three times 
 a day. David prayed three times a day, 
 morning, noon and night. I knew a 
 young girl, about twelve years of age, 
 who used to go up-stairs to pray to 
 Christ by herself, as soon as she came 
 home from school in the morning. I am 
 afraid there are not many who do so. 
 
 One more question may be asked, and 
 I must answer that before I tell you of 
 any more little girls and boys. Where 
 may I pray 7 Isaac prayed in the field. 
 Daniel, in the lion's den. Jonah, in the 
 fish's belly. Samuel, in the temple. 
 Christ, on a mountain. Peter, on the 
 house-top. Children commonly pray in 
 their chambers. I knew a little boy, who 
 used to pray sometimes as he was walking 
 in a lane or in the street, sometimes in the 
 
THE GOOD child's PETITION. 167 
 
 garden or in the hay-loft. Remember, 
 that it is not the place, nor the time, 
 which God regards; but the heart. 
 He will hear you whenever you pray 
 and wherever you pray. He is more 
 ready to hear than you are to pray, and 
 more ready to forgive than you are to ask 
 forgiveness. He hears you if you but 
 utter a sigh, or a groan. He counts all 
 the steps you take to a throne of grace. 
 There is not a more lovely sight than a 
 little child on its knees in prayer to God. 
 
 I am now going to repeat some of the 
 most remarkable prayers. Susan's prayer 
 — then they all kneeled down, and were 
 all very attentive to hear the little girl 
 pray for her father in this way : " God, 
 my heavenly Father, I love thee, because 
 thou art always good ; and I hope my 
 other father will be good too ; and then 
 my heavenly Father will love him and 
 make him happy. make him good, and 
 we shall all be happy." The effect of 
 this prayer on her father was very great. 
 
 Joseph's prayer. A little boy used the 
 
168 THE GOOD child's PETITION. 
 
 following words: "Now, Lord, save 
 me, a sinful child and a vile sinner. I 
 know I have sinned against thee many 
 times. Lord, I wish I had not. Do 
 hear, Lord; save me, a poor sinful 
 child. Christ was crucified ; dear Lord, 
 save me for his sake. this soul of 
 mine, that must be in heaven or hell for- 
 ever ! Keep me this day and month and 
 year ; and if I should live twenty, or forty 
 years, help me to live to thy glory." 
 
 Elizabeth's prayer. A little girl of this 
 name said to her teacher, a little before 
 she died, " Farewell, my friend, my ever 
 dear teacher ; the last prayer I make to 
 God shall be for you; and whenever your 
 Saviour calls you home, I will (if he per- 
 mits me) with pleasure come out of the 
 golden gates to meet you, when your 
 soul leaves the body, and join the angels 
 in conducting you to our Immanuel." 
 
 John's prayer. A little boy, who had 
 been bitten by a mad dog, was informed 
 that the doctor was sent for; but he, 
 closing his eyes and folding his hands, 
 
THE GOOD child's PETITION. 169 
 
 said, "0 my God, thou canst do more 
 for me than the doctors can. Thou hast 
 washed me in the blood of the Lamb. 
 Take me to thyself. I shall not stay long 
 now. I must die and go to the bosom of 
 my Jesus." 
 
 " To heaven can reach the softest words, 
 A child's repenting prayer ; 
 For tears are seen, and sighs are heard, 
 And thoughts regarded there." 
 
 But what shall I say to those who 
 never pray ; who rise in the morning and 
 lie down in the evening, and never utter 
 one single prayer to God at all .'' My 
 dear children, where do you sit ? What 
 are your names ? What, not pray to God ! 
 
 " I do not know how to pray." 
 
 Have you parents ? 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 Well, do they not teach you to pray ? 
 
 "No." 
 
 Do they ever pray ? 
 
 " I never heard them." 
 
 Ah, my dear children, I pity you. 0, 
 ye praying children, hear this ! Here are 
 
 15 
 
170 THE GOOD child's PETITION. 
 
 children who never prayed to God in 
 their lives ! 0, pray for them, that the 
 Lord would teach them to pray. Their 
 minds are ignorant of Christ and religion 
 and heavenly things. Is it not a pleasing 
 thing to think that God has promised to 
 give his own Holy Spirit to instruct and 
 teach you how to pray? Do you not 
 read in the Bible, If fathers give good 
 gifts to their children, how much more 
 shall your heavenly Father give the Holy 
 Spirit to them that ask him ? You, my 
 dear children, who never yet prayed to 
 God, have only to use the words of the 
 text as a prayer ; and to offer the prayer 
 of the publican, saying, " God be merci- 
 ful to me a sinner." You have need to 
 say, with Mary Turner, "Lord, give me 
 a new heart." 
 
 What whisper is that I hear ? " Lord, 
 teach us to pray." 
 
 " Lord, teach a little child to pray, 
 Thy grace betimes impart; 
 A.nd grant thy Holy Spirit may 
 Renew my infant heart. 
 
THE GOOD child's PETITION. 171 
 
 *' A sinful creature I was born, 
 And from the birth I strayed ; 
 I must be wretched and forlorn 
 Without thy mercy's aid. 
 
 " But Christ can all ray sins forgive, 
 And wash away their stain ; 
 And fit ray soul with him to live, 
 And in his kingdom reign. 
 
 " To him let little children come, 
 For he hath said they may ; 
 His bosom then shall be their home, 
 Their tears he'll wipe away. 
 
 " For all who early seek his face 
 Shall surely taste his love ; 
 Jesus shall guide them, by his grace, 
 To dwell with him above." 
 
THE WAY TO BE WISE. 173 
 
 LECTURE VIII. 
 
 The Way to be Wise. 
 John V. 39. — " Search the Scriptures" 
 My DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS, 
 
 The Bible is the best book in the 
 world. It is the only book that can 
 make you truly wise and truly good. It 
 may well be compared to a river, whose 
 waters, in some places, are so shallow 
 that a lamb may walk through them, and 
 in other places so deep that an elephant 
 may swim in them. It is not to be com- 
 pared with any other book, not only be- 
 cause it speaks the truth alone, but be- 
 cause it changes the heart and raises the 
 thoughts from earth to heaven. It has 
 no trifling stories, as many other books 
 have. Even those parts which relate the 
 histories of good and bad men are full 
 of excellent lessons of instruction. Here 
 
 15* 
 
174 THE WAY TO BE WISE. 
 
 are lessons for the young, as well as for 
 their parents: lessons which teach us 
 God's love to early piety. This we see 
 in the calling of Samuel while yet a 
 child ; and God's hatred to young sin- 
 ners in his sending judgments upon the 
 sons of Eli. 
 
 A martyr who was condemned to die 
 for his love to God and his regard for the 
 Bible, when he came to the stake, took 
 his final leave of all things here below in 
 these affecting words : " Farewell, sun 
 and moon ; farewell, all the beauties of 
 creation and all the comforts of life ; 
 farewell, my dear friends; farewell, my 
 beloved relations; and farewell, thou 
 precious book of God." 
 
 David, the king of Israel, made this 
 public declaration : that the word of God 
 was more to him than thousands of gold 
 and silver; sweeter to him than honey 
 or the honey-comb. How precious the 
 Bible must be. It is the book from God ! 
 Yes, it is certain that God has given you 
 the Bible. And what the Bible says you 
 
THE WAY TO BE WISE. 175 
 
 are to regard as the word of God ; as his 
 voice speaking to you. You are told and 
 taught to believe this : because, in 2 Tim. 
 iii. 1 6, it is thus written, " All Scripture is 
 given by inspiration of God, and is pro- 
 fitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correc- 
 tion, for instruction in righteousness." 
 
 Wicked men say and pretend to be- 
 lieve the Bible is not true, only because 
 they wish it were not true. And when it 
 reproves them for sin, they curse the 
 book, and would, if they dare, throw it 
 in the fire. 
 
 A party of young men, who were ex- 
 ceedingly wicked, met together one even- 
 ing, and in the midst of their wickedness, 
 madness and folly, they came to an awful 
 resolution to burn the Bible ! Accord- 
 ingly a large fire was prepared. The 
 Bible was laid upon the table, and near 
 it stood a flowing bowl of liquor, to drink 
 after the dreadful deed was performed. 
 One of the most wicked and daring in the 
 company was appointed to carry the 
 Bible from the table to the fire. He took 
 
176 THE WAY TO BE WISE. 
 
 np the sacred volume, and was walking 
 
 towards the fire. He cast his eyes on the 
 
 book in his hand. A sudden trembling 
 
 seized him in every part of his body. 
 
 Paleness covered his face. He came 
 
 back to the table, and laid down the 
 
 Bible, saying, "Let us not burn that 
 
 book till we get a better." This young 
 
 man afterwards lived to experience its 
 
 value and taste its sweetness even on a 
 
 dying bed. 
 
 " bless the Lord for Bibles given, 
 To teach our souls the way to heaven." 
 
 I. Let us inquire what you are to 
 search? It is the Scriptures, or sacred 
 writings, which we are told were written 
 " by holy men of God, who spake as they 
 were moved by the Holy Ghost.'' The 
 word search means to read with close and 
 earnest attention. You are directed to 
 search by him who knew the value of 
 the book which he commands you to read. 
 The Old Testament was all that was then 
 written, but the New Testament is now 
 added, by which their value is much in- 
 
THE WAY TO BE WISE. 177 
 
 creased, their harmony displayed, their 
 meaning explained and their beauty set 
 forth. The Bible is the name by which 
 this precious book is mostly called. Some 
 say the Holy Bible. Others call it the 
 Word of God, because the things which 
 the Bible contains were spoken by God, 
 and written "by holy men, who spake as 
 they were moved by the Holy Ghost." 
 It is also called the Old and New Testa- 
 ments. The Old Testament was written 
 by Moses and the prophets; the New 
 Testament, by the evangelists and apos- 
 tles. The Old Testament contains thirty- 
 nine ditferent books; and the New (which 
 lias been written since the coming of the 
 Lord Jesus into the world) contains twenty- 
 seven books. 
 
 This precious book contains a variety 
 of important truths, which may be divided 
 into history, doctrine and prophecy, each 
 of which are equally instructive and im- 
 portant. There are excellent examples 
 for you to imitate ; important doctrines 
 for you to believe, and precepts for you to 
 
178 THE WAY TO BE WISE. 
 
 obey ; mysteries, far above the imdeistand- 
 ing of the wisest of men ; while many parts 
 are so plain and simple, that a little child 
 may learn the way to heaven. 
 
 *' How glad the heathen would have been, 
 That worship idols, wood and stone, 
 If they the book of God had seen, 
 Or Jesus or his gospel known." 
 
 A vessel sprang a leak at sea, and was 
 sinking very fast; when the sailors jumped 
 into the boat, one of them, at the hazard 
 of his life, ran back into the cabin for 
 something he had forgotten, and when he 
 came back to the boat, behold it was a 
 Bible! which he esteemed so much as 
 to run the risk of his life to save it. 
 
 II. I will endeavour to show you why 
 you should search the Scriptures, or, I 
 might say, and perhaps 3^ou will under- 
 stand me better if I say, why you should 
 read your Bibles. After having told you 
 what you are to search, or read, the next 
 thing is, to give you some reasons to urge 
 you to search the Scriptures: and I 
 
THE WAY TO BE WISE. 179 
 
 assure you I can give you some very 
 good ones. 
 
 One reason is, because it is not only the 
 best book, but it is God's book. If 3'ou 
 were at a distance from home, and your 
 parents sent you a letter, would you not 
 read it? yes, that you would, I am 
 sure. And will you not read what God 
 has written for you ? A little girl once 
 said, that the Bible was God's word, and 
 that the catechism was the Bible's word. 
 
 Another reason is, because you do not 
 know what the Bible contains. And if 
 you are ignorant of the important and 
 glorious things which are in the Bible, 
 you are strangers to the only things which 
 can make you happy in this life and 
 happy forever in the world to come. 
 Let me briefly tell you what things these 
 are, which you ought to know. 
 
 The Scriptures will tell you who and 
 what God is : that he is a Spirit ; that he 
 is eternal, holy, wise, powerful and good. 
 They will tell you what you are : that 
 you are all sinners, born in sin and shapen 
 
180 THE WAY TO BE WISE. 
 
 in iniquity ; that your thoughts and ima- 
 ginations are evil from your youth ; that 
 you go astray from your birth, speaking 
 Ues; that childhood and youth are vanity; 
 that your hearts are deceitful above all 
 things, and desperately wicked ; that your 
 natures are depraved, your understandings 
 darkened, your passions sinful, your affec- 
 tions earthly, and your souls exposed to 
 the wrath of God ; that your bodies were 
 formed of dust, and will return to dust 
 again ; but that your souls are immortal, 
 and will live forever. 
 
 The Scriptures tell you what is your 
 duty to God and man : " That thou shalt 
 love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, 
 and with all thy soul, and with all thy 
 mind, and with all thy strength ; and thou 
 shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On 
 these two commandments," said Christ, 
 " hang all the law and the prophets.'' 
 
 The Scriptures tell you of a Saviour, 
 who was God ; but who came down from 
 heaven, and became man, that he might 
 save your souls from the wrath to come. 
 
THE WAY TO BE WISE. ISl 
 
 They tell you that he suffered hunger and 
 thirst, temptations and trials ; that he be- 
 came a man of sorrows and acquainted 
 with grief; that he was sold by Judas, de- 
 nied by Peter, and forsaken by the rest of 
 the disciples ; that he was falsely accused, 
 unjustly condemned, buffeted, scourged 
 and spit upon ; that he was crucified on the 
 cross, and gave himself a ransom for you. 
 He suffered, that you might be happy. He 
 died, that you might live forever. 
 
 The Scriptures tell you the way to hea- 
 ven ; that Christ is the only way to God 
 the Father ; that whosoever believeth in 
 him shall not perish, but have everlasting 
 life. They tell you that he has gone to 
 heaven, to prepare a place for all those 
 dear children who serve God and love his 
 Son Jesus, They tell you it is on ac- 
 count of what Christ has done that you 
 will be admitted into heaven, and not on 
 account of any thing that you can do. 
 
 The Scriptures relate to you the history 
 of the creation of the world ; the fall of 
 Adam ; the flood ; the building of Babel ; 
 
 IG 
 
182 THE WAY TO BE WISE. 
 
 the plagues of Egypt ; the giving of the ten 
 commandments ; the journey of the Israel- 
 ites through the wilderness, and the mira- 
 cles attending it. There are histories of 
 good and of bad children, as well as of 
 wicked and of holy men; but, above 
 all, there is the history of Jesus Christ, his 
 birth, his life, his miracles, his suifering 
 and death. 
 
 The Scriptures give you the real charac- 
 ters of Cain and Abel, of Noah, Enoch, 
 Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Esau, Joseph, 
 Jabez, Samuel, Abijah, Josiah, Obadiah, 
 Solomon, Timothy, Mary, Martha, Dor- 
 cas, Lydia, Phebe, Priscilla, Rebecca, 
 Sarah, Abigail, Hannah, Esther and Ruth. 
 My dear little girls will read and learn the 
 thirty-first chapter of Proverbs, from the 
 tenth verse to the end, if they would know 
 the character of a good woman. 
 
 The Scriptures speak of God's punishing 
 wicked children. God set a mark upon 
 Cain ; denounced a curse upon Ham ; com- 
 manded the stubborn son to be put to 
 death; caused the children who mocked 
 
THE WAY TO BE WISE. 183 
 
 the prophet Elisha to be torn in pieces 
 by the bears ; and Absalom to be cut off 
 for his undutiful conduct to his father. 
 
 The Scriptures give you an account of 
 some remarkable prayers; such as the 
 prayer of Jabez, the prayer of Solomon, 
 the prayer of Agur, the prayer of Heze- 
 kiah, and many of David's prayers, and the 
 publican's prayer, which is very suitable 
 for every child — " God be merciful to me 
 a sinner." 
 
 The Scriptures declare, that the dead, 
 small and great, shall stand before God ; 
 that he will bring every work into judg- 
 ment, with every secret thing, whether it 
 be good or evil ; that the wicked shall go 
 away into everlasting punishment, but the 
 righteous into life eternal. 
 
 Thus, I have very briefly told you of a 
 few of the good things which this precious 
 book contains. 
 
 But who is it that speaks these words, 
 " Search the Scriptures ?" It is Jesus, it 
 is Christ the Saviour, your best Friend. 
 It is his desire. It is his command ; and 
 
184 THE WAY TO BE WISE. 
 
 if you love him, you will keep his com- 
 mands. 
 
 And Jesus himself gives you two very 
 important reasons ; " for in them ye think 
 ye have eternal life ;" that is, the Scriptures 
 show you how to obtain eternal life. " And 
 they are they which testify of me ;" that 
 is, the prophets bore witness to his coming, 
 and they foretold that he should come, to 
 take away sin, by the sacrifice of himself. 
 This is therefore another very powerful 
 reason, because it is Christ that tells you 
 to search the Scriptures. 
 
 III. I must now tell you how, or in 
 what manner, you should search the Scrip- 
 tures, or, in other words, how you should 
 read your Bible. 
 
 1. Read the Scriptures as if you really 
 believed them to be true. Ignorant men 
 could never have been the authors of a 
 book to make you truly wise. Bad men 
 could not invent a book that will make 
 you good and happy. You cannot read 
 the Bible in a profitable manner, if you 
 think at the same time that what you read 
 
THE WAY TO BE WISE. 185 
 
 is false. The salvation of the soul de- 
 pends upon the truth of the Bible. Re- 
 member, when you read the Scriptures, 
 that they were written by Him who can- 
 not lie. 
 
 " His word is everlasting truth ; 
 How pure is every page ! 
 That holy book shall guide our youth, 
 And well support our age." 
 
 2. Read the. Scriptures with a high re- 
 gard for their value; as if you really 
 thought the Bible precious. For it is in- 
 deed infinitely valuable, " more precious 
 than rubies, more to be desired than gold, 
 yea, than much fine gold." 
 
 " This is the field where hidden lies 
 The pearl of price unknown ; 
 Those children are divinely wise 
 Who make that pearl their own." 
 
 A poor woman who could not read the 
 Bible rose one hour earlier in the morn- 
 ing, and sat up one hour later in the 
 evening, that she might earn a penny 
 more every day, and with this penny she 
 
 16* 
 
186 THE WAY TO BE WISE. 
 
 hired a little boy to read a few chapters in 
 the Bible to her every day. 
 
 3. Read the Scriptures with an earn- 
 est desire to understand ivhat you read ; 
 that you may indeed be made wise to 
 salvation. that you may imitate the 
 example of Timothy, and know the Scrip- 
 tures even from a child. What you do 
 not understand ask some older person to 
 explain to you. Remember what they 
 tell you, and think of it when you read 
 that part again. Read, that you may 
 know more of God, of his nature and 
 perfections ; that you may know more of 
 yourselves as sinners, and of Christ as a 
 Saviour and as the only refuge from the 
 wrath to come. 
 
 4. Read the Scriptures with diligence. 
 Make it a rule with yourselves to read a 
 part every day. Let no day pass without 
 reading a chapter at least. Read with 
 attention and care. Think upon what 
 you read. Apply the word to yourselves. 
 When you have read a chapter, endeavour 
 to learn some lesson of instruction from it. 
 
THE WAY TO BE WISE. 187 
 
 and turn the words you have read into a 
 prayer.* 
 
 5. Read the Bible with reverence. Re- 
 member it is the word of God. It is a 
 holy book, a sacred treasure, and ought 
 to be taken care of. Never let the Bible 
 lie carelessly about, and when you read 
 it at school, be very attentive, and let 
 others see that you love the Bible. 
 
 Lastly. Read the Scriptures with earn- 
 est prayer to God for his Messing upon 
 ivhat you read. Many persons complain 
 that they do not understand the Bible. It 
 is because they do not pray to God. 
 What did David say ? "Open thou mine 
 eyes, that I may behold wondrous things 
 out of thy law." When you read the 
 Scriptures, say, " Lord, teach me to know 
 
 * We would here recommend to our readers a 
 volume published by the American Sunday-school 
 Union, entitled the " Scripture Guide." It is a very 
 entertaining and instructive volume, and has a 
 beautiful frontispiece. No child can read it atten- 
 tively without obtaining a great amount of excellent 
 information about the Bible. 
 
THE WAY TO BE WISE. 
 
 and do thy will. Send thy Spirit to assist 
 me while I read, and grant that what I 
 read may make me wiser and better." 
 Pray before you read, and while you read, 
 and after you have read the Scriptures. 
 This, my dear children, is the way to be 
 truly wise indeed. 
 
 "Lord, make me understand thy law, 
 Show what my faults have been ; 
 And from the gospel let me draw 
 , Pardon for all my sins. 
 
 "Here would I learn how Christ has died, 
 To save my soul from hell ; 
 Not all the books on earth beside, 
 Such heavenly wonders tell." 
 
 IV. I will proceed now, my dear child- 
 ren, to tell you some important advantages 
 which those enjoy who search the Scrip- 
 tures. 
 
 1. The Scriptures will impress your 
 minds with solemn truths, as, (1.) That 
 God is everywhere. He is in heaven, 
 in hell and on earth. There is nothing 
 hid from his eyes. "Thou God seest me,'' 
 should be in your thoughts all the day. 
 
THE WAY TO BE WISE 189 
 
 (2.) The evil of sin. The Scriptures de- 
 scribe it to be that abominable thing which 
 the Lord hateth, and which you ought to 
 hate. (3.) God is of purer eyes than to 
 behold evil ; the wicked shall not stand in 
 his sight; he hateth all the workers of 
 iniquity. (4.) They tell you that there is 
 none good, no, not one, because all have 
 sinned and come short of the glory of 
 God. 
 
 2. The Scriptures, applied by the Holy 
 Spirit, will renew your hearts, or make you 
 new creatures in Christ Jesus. Then you 
 will see with new eyes and hear with new 
 ears. Then, my dear young friends, shall 
 you rejoice in the Lord, "being born 
 again, not of corruptible seed, but of incor- 
 ruptible, by the word of God, which liveth 
 and abideth forever." 
 
 3. The Scriptures will inform your 
 minds. They contain the greatest treasure 
 of mental improvement, and will tend to 
 make you not only more pious and moral 
 than all other books can, but likewise 
 more rational and wise. " The law of the 
 
190 THE WAY TO BE WISE. 
 
 Lord is perfect, converting the soul : the 
 testimony of tiie Lord is sure, making 
 wise the simple : the statutes of the Lord 
 are right, rejoicing the heart : the com- 
 mandments of the Lord are pure, en- 
 lightening the eyes." By reading the 
 Scriptures with care and attention, you 
 will indeed have "more understanding 
 than all your teachers." 
 
 4. The Scriptures will regulate your 
 conduct. " The word of God will be as a 
 lamp unto your feet, as a hght unto your 
 path." " Wherewithal shall a young man 
 cleanse his way ?" Attend to the answer. 
 " By taking heed thereunto, according to 
 thy word." " Keep thy heart with all 
 diligence, for out of it are the issues of 
 life." " Watch and pray, lest ye enter 
 into temptation." "Trust in the Lord 
 with all thine heart, and lean not to thine 
 own understanding." " In all thy ways 
 acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy 
 paths." 
 
 5. The Scriptures will guide your actions. 
 They tell you what is displeasing to God : 
 
THE WAY TO BE WISE. 191 
 
 that there are six things which the Lord 
 hateth ; yea, seven which are an abomina- 
 tion unto him : (1.) A proud look; (2.) A 
 lying tongue ; and, (3.) Hands that shed 
 innocent blood ; (4.) A heart that deviseth 
 wicked imaginations; (5.) Feet that be 
 swift in running to mischief; (6.) A false 
 witness, that speaketh lies ; and, (7.) He 
 that soweth discord among brethren. My 
 dear young friends, take notice of these 
 seven things, and endeavour to avoid 
 them, 
 
 6. The Scriptures will direct you in the 
 choice of your companions. " My son, if 
 sinners entice thee, consent thou not. 
 Enter not into the path of the wicked, go 
 not in the way of evil men, avoid it, pass 
 not by it, turn from it and pass away. 
 For they sleep not, except they have done 
 mischief, and their sleep is taken away 
 unless they have caused some to fall. For 
 they eat the bread of wickedness and 
 drink the wine of violence. But the path 
 of the just is as the shining light, that 
 shineth more and more, unto the perfect 
 
192 THE WAY TO BE WISE. 
 
 day." Thus, the Scriptures will preserve . 
 you from sin, increase your happiness in 
 this life, and set before you an open door, 
 and direct you to endless happiness beyond 
 the sky. To conclude : 
 
 7. The Scriptures will powerfully sup- 
 port you at the hour of death. Remem- 
 ber, it is Jesus who gives the command, 
 Search the Scriptures. 
 
 " Jesus can make a dying bed 
 
 Feel soft as downy pillows are ; 
 While on his breast you lean your head, 
 And breathe your life out sweetly there." 
 
 Though you walk through the valley 
 of the shadow of death, you shall fear no 
 evil, for God will be with you. The 
 Scriptures tell you, that " the wages of sin 
 is death ;" but in the same verse you read, 
 that "the gift of God is eternal life, 
 through Jesus Christ." This is what the 
 Bible says. Now then, my dear children, 
 obey the voice of Jesus. Search the 
 Scriptures, for this is the only way to be 
 truly wise. 
 
THE WAY TO BE WISE. 193 
 
 " O may I love my Bible more, 
 And take a fresh delight, 
 By day to read those wonders o'er, 
 And meditate by night." 
 
 " This is a precious book indeed ! 
 Happy the child that loves to read ! 
 'Tis God's own word, which he has given 
 To show our souls the way to heaven ! 
 
 *' It tells us how the world was made ! 
 And how good men the Lord obeyed : 
 Here his commands are written, too. 
 To teach us what we ought to do, 
 
 " It bids us all from sin to fly. 
 Because our souls can never die : 
 It points to heaven where angels dwell ; 
 And warns us to escape from hell. 
 
 " But, what is more than all beside, 
 The Bible tells us, Jesus died ! 
 This is its best, its chief intent, 
 To lead poor sinners to repent. 
 
 *' Be thankful, children, that you may 
 Read this good Bible every day : 
 'Tis God's own word, which he has given 
 To show your souls the way to heaven." 
 
 17 
 
DANGER OF BAD COMPANY. 195 
 
 LECTURE IX. 
 
 Danger of Bad Company. 
 
 Prov. i. 10. — "il/y son^ if sinners entice thee^ consent 
 
 thou noty 
 
 My dear young friends, 
 
 Suppose a person was to come to me, 
 and say, "What do you think of such a 
 little boy, or such a Uttle girl?" I would 
 directly ask, who were your companions ; 
 and from that I should be able to judge 
 of your character and tell what kind of 
 children you were. 
 
 There is an old proverb, and it is a very 
 true one, "A man is known by the com- 
 pany he keeps." Bad companions will 
 make you, in time, as bad as they are. 
 Attachments are formed and intimate com- 
 panions are chosen at a very early age. 
 We find children four or five years old 
 have their little favourites, either at school, 
 
196 DANGER OF BAD COMPANY. 
 
 or in the neighbourhood, where they dwell. 
 Boys have formed a friendship, at school, 
 which has lasted after they have grown 
 up, and continued till death (which sepa- 
 rates dearest friends) has parted them 
 asunder in the years of manhood or old 
 age. 
 
 Equally strong, if not more so, is the 
 intimacy formed between girls. They 
 have their favourites among their school- 
 fellows and playmates, without whom they 
 cannot go to or from school; in whose 
 company they greatly delight, and without 
 whom they cannot go to any place of in- 
 struction, or amusement. Even the name 
 of a dear companion sounds delightfully, 
 and the thought of a separation causes 
 tears and sorrow. 
 
 Some intimacies formed in youth have 
 been more strongly united by friendship 
 than by the ties of natural affection. Some 
 of you would do more for a particular 
 friend or companion, than you would even 
 for your brother or sister. If Solomon 
 was here, I think he would say to you in 
 
DANGER OF BAD COMPANY. 197 
 
 the words of the text, " My son, if sinners 
 entice thee, consent thou not." 
 
 I. I wish you to take notice of Solo- 
 mon's parental affection for the young. 
 " My son." Boys ! do you hear how 
 Solomon speaks to you ? Listen to him, 
 for he was the wisest man that ever lived 
 on earth. "My son" is an expression 
 which is often made use of by Solomon in 
 the book of Proverbs ; and by it, he does 
 not mean boys only, but all those who are 
 young in years and under the authority 
 of their parents. 
 
 Let us take some notice of these two 
 little words. " My son." There is some- 
 thing very kind and aftectionate in them. 
 Hear, my dear young friends. " My sons 
 and daughters," says the wisest of men, 
 " attend to one who has the same regard 
 for you as a parent ; one who wishes to 
 promote your present and eternal happi- 
 ness. My sans and daughters, attend to 
 me, for I assure you that I take a great 
 interest in your welfare. I am very much 
 concerned for the salvation of your souls. 
 
 17* 
 
198 DANGER OF BAD COMPANY. 
 
 * My heart's desire and prayer to God for 
 you is, that you may be saved.' I have 
 been young myself. I know the tempta- 
 tions to which the young are exposed, and 
 the snares into which you are most Hkely 
 to fall. I feel for the dangerous condition 
 in which you are. The paths you walk 
 in are full of traps and snares. Among 
 the various instruments which Satan em- 
 ploys for the ruin of your characters, 
 your bodies, and your souls, there are 
 none more dangerous, or more successful, 
 than bad companions." Listen therefore 
 to the advice of Solomon, and regard the 
 caution which he gives you, with atten- 
 tion. 
 
 II. Hear, my young friends, and attend 
 to Solomon's general character of bad 
 companions. He calls them sinners. 
 You often read and hear this word, sin- 
 ner; but few, if any, of you have con- 
 sidered, or know what it means. All 
 children are sinners, by nature ; but there 
 are some children who are, by practice, 
 greater sinners than others ; I mean, some 
 
DANGER OP BAD COMPANY. 199 
 
 children are worse than others in the sight 
 of God and man. A sinful child is one 
 whose heart is wicked, whose actions are 
 sinful, whose words are idle and fihhy, 
 whose thoughts and imaginations are 
 continually evil. Wicked children, such 
 as Solomon calls sinners, have no fear of 
 God before their eyes, and no love to Jesus 
 in their hearts. They will destroy much 
 good. 
 
 Wicked children laugh at every thing 
 that is serious and awful, and have no 
 delight in any thing that is good. Sinful 
 children are disobedient to their parents ; 
 for those children who do not obey God's 
 commands will not pay any regard to the 
 authority of man. Sinful children never 
 pray ; they know not how to pray, and 
 they cannot bear the Bible, because it is a 
 good book. It describes their characters 
 and condemns their conduct. Wicked 
 children, who are called sinners, do not 
 think it any harm to lie, to swear, to steal, 
 to cheat, or break the Sabbath. They 
 laugh at the most sinful and daring ac- 
 
200 DANGER OF BAD COMPANY. 
 
 tions, and think that they deserve to be 
 commended for them, and thus glory in 
 their shame. Wicked children are called 
 fools by Solomon ; he says they make a 
 mock at sin, and that a companion of fools 
 shall be destroyed. 
 
 Sinners (remember, when I say sinners, 
 I mean wicked children) are idolaters. 
 They adore Satan, the god of this world, 
 though he appears in the shape of a roar- 
 ing lion. They blaspheme and take the 
 name of the Lord in vain. They are 
 thieves, and rob God of the honour which 
 is due to him as their Creator ; and they 
 will rob you of your peace and happiness 
 in this world and of eternal joy in the 
 world to come. 
 
 Sinners are liars. They tell you that 
 there is more pleasure and happiness in 
 the ways of sin than there is in the ways 
 of religion. They are Sabbath-breakers ; 
 and I may venture to say, that sinners 
 commit more sin and do more mischief on 
 that day than on any other. 
 
 Sinners, or wicked children, are mur- 
 
DANGER OF BAD COMPANY. 201 
 
 derers : they commit the worst of murders, 
 by their enticements and allurements ; by 
 their promises and pretended enjoyments ; 
 by their conduct and example. By sh), 
 they crucify the Saviour, they murder their 
 time, waste their money, grieve their 
 friends, break the hearts of their parents, 
 and thus hasten their death. But the 
 most awful murder of all is, the ruin of 
 their own souls and the souls of their com- 
 panions. I do not mean that they kill the 
 soul, but they are the means of its eternal 
 misery. They are double murderers. 
 
 But, to finish the character of bad com- 
 panions, whom Solomon calls sinners in 
 the text, I will remark once more, they are 
 the devil's favourites. Wicked children 
 are among the number of Satan's best 
 friends ; and if there is any place in hell 
 more miserable than another, it will be 
 reserved for these favourites, who will 
 receive the wages of sin from Satan their 
 master, and he will pay them to the utter- 
 most. Then, those who have tempted or 
 enticed others into sin will have their 
 
202 DANGER OF BAD COMPANY. 
 
 misery aggravated and increased, by the 
 curses and bitter reproaches of those whom 
 they have deceived by their conduct and 
 example. We will now attend, — 
 
 III. To Solomon's striking account of 
 the dangers to which young persons are 
 exposed, from their snares. 0, how art- 
 ful wicked children are ! Solomon tells 
 you how they act, and the manner in 
 which they endeavour to draw others into 
 sin. They do not compel or force you to 
 go with them, but they entice, they allure 
 and draw you into their company by fair 
 promises. Sinners love company in sin. 
 I will endeavour to tell you how they 
 entice. 
 
 1. They use enticing words. They tell 
 you of the pleasures they enjoy ; of the 
 happy seasons which they have spent in 
 such and such places, with such and such 
 children, or young persons, and they pro- 
 mise you the same enjoyments. But their 
 promises are vain. While they tell you 
 of the pretended joys and imaginary 
 pleasures, they do not tell you of the 
 
DANGER OF BAD COMPANY. 203 
 
 stings which conscience gives, after their 
 evening's entertainment or their mid- 
 night frolic. They tell you it is pleasant 
 to enjoy a sail on the water, or a ride into 
 the country, or a walk in the fields on a 
 fine Sabbath-day ; but they forget the an- 
 ger of that God who has commanded you 
 to " remember the Sabbath-day to keep 
 it holy." They tell you there is no harm 
 in robbing an orchard, or staying out a lit- 
 tle later than you ought on a fine summer 
 evening. They laugh at your objections, 
 and persuade you to excuse yourselves by 
 telling a lie. They seem to be always 
 merry and always happy. But Solomon 
 says, that even in laughter the heart is 
 sorrowful, and that the end of such mirth 
 is heaviness. 
 
 2. They make use of enticing actions. 
 A wink with the eye ; a beck with the 
 hand ; a sign with the finger, have often 
 enticed a child to mischief and sin, and 
 been the cause of shame and sorrow. A 
 forcible pull by the hand or the arm has 
 often led, or I might say forced, one from 
 
204 DANGER OF BAD COMPANY. 
 
 the way that is right into the way of evil. 
 You have been drawn in by bad com- 
 pany before you were aware of the con- 
 sequences. A joke may be carried too 
 far, and a froHc may lead to shame, to 
 fines, to imprisonment and death. 
 
 3. By enticing looks. By a look many 
 persons understand much, and looks have 
 done much mischief where words could 
 not be employed. 
 
 4. You may be enticed by your school- 
 fellows, your playmates, your brothers 
 and sisters. Sometimes by your parents 
 too, for they may be so ungodly as to 
 promise you a reward for doing that 
 which is not right in the sight of the Lord. 
 A gentleman (I ought to say a sinner or 
 wicked man") used to teach a child to 
 swear, and reward him with a penny. 
 The sound of a vioUn or fiddle and a 
 quick tune have enticed many into bad 
 company, and ruined them both body and 
 soul. A dancing young woman was the 
 cause of the death of John the Baptist. 
 That was dear-bought pleasure which 
 
DANGER OF BAD COMPANY. 205 
 
 Herod enjoyed, when he was obUged to 
 give the head of a holy man for his en- 
 joyment. 
 
 IV. Let us attend to Solomon's warn- 
 ing, which is given to all, " Consent thou 
 not." And here I shall show you your 
 danger, and then give you the caution. 
 
 1. There is great danger in being a com- 
 panion of sinners. Bad companions will 
 make you less afraid of sin. When you 
 hear them swear, as if there was no God 
 to punish them, and lie, as if there was 
 no hell to torment them : when you see 
 them live as if there was no other world 
 but this, as if there was no happiness to 
 obtain and no misery to avoid; it will 
 make you think very lightly of sin, and 
 in time you will love to sin as much as 
 your companions. You will think as 
 they think, say as they say, and do as 
 they do. Bad companions will teach you 
 to laugh at religion, to despise good ad- 
 vice, and treat those children who love 
 their Maker with scorn and contempt. 
 Bad companions will teach you to forget 
 
 18 
 
206 DANGER OF BAD COMPANY. 
 
 the one thing needful, and to put off the 
 great concerns of eternity to a bed of sick- 
 ness or a dying hour, till it is too late, and 
 you will be led to exclaim, with extreme 
 anguish of soul, " The harvest is past, the 
 summer is ended, and I am not saved V 
 Bad companions will teach you to desire 
 sinful pleasures and entice you to use sin- 
 ful ways in order to obtain them. 
 
 Another evil is, that you will not only 
 be enticed to commit sin, but be tempted 
 to excel in it ; to take the lead in every 
 thing that is sinful and wicked. To keep 
 company with sinners will harden your 
 hearts, corrupt your principles, curse your 
 earthly blessings, sear your consciences, 
 destroy your spiritual pleasures, injure 
 your character, hasten your death, deprive 
 you of God's favour, ruin your souls, and 
 plunge you at last into eternal misery. 
 
 2. "Consent thou not." Keep no com- 
 pany with sinners; go not with them; 
 enter not into the path of the wicked, and 
 go not in the way of evil men ; avoid it, 
 pass not by it, turn from it and pass away. 
 
DANGER OF BAD COMPANY. 207 
 
 The wicked do not live out half their days. 
 0, my dear young friends, say to all evil 
 companions — 
 
 "No longer will I ask your love, 
 Or seek your friendship more; 
 The happiness that I approve 
 Lies not within your power. 
 
 " In vain your words accost my ear, 
 And tempt my heart anew ; 
 I cannot buy your bliss so dear, 
 Nor part with heaven for you." 
 
 The theatre will entice you by saying, 
 " Come, and pay me a visit, and you shall 
 have the most exquisite pleasure." Con- 
 sent thou not. 
 
 Of all the fatal methods made use of by 
 the enemies of God and religion, to ruin 
 the morals of the young, none are more 
 fatal, none more mischievous than bad 
 books. A bad example, though it is pro- 
 ductive of great evils, extends only to 
 those who are near enough to observe it, 
 and live within the reach of its baneful 
 influence ; but a wicked book will poison 
 the mind, and continue to destroy the 
 
208 DANGER OF BAD COMPANY. 
 
 souls of the young, when the author hes 
 silent in the dust. It is impossible to tell 
 the bounds of its fatal effects, particularly 
 if it is entertaining and amusing. It is 
 then like poison thrown into a river ; it is 
 carried to the utmost part of the world ; 
 it silently enters the dwelling of the coun- 
 tryman, finds its way to the work-shop 
 and factory, and is destructive to all ages, 
 ranks and conditions of men, but more 
 particularly to the young and thoughtless. 
 To them its breath is poison and its touch 
 death. 
 
 The novel will say to you, " Come, and 
 spend an hour or two with me and my 
 dear friend, Romance. You will be 
 highly entertained." Whatever pleasure 
 or entertainment such books may afford 
 you, remember they are forbidden by 
 God. Therefore, consent thou not. 
 
 The song-book will say to you, " Make 
 choice of the prettiest of my relations you 
 can find. I will amply reward you, if 
 you commit me to memory. I shall give 
 you pleasure, and teach you a lively and 
 
DANGER OF BAD COMPANY. 209 
 
 beautiful tune into the bargain.'^ First 
 inquire if this was Mary's choice, if this 
 was that good part which could not be 
 taken away? If it was not, then be 
 warned ; consent thou not. 
 
 If wicked children say to you, " Your 
 parents sell such and such things ; I wish 
 you would get me some ; you can have 
 plenty, but I cannot obtain any of these 
 things without their knowing it;" my 
 dear child, consent thou not. For whoso 
 robbeth father or mother, and saith it 
 is no transgression, the same is a compa- 
 nion of the destroyer. 
 
 If your companions say, " Do not go to 
 school, but go with us to such a place, 
 where we shall have this and that and 
 other good things;" consent thou not; for 
 though your sin may not be known now, 
 yet you may "be sure it will find you out." 
 
 V. I will endeavour to give you a few 
 directions respecting the choice of your 
 companions. See that their conduct is 
 good. Say as David did, " I am a com- 
 panion of them that fear thee." Let 
 
 18* 
 
210 DANGER OF BAD COMPANY. 
 
 your companions be such as love God. 
 For those whom God loves we ought to 
 love. Let them be such little children as 
 love Jesus. If Jesus is their Friend, or 
 they know him as such, they will be your 
 best friends. Let them be such as love 
 prayer, so that when you go to visit 
 them, or they come to visit you, you may 
 be able to go to your heavenly Father 
 and join together in prayer to him for his 
 blessing on you both. There was a little 
 girl who used to pray with her playmates 
 whenever they came to see her. So 
 should you. Let your companions be 
 such as love the Bible. When you are 
 together read the Bible ; and tell one an- 
 other what you think of what you read 
 and hear from the Bible. Let your com- 
 panions be such as are obedient to their 
 parents and kind to their brothers and 
 sisters. If they are disobedient and un- 
 kind, they will lead you to be so too. 
 You will not gain any thing that is good 
 from them. Let them be industrious 
 children. Never keep company with 
 
DANGER OF BAD COMPANY. 211 
 
 idle children ; for they are children who 
 are ripe for every mischief; they are at 
 every one's beck and call, and are in a 
 fair way to that which is worse than 
 nothing. Let your companions be such 
 as love their school and their books ; for if 
 they are idle at school, and you sit near 
 them, or choose them for your compa- 
 nions when school is over, they will make 
 you as bad as themselves. Never go 
 with those children who play truant. 
 Let your companions be sensible child- 
 ren ; then you will be likely to learn wis- 
 dom from them. These are the compa- 
 nions that will do you good and be useful 
 to you. From them you will receive in- 
 struction, and to their advice you ought 
 to attend. 
 
 " You should be walking with the wise^ 
 That wiser you may grow." 
 
 Choose those children for your com- 
 panions who will stand by you in the 
 time of danger : not those children who 
 come round you only when you have 
 something to give them. You will have 
 
212 DANGER OF BAD COMPANY. 
 
 many companions who will seek to be 
 friends with you only for what they can 
 get. Avoid them ; for when you need their 
 friendship most, they will be sure to leave 
 you to help yourself as well as you can. 
 "A friend in need is a friend indeed." 
 
 Trust none of your friends with a secret 
 that would hurt your character in the 
 sight of others ; because the first time you 
 displease them, they will reveal all your 
 secrets out of revenge. When such child- 
 ren have once abused the confidence that 
 you put in them, take heed of trusting 
 them again ; they are false friends. 
 
 Never be angry with your companions 
 without a real cause. Always examine 
 into the matter. Do not go by what you 
 hear, nor yet by what you see, at all 
 times. 
 
 Keep no company with proud children ; 
 but let humble and meek children be your 
 companions ; for they will not be so easily 
 offended, nor wilfully hurt nor offend you. 
 
 Keep not company with cross and ill- 
 natured children J for you will, at one 
 
DANGER OF BAD COMPANY. 213 
 
 time or another, feel the effects of their 
 temper. 
 
 When your companions fall out, or 
 quarrel with each other, do what you can 
 to make peace. Never strive to increase 
 anger already kindled, and so become 
 partners in guilt. 
 
 But, my young friends, recollect that 
 there is one Friend, whose friendship you 
 ought to seek above that of every earthly 
 companion. He is one who has done 
 more for you than the dearest earthly 
 friend can ever do ; for his love and 
 friendship were so great, that he died for 
 you that you might be happy. He will 
 be your Friend when all others forsake 
 you ; in life and death and throughout 
 eternity. Remember that he is one that 
 loveth at all times, and sticketh closer than 
 a brother. 
 
 Now, my dear young friends, pray that 
 God would guide you in the choice of 
 your companions, and bless you with 
 serious and sincere friends. . 
 
214 DANGER OF BAD COMPANY. 
 
 " Why should I join with those in play 
 In whom I've no delight, 
 "Who curse and swear, but never pray, 
 Who call ill names and fight? 
 
 " I hate to hear a wanton song, 
 The words offend my ears ; 
 I would not dare defile my tongue 
 With language such as theirs. 
 
 " Away from fools I'll turn mine eyes, 
 Nor with the scoffers go ; 
 I would be walking with the wise. 
 That wiser I may grow. 
 
 " From one rude boy that's used to mock, 
 They learn the wicked jest : 
 One sickly sheep infects the flock. 
 And poisons all the rest. 
 
 " My God, I hate to walk or dwell 
 With sinful children here ; 
 Then let me not be sent to hell. 
 Where none but sinners are." 
 
OBEDIENCE TO PARENTS. 215 
 
 LECTURE X. 
 
 Obedience to Parents. 
 
 Col. iii. 20. — " Children, obey your parents in all 
 things ; for this is well pleasing unto the Lord^ 
 
 Mr DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS, 
 
 I CANNOT recommend this highly im- 
 portant subject to you too soon. There is 
 a natural disposition in children to think, 
 to speak and to act against the authority 
 of their parents. And I fear that many 
 of you are not quite free from this fault. 
 Now give me your attention. " Hearken 
 to thy father which begat thee, and despise 
 not thy mother when she is old." 
 
 I will tell you a story which I have 
 read. Abraham Crost had an only son. 
 He gave him, when he married, all the 
 little property he had saved by many years 
 hard labour, on one condition ; that was, 
 that the son should take care of the father, 
 
216 OBEDIENCE TO PARENTS. 
 
 and maintain him when he was not able 
 to work. By means of the father's kind- 
 ness, the son was enabled to buy a house, 
 and a horse and cart, and a piece of ground 
 for a garden. The poor old man worked 
 early and late for his son, because he 
 loved him. He laboured beyond his 
 strength, and at last he caught a violent 
 cold and was not able to work any longer. 
 When he could work no more, the son was 
 obliged to hire a man to do his father's 
 work. Both the son and his wife behaved 
 very unkindly to the poor old man ; but 
 little Tommy, his grandson, was so dutiful 
 and kind, that he comforted his grand- 
 father greatly in his affliction. At last, 
 the old man was positively told that he 
 must go to the poor-house, for they had 
 something else to do besides nursing him. 
 Shocked at this unfeeling behaviour, he 
 rose from his chair in the chimney corner, 
 and with great difficulty crept away to a 
 little out-house in the garden, where a 
 violent fit of coughing seized him, and he 
 was ready to die. Little Tommy, who 
 
OBEDIENCE TO PARENTS. 217 
 
 heard what his father said, followed his 
 grandfather, who, in the anguish of his 
 mind, desired him to go and fetch the rug 
 from his bed, that he might wrap it round 
 him, and sit in the highway and beg. 
 Little Tommy immediately burst into 
 tears, but thinking it would be undutiful 
 to refuse, he ran into the house. His 
 father met him, and seeing him in tears, 
 inquired where he was going and what 
 was the matter. " I am going," said the 
 child, " for the rug from my grandfather's 
 bed, that he may wrap it round him and 
 go a begging.'' 
 
 " Let him go," said the unfeehng son ; 
 "who can bear with his humours?" 
 
 " I will go," cried Tommy, and immedi- 
 ately brought the rug, which he carried to 
 his father, saying, " Pray, father, cut it in 
 two ; half of it will be large enough for 
 grandfather, and perhaps you may want 
 the other half, when I am grown a man, 
 and turn you out of doors." 
 
 Struck with these words, he began to 
 reflect on his conduct, and to consider 
 
 19 
 
218 OBEDIENCE TO PARENTS. 
 
 what he should feel at receiving such 
 base treatment from his own son. He 
 hastened to his father and begged his 
 forgiveness, promising not only to treat 
 him with dutiful respect, but to insist on 
 his wife's doing the same. Abraham 
 readily forgave his son, and returned with 
 him into the house, but very soon after 
 closed his eyes in death. 
 
 "Some children, cruel and unkind, 
 To parents disobedient prove ; 
 How can such children hope to see 
 That God who is the God of level" 
 
 I. I shall endeavour to explain the 
 duty ; that is, show what is meant by 
 obedience. The word ohey^ or obedience, 
 means a reverence for the person of your 
 parents and attention to their counsel and 
 advice ; an acknowledgment of their su- 
 periority, or right to govern, and likewise 
 quiet submission to their authority and 
 rebuke. 
 
 First, I will endeavour to inform you 
 what it is to obey your parents. A civil, 
 obliging and modest behaviour is the 
 
OBEDIENCE TO PARENTS. 219 
 
 duty of all of you. It is expected from 
 you. But the Lord is now instructing 
 you, in the text, how to behave at home. 
 Consider therefore who you are taught to 
 obey — your parents, both father and mo- 
 ther; both of them are to be obeyed in 
 the same manner and degree, and you 
 are to love them as your parents. 
 
 1. It requires you to treat the persons 
 and characters of your parents with the 
 greatest respect. They are your superiors, 
 your greatest earthly friends and benefac- 
 tors. It is by no means allowable, my 
 dear young friends, for you to make the 
 faults of your parents the subject of con- 
 versation. Do not be heard to say, at 
 any time, that they are guilty of this or 
 that ; that you do not approve of this or 
 that. No, rather hide their faults, and 
 conceal them from the knowledge of 
 others. How did the sons of Noah be- 
 have ? Two of them conducted them- 
 selves with respect towards their father, 
 and received the blessing of God ; while 
 the other, for making sport of the fault 
 
220 OBEDIENCE TO PARENTS. 
 
 of his parent, brought down upon his 
 head the heavy displeasure of an angry 
 God. 
 
 2. To obey your parents is to attend to 
 their instruction and advice. Remember 
 that you know but Httle. You are Uable 
 to be mistaken. They have been more 
 years in the world than you, therefore 
 they must know more and better than 
 you. Children are but of yesterday, and 
 know nothing, compared with what they 
 ought to know, and what they will know 
 if their Uves are spared. It is your duty 
 to ask of those Vv^ho can answer your 
 inquiries, and to obtain all the informa- 
 tion you can from those who can instruct 
 you. Ask your parents how you ought 
 to conduct yourselves in this world, and 
 how you should act so as to be happy in 
 the life to come. Never take one import- 
 ant step in life, without first consulting 
 your parents and friends and obtaining 
 their approbation. "My son, hear the 
 instructions of thy father, and forsake not 
 the law of thy mother ; for they shall be 
 
OBEDIENCE TO PARENTS. 221 
 
 an ornament of grace unto thy head, and 
 as a chain of gold about thy neck." 
 
 3. To obey your parents is to observe 
 and do all their commands; to come when 
 they call you ; to do as they bid you ; not 
 to suffer them to call two or three times 
 before you give them an answer. It is 
 to go where they send you, and nowhere 
 else; and not to stop and play by the way 
 as you go. What they tell you not to do, 
 you must also be careful to avoid. Some 
 parents, instead of commanding and in- 
 sisting upon the exact obedience of their 
 children with the greatest severity, rather 
 choose to make use of entreaty and per- 
 suasion, as being more mild than the 
 other. Some children are deaf to the 
 kindest request and the tenderest persua- 
 sion ; and their perverse tempers are not 
 softened, nor will their stubborn disposi- 
 tions bend to the authority of a parent, 
 however kind and good. And here the 
 rod of correction will be necessary. " He 
 that spareth the rod hateth his child ; but 
 he that loveth him chastiseth him be- 
 
 19* 
 
222 OBEDIENCE TO PARENTS. 
 
 times. Foolishness is bound up in the 
 heart of a child, but the rod of correction 
 will drive it from him. Thou shalt beat 
 him," says Solomon, " with a rod, and shalt 
 save his soul from hell." A child should 
 not be corrected by a parent who is in a 
 passion. Strive first to make him sensible 
 of his fault, and show him that he deserves 
 correction, and then you will do it with 
 justice and judgment. 
 
 4. But obedience to parents includes 
 submission to their authority ; that is, an 
 acknowledgment of the right they have 
 in you and the power they have over 
 you. This you must attend to from a 
 sense of duty to your parents and of 
 obedience to God. Be not wise in your 
 own eyes, but be humble and submissive, 
 and kind and teachable. Do not murmur 
 at their correction, or turn away from 
 their reproof 
 
 •'Their mild correction of each fault, 
 Their kind instructions and the rod, 
 Are all designed, in love, to bring 
 Your wandering spirits back to God." 
 
OBEDIENCE TO PARENTS. 223 
 
 They see your faults, and, while they 
 correct you, they pity you. You know 
 what you have to do. Then do it with a 
 cheerful mind, and not with a downcast look 
 and pouting lip, a murmuring word and 
 slow and unwilling feet. Remember, there 
 are disobedient actions as well as disobe- 
 dient words. "Actions speak louder than 
 words." Remember, this is not pleasing 
 to God. 
 
 But I must tell you, secondly, how far 
 this duty extends. The text says, " Obey 
 your parents in all things;" not in one 
 thing, but in every thing. Some may 
 think this hard to be performed. Re- 
 member, it is God who speaks the words. 
 He knows what you ought to do, and 
 Avhat you can do, and what you really 
 do. It is required of you to obey your 
 father and mother in all things ; every 
 thing that is just and reasonable ; every 
 thing that is according to the will of God 
 and his holy commands : and where is 
 the parent that will command any thing 
 to the contrary ? If they command you 
 
224 OBEDIENCE TO PARENTS. 
 
 to sin, then you may refuse : if they com- 
 mand you to lie, to steal, to curse, to 
 swear, to break the Sabbath and neglect 
 the Bible, you may refuse to obey them, 
 because their commands are contrary to 
 the commands of God. Nor should any 
 contempt or severity be able to force you 
 to obey the will of your earthly parent, 
 in opposition to the will of your heavenly 
 Father. 
 
 Mind all that your parents tell you 
 about rising in the morning; about be- 
 ginning the day in prayer to God ; about 
 your behaviour to your brothers and sis- 
 ters ; about your conduct at school ; about 
 companions and amusements ; about your 
 duty to God and man. Let the will and 
 desires of your parents form your man- 
 ners and guide your conduct. Let me 
 remind you, my young friends, of being 
 equally attentive and obliging in obeying 
 your mother as well as your father, for 
 the Scriptures make no difference between 
 them. Hear how Solomon speaks of this 
 duty, and observe the advantages of it : 
 
OBEDIENCE TO PARENTS. 225 
 
 " Keep thy father's commandment, and 
 forsake not the law of thy mother ; bind 
 them continually upon thy heart, and tie 
 them about thy neck. When thou goest, 
 it shall lead thee : when thou sleepest, it 
 shall keep thee : when thou awakest, it 
 shall talk with thee." Base, indeed, must 
 that child be that can impose upon the 
 weakness, despise the tenderness, set at 
 naught the counsel, injure the feelings 
 and defy the mild authority of a mother ; 
 a mother, who deserves all the love and 
 gratitude a child can give. This precept 
 is equally binding upon those who have 
 left the house of their parents as upon 
 those children who are still under their 
 care and protection. 
 
 II. I will endeavour to tell you, my 
 dear children, why you should obey your 
 parents. 
 
 1. Because it is your duty. The words 
 are spoken to children under ten, twelve, 
 or fourteen years of age ; though others 
 are not excluded. What condescension 
 it is in the Lord to notice you that are so 
 
226 OBEDIENCE TO PARENTS. 
 
 young in life ! My dear young friends, 
 the Lord knows that you have bad hearts. 
 He knows that you are thoughtless, forget- 
 ful, ungrateful, undutiful and rebellious. 
 On this account he speaks to you while 
 young. As soon as you are able to read 
 this verse, you are told that you are to obey 
 your parents in all things. Christ likewise 
 speaks to you kindly and for your good. 
 The Lord speaks to you as your mother, 
 your friend and your Saviour. An amia- 
 ble child was lamenting, with the most 
 sincere grief, the death of an affectionate 
 I)arent. His companions endeavoured to 
 console him by the reflection that he had 
 behaved to his departed parent with duty, 
 tenderness and respect. " So I thought," 
 replied the child, " while my parent was 
 living, but now I recollect, with pain and 
 sorrow, many instances of disobedience 
 and neglect, for which, alas ! it is too late 
 to make atonement.'* 
 
 2. Because you are under great obliga- 
 tions to your parents. If you were to be 
 shut out of doors, to provide for your- 
 
OBEDIENCE TO PARENTS. 227 
 
 selves, could you do it? Who would 
 care for you like your parents ? 
 
 "Beasts that can graze around the field, 
 Birds that can take the wing and fly ; 
 Yea, every insect God hath made 
 
 Could better help themselves than I." 
 
 Who would be so anxious for your 
 welfare? Did they not help you when 
 you could not help yourselves ? Has not 
 your mother gazed upon you with delight? 
 Has she not pressed you to her bosom? 
 Has not that bosom afforded a refuge 
 from fear, a repose from weariness, a sup- 
 ply for your returning wants, a world of 
 infantile enjoyments? How many rest- 
 less hours you have caused her; to be 
 succeeded by wearisome days of attention 
 and labour! Have not your parents often 
 wept over you when they saw you in 
 pain and were not able to relieve you ? 
 They have left no means untried to give 
 you ease. Hour after hour, day after 
 day, week after week, month after month 
 have they sat by your bed-side in the 
 time of affliction and watched you when 
 
228 OBEDIENCE TO PARENTS. 
 
 asleep. They have prayed for you when 
 sick; supported you when unable to 
 walk; carried you in their arms; rested 
 you on their knees ; listened to your com- 
 plaints and have endeavoured to remove 
 them ; wiped away your tears ; complied 
 with your desires; purchased toys and 
 books for your instruction and entertain- 
 ment ; clothed, fed and protected you in 
 every danger, and, perhaps, have saved 
 your lives. 
 
 They give you the opportunity of ob- 
 taining useful knowledge ; neglect it not 
 by your carelessness, idleness and inat- 
 teniion when at school. All this your 
 parents have done, and much more! 
 Then how can you be undutiful and 
 disobedient? Are you not under great 
 obligations to your parents? Can you 
 ever repay them for their kindness? 
 Yes, by your duty and affection ; by your 
 attention and obedience you can do much. 
 You can add to their comforts, sweeten 
 their cares, brighten their sorrows, share 
 their griefs, watch them on a bed of sick- 
 
OBEDIENCE TO PARENTS. 229 
 
 ness, render them comfortable and happy 
 in their last days, and then, with affection 
 and pain, close their eyes in death. 
 
 3. Because it is the command of God, 
 " Honour thy father and thy mother, that 
 thy days may be long in the land which 
 the Lord thy God giveth thee." Honour 
 means the continual exercise of fear and 
 love. This precept requires not only that 
 we should show our parents respect and 
 deference, but likewise that we should 
 assist and relieve them, and perform such 
 services for them as they may stand in 
 need of We read of a majestic, holy 
 God, whom angels and archangels adore, 
 condescending to direct children how they 
 should conduct themselves towards their 
 parents. Will any child now in the pre- 
 sence of God presume to neglect the fifth 
 commandment ? Will you not rather say, 
 my dear children, that it is the express 
 command of your Master, your Redeemer, 
 your Sanctifier, your Judge ? The cha- 
 racter of obedient children goes before 
 them wherever they go, and will secure 
 
 20 
 
230 OBEDIENCE TO PARENTS. 
 
 them the love and confidence of the wise 
 and good. How pleasant to think that 
 you never wilfully caused your parents' 
 eyes to be filled with tears of anguish, 
 their cheeks to blush with shame, or their 
 bosoms to be pained with an uneasy 
 thought. " Ye shall fear every man his 
 mother and his father ; for I am the Lord 
 your God." 
 
 III. I will endeavour to encourage you 
 in the performance of this important duty. 
 
 1. By setting before you some examples 
 from the Scriptures. How submissive 
 was Isaac to the authority of Abraham, 
 his father, when he was about to offer 
 him to God as a sacrifice, on the mount 
 Moriah ! How great was the affection 
 of Joseph for his father, when he met him 
 at Goshen, and he fell on his neck and wept 
 on his neck a good while ! How different 
 was the conduct of the rest of Jacob's 
 sons ! David, while he suffered so much 
 from the envy and cruelty of Saul, dis- 
 covered great tenderness towards his pa- 
 rents. He presented an address to the 
 
OBEDIENCE TO PARENTS. 231 
 
 king of Moab to let his father and mother 
 reside at Mizpeh till he knew what God 
 would do for him. Imitate the respect 
 of Solomon for his mother ; for we read 
 that, when she came to speak to him, he 
 rose up to meet her, and bowed himself 
 before her, and sat down on his throne, 
 and caused a seat to be set for his mother, 
 and she sat on his right hand. But there 
 was one great example more which you 
 ought all to follow; I mean the Lord Jesus. 
 He was subject to the authority of his pa- 
 rents; and when he was dying on the 
 cross he did not forget his mother, but 
 commended her to the particular care and 
 regard of John, the beloved disciple. 
 
 "Jesus, who reigns above the sky, 
 And keeps the world in awe, 
 Was once a child as young as I, 
 And kept his Father's law. 
 
 "At twelve years old he talked with mer 
 (The Jews all wondering stand,) 
 Yet he obeyed his mother then, 
 And came at her command." 
 
 2. By the promises which God hath 
 
232 OBEDIENCE TO PARENTS. 
 
 made to obedient children. " Honour thy 
 father and thy mother, (this is called, by 
 the apostle, the first command with pro- 
 mise,) that it may be well with thee, and 
 that thou mayest live long on the earth. 
 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, 
 for this is right. Children, obey your 
 parents in all things, for this is well pleas- 
 ing unto the Lord ;" not only pleasing, 
 but well pleasing unto the Lord. 
 
 3. You here read that you will enjoy 
 the favour and approbation of God, if you 
 obey your parents. Can you think of any 
 thing more delightful, more honourable, 
 than to do that which is pleasing unto the 
 Lord ? This should stir you up to per- 
 form it. It is he that commands it, and 
 that looks down from heaven to see how 
 you observe it. He sees when you obey 
 and when you do not. He knows all 
 your private ways and secret thoughts. 
 If you sincerely obey your parents in all 
 things, the Lord is pleased, well pleased 
 Avith your conduct ; and he will bless you 
 with many favours ; you shall be com- 
 
OBEDIENCE TO PARENTS. 233 
 
 fortable and happy in this world, and 
 eternally happy in the world to come. 
 
 *' For those who worship God, and give 
 Their parents honour due, 
 Here on this earth they long shall live, 
 And live hereafter too." 
 
 I shall now conclude, by mentioning 
 one of the most awful threatenings of God 
 against disobedient children. " The eye 
 that mocketh at his father, and despiseth 
 to obey his mother, the ravens of the 
 valley shall pick it out, and the young 
 eagles shall eat it." Compare this threat- 
 ening with what you have heard, with the 
 happiness promised to obedient children. 
 Say, would you part with the love of your 
 parents, and the favour of God, for this 
 calamity ? 
 
 ye disobedient children, repent of 
 your past conduct. Do not add one pain 
 more to those you have already given 
 your dear parents. Do not provoke God 
 any longer. Your parents are willing to 
 forgive you j your heavenly Father is also 
 
 20'' 
 
234 OBEDIENCE TO PARENTS. 
 
 willing to forgive you. Let every little 
 child say with me : 
 
 "0, holy Saviour, may that day 
 Of future love and grace appear, 
 In which my parents both shall reap 
 The harvest of their faithful care." 
 
 " Let children that would fear the Lord 
 Hear what their teachers say; 
 With reverence meet their parents' word, 
 And with delight obey. 
 
 " Have you not heard what dreadful plagues 
 Are threatened, by the Lord, 
 To him that breaks his father's law, 
 Or mocks his mother's word 1 
 
 "What heavy guilt upon him lies! 
 How cursed is his name ! 
 The ravens shall pick out his eyes. 
 And eagfles eat the same. 
 
 "For those that worship God, and give 
 Their parents honour due. 
 Here on this earth they long shall live, 
 And live hereafter too." 
 
DUTIES OF THE SCHOOL. 235 
 
 LECTURE XI. 
 
 Duties of the School. 
 
 Prov. XX. 1 1 . — " Even a child is known by his doings, 
 whether his work be pure, and whether it be right.''^ 
 
 Mr DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS, 
 
 A GOOD education is one of the greatest 
 advantages which the young can possess. 
 It is better tiian a fortune. Tiiere are 
 many children who are destitute of this 
 great blessing. Ignorance is the parent 
 of many vices ; for those who know not 
 how to read generally spend their leisure 
 hours at a tavern^ or at the gaming-table. 
 Many improvements have been made in 
 the methods of instruction, and many 
 more may still be made. Teachers of 
 youth ought to be esteemed among the 
 most valuable and useful members of 
 society, especially if they are pious per- 
 sons } for they will not only care for the 
 
236 DUTIES OF THE SCHOOL. 
 
 morals, but the souls of those children 
 committed to their care. Teachers of 
 youth may be as useful as ministers of the 
 gospel. Their means are extensive. It 
 is a delightful work, when little ones are 
 taught to know their letters and to love 
 Jesus at the same time. There are many 
 schools of a charitable kind, supported by 
 the benevolence of generous hearts, or by 
 the contributions of the liberal friends of 
 the rising generation. A variety of re- 
 markable circumstances have laid the 
 foundations of some of these schools. 
 There is, at Bristol, in England, a chari- 
 table institution called "Colston's School," 
 from the name of its founder ; the scholars 
 wear on their breast the figure of a dolphin 
 in brass, the reason of which is as fol- 
 lows : — Mr. Colston, a rich West Indian 
 merchant, was going to England, his native 
 country, in a ship which contained all his 
 treasure. She sprang aleak, and after 
 having pumped for a long time, day and 
 night, the people on board were expecting 
 every moment that the ship would sink. 
 
DUTIES OF THE SCHOOL. 237 
 
 All at once, to their great astonishment, 
 the leak was stopped. On examination, 
 it was fomid, that a fish called the dolphin 
 had providentially squeezed itself into the 
 opening, and thus saved all from destruc- 
 tion. Mr. Colston therefore founded a 
 school, and ordered the emhlem of a 
 dolphin to be worn as a mark both of his 
 gratitude and his deliverance. 
 
 Hear the words of the text, " Even a 
 child is known by his doings, whether his 
 Avork be pure, and whether it be upright." 
 
 I. I will make some general remarks. 
 Solomon was a wise man. The words 
 of the text are his own words. The words 
 of wise and good men are very much 
 regarded. Children are not wise ; they 
 know but little ; they stand in need of 
 instruction. A teacher should possess 
 both piety and wisdom. Children go to 
 school to obtain knowledge. A teacher's 
 labour will be in vain unless the parents 
 unite their endeavours with his exertions 
 for the instruction of their children under 
 his care. Sometimes, when teachers and 
 
238 DUTIES OF THE SCHOOL. 
 
 parents do their duty, the children seem to 
 make no progress. When this is the case, 
 there must be something wanting. Two 
 things are necessary to make a good 
 scholar. The first is, a capacity to learn ; 
 and the second is, a desire to excel in 
 learning. Where these two are united, 
 there is reason to hope that children will 
 become good scholars. 
 
 All children have not the same capa- 
 city. There is a great difference. We 
 often expect more from them than we 
 ought. We are apt to think they know 
 much more than they really do. Things 
 are taken for granted, and the building 
 often stands upon a very slender founda- 
 tion. We may soon learn this by ex- 
 amining the children upon some of the 
 most common and familiar terms made 
 use of in schools. Some may know; 
 others may have known, but cannot dis- 
 tinctly recollect ; others are entirely igno- 
 rant and at a loss what to answer. 
 
 In schools there is generally a mixture 
 of children, good, bad and indifferent. 
 
DUTIES OF THE SCHOOL. 239 
 
 By indifferent children I mean those who 
 are sometimes good and sometimes bad. 
 They are not always the same, but may 
 be compared to weathercocks, turned by 
 every fancy, continually changing like the 
 wind. 
 
 In schools there are a variety of exam- 
 ples, some good and some bad ; but such 
 is the depraved state of all nature, that 
 children love evil more than good. 
 
 In all schools there are certain rules and 
 regulations for the government and order 
 of the schools in general. These rules 
 and regulations are made known to the 
 scholars when they enter the school ; and 
 when they are made known, they should 
 be carefully observed by the scholars. In 
 many schools there are rules which are 
 common to all ; these are, silence, order, 
 docility, attention, diUgence, good beha- 
 viour, obedience, respect, and still tongues 
 at home with regard to what is done at 
 school. These will apply to every school, 
 and they are what every good scholar 
 should consider and observe. 
 
240 DUTIES OF THE SCHOOL. 
 
 II. Solomon speaks of the doings, or 
 actions of a child. The following are the 
 actions and doings of wicked children : 
 Lying, swearing, cursing, stealing, disobe- 
 dience to parents, unkindness to brothers 
 and sisters, idleness and mischief, cruelty 
 to dumb animals, improper behaviour at 
 home, at school and in the house of God ; 
 disrespect to the aged, scoffing at holy 
 men or holy things. They lead a wicked 
 life, die an awful death, and are miserable 
 forever. 
 
 And these are the actions or doings of 
 good children : They pray to God, read 
 the Scriptures, speak the truth, fear God, 
 honour their parents, are kind to all, dili- 
 gent and active in the school, kind to ani- 
 mals, respectful to the aged, ready to 
 relieve the distressed, attentive at school, 
 quiet at home, serious and attentive in 
 the house of God. They live happy, die 
 joyful, and at death enter into eternal 
 glory. 
 
 Solomon tells us that even a child is 
 known bv his doings, whether his work be 
 
DUTIES OF THE SCHOOL. 241 
 
 pure and whether it be right. If children 
 in general are known, scholars certainly 
 must be known. Therefore I will endea- 
 vour to tell you how the good scholar is 
 known by his doings and actions. 
 
 1. A good scholar is known by his 
 love of learning, not to read only, but 
 every other branch of education. If you 
 love learning, my dear little friends, you 
 will soon make good scholars ; you will 
 soon learn to read, to write and to cipher 
 and to speak any language ; but if you 
 dread your lessons and books, it will in- 
 deed be tiresome work. You will soon 
 grow weary. You will go from one 
 branch of learning to another, will pretend 
 to learn every thing, and, after all, know 
 little or nothing at all about any of them. 
 You will learn but little while you skim 
 the surface. You must apply your mind 
 and take delight in all you undertake to 
 learn. Then it will only seem an amuse- 
 ment to you ; while to the dunce and the 
 idler it will be the toil and the hatefuJ 
 labour of his life. 
 
 21 
 
242 DUTIES OP THE SCHOOL. 
 
 2. A good scholar is known by his love 
 to his teacher. If you love to be taught, 
 you will also love the person who can 
 teach you; love those who instruct you, 
 as well as the instruction you receive. A 
 great deal depends upon love to your 
 teachers. If you love them, you will es- 
 teem them for their work's sake, you will 
 listen to them with pleasure ; but if you 
 hate them, all the advice they give will 
 be received with prejudice. I love to 
 hear you speak of them with pleasure 
 and think of them with gratitude. I love 
 to see you shed tears of affection and re- 
 spect, especially at leaving the school, 
 where you have learned the best of les- 
 sons ; where you have received from your 
 teacher, not the cold treatment of mere 
 scholars, but such treatment as children 
 receive from a parent. Love your teach- 
 er ; love your school and love the scholars. 
 Then the school will not be to you, as it 
 is to many, like a place of confinement. 
 You will not be like many who, as they 
 go out of school, shout as if they were 
 
DUTIES OF THE SCHOOL 243 
 
 glad that they were let at liberty. Many 
 children, in going out of school, remind 
 me more of prisoners or captives who 
 have gained their liberty and are restored 
 to their friends, than of children retiring 
 with pleasure from a place of learning. 
 
 3. A good scholar is known by his 
 silence. Nothing can be done when all is 
 noise and confusion. What think you of 
 a hundred scholars all repeating or read- 
 ing their lessons aloud ? What think you 
 of a hundred scholars all repeating their 
 sums aloud, one enumerating, another 
 adding up, a third subtracting, a fourth 
 multiplying, a fifth dividing and a sixth in 
 practice ? What unintelligible language ! 
 and the teacher at the same time strain- 
 ing his lungs and calling aloud to silence 
 and order, but all in vain. He is vexed, 
 his mind is harassed and perplexed, one 
 scholar asking him one question, and a 
 second another, a third showing his copy, 
 and a fourth waiting with his sum. But 
 this is not all. There is, in many schools, a 
 great deal of idle chit-chat. Some child- 
 
244 DUTIES OF THE SCHOOL. 
 
 ren seem as if they had all the miportaiit 
 secrets in the world to tell. Why sit 
 whispering so much to the next scholar 
 that is near you ? Why hinder him and 
 yourself too ? Why are four or five to 
 lay down their books or their pens to 
 hsten to your nonsense ? Be attentive to 
 your tasks and keep silence while in 
 school. Speak not at all, unless it be to 
 ask a question for information, either of 
 a scholar who knows better, or of your 
 teacher. 
 
 4. A good scholar is known by his 
 
 diligence. He has no idle moments to 
 
 spend, 
 
 " But, like the little busy bee, 
 Improves each shining hour." 
 
 how many shining hours some child- 
 ren lose ! They do not try to improve, 
 they take no pains at all with their copies, 
 but hurry them over, and seem glad when 
 they are done, that they may have time 
 to spend in idleness and talk. 
 
 5. A good scholar will endeavour to 
 keep good order. He will not run all 
 
DITTIES OF THE SCHOOL. 245 
 
 over the school hunting for his books, or 
 trying to get the scholars to help him to 
 learn his lesson or do his sum. You will 
 always see him in his own place. He 
 will be careful of his books. They will 
 be neatly covered, without scrawls or 
 dog's-ears, without blots or dirt. He will 
 not write his name in twenty places, as 
 some children do, and make their books 
 not fit to be seen. When he is spoken to 
 he is all attention. He listens to the in- 
 structions given with eager desire, and 
 when they are finished you may read in 
 his countenance that he is pleased that he 
 knows more than before. He is also a 
 very careful boy with regard to the school. 
 He is careful not to bring dirt into it, or 
 make any dirt in school by tearing paper 
 and throwing it on the floor. He is careful 
 not to read any books in school but those 
 that he ought to read. He will not waste 
 his time in looking at the pictures instead 
 of learning his lessons. He is careful to 
 read well, to pronounce his words fully, 
 
 21* 
 
246 DUTIES OF THE SCHOOL. 
 
 clearly and distinctly, so that you may 
 easily understand him. 
 
 6. A good scholar is known by his 
 punctual attendance at the appointed 
 hour. You will know him bv his cheer- 
 fulness and thoughtfulness. He hastens 
 to school with his books under his arm 
 or in his bag. He is fearful of being too 
 late, but is seldom a minute behind the 
 proper time. He is not afraid of sum- 
 mer's heat or winter's cold. A little snow 
 or rain will not keep him at home. He 
 regularly attends at school and is desirous 
 of learning something new and useful 
 every day. If he is absent from school, it 
 must be for something very particular. 
 He is perhaps detained at home by illness. 
 
 7. A good scholar is known by his 
 respectful behaviour. No black looks, 
 no contemptuous whispers, no " answer- 
 ing again," when he is spoken to by his 
 teacher. When at any time he is re- 
 proved or punished, he is not angry, but 
 sorrowful. ^' This," he says, (and he feels 
 what he says,) "is because it is for my 
 
DUTIES OF THE SCHOOL. 247 
 
 good. My teacher is wiser and knows 
 better than I do ; therefore I will endea- 
 vour for the time to come to avoid the fault 
 for which I am reproved." He never 
 leaves the school without paying those 
 marks of respect which are due from a 
 good scholar to his teacher. 
 
 Once more : A good scholar is known 
 by his good example. He is determined 
 that none of the scholars shall be the 
 worse for his example, but if possible the 
 better. He is resolved that none shall 
 hereafter say that they should not have 
 been punished had it not been for him ; 
 that he was their leader in robbing or- 
 chards, spoiling birds' nests, or playing 
 truant. 0, my young friends, be very 
 careful to set a good example while you 
 are scholars. Remember how many there 
 are who will be ready to follow you if 
 you set a bad one. You may be the 
 means of leading others by your example 
 to shame and disgrace, to ruin in this life 
 and everlasting misery in the world to 
 come. I cannot finish the marks of the 
 
248 DUTIES OF THE SCHOOL. 
 
 good scholar without saying, that while 
 he endeavours to set a good example be- 
 fore the rest of the scholars, he will also 
 pray for them ; tell them of the love of 
 Jesus, and exhort them to seek heavenly 
 wisdom from that God who " giveth to all 
 liberally, and upbraideth not." He will 
 be desirous of pointing out the value of 
 their souls, the beauties of the Bible and 
 the necessity of a Saviour. He will tell 
 them of a teacher that is heavenly and 
 divine, and entreat them to go with him 
 to the school of Christ, to sit at his feet 
 and receive lessons of heavenly wisdom — 
 to learn of him who was meek and lowly 
 in heart. This is the good scholar, and 
 these are the duties of the school. If all 
 scholars were known by these marks, 
 what happy scholars you would be ! what 
 a pleasure it would be to be your teacher! 
 what a happy school it would be ! You 
 might almost say, 
 
 " I have been there and still will go, 
 'Tis like a little heaven below." 
 
 An idle scholar is soon known: he 
 
DUTIES OF THE SCHOOL. 249 
 
 carries the marks of a dunce on his fore- 
 head; you may see them in his looks. 
 When he walks to school, he stops at every 
 corner of the street, he peeps into every 
 window, and talks to every idle child he 
 meets. His lessons are but half learnt and 
 very carelessly repeated. His words are 
 badly pronounced and his copy badly 
 written. His fingers are stained with ink 
 and his books are full of blots and scrawls. 
 You may soon know an idle scholar by 
 his looks. He is whispering or talking 
 aloud ; he is looking about him or cutting 
 and spoiling his books and the desk; 
 he is continually bringing something to 
 school either to eat or to play with ; his 
 pockets are full of fruit or sweetmeats; 
 his lessons are a burden to him ; he is 
 glad when school is dismissed that he may 
 go to his play. He is careless of every 
 thing; alike indifferent to rewards or pun- 
 ishments ; contented to remain stationary, 
 while others, who were far behind, over- 
 take and travel far beyond him in the 
 paths of wisdom. He is a trouble to his 
 
250 DUTIES OF THE SCHOOL. 
 
 teacher, a hinderance to the rest of the 
 scholars, a disturbance to the school, a 
 grief to his parents, and a shame and a 
 disgrace to himself and all his companions. 
 
 " Let me ask you one question, if you 
 please, sir." 
 
 Well, my young friend, what is that ? 
 
 "How is a good monitor to be known?" 
 
 He should be gentle and patient to the 
 younger scholars, and teach them in the 
 same manner as he would like to be 
 taught himself He must not speak rude- 
 ly or sharply to them. He must not call 
 them names or beat them; but if they act 
 improperly, he should inform his teacher, 
 that he may reprove or punish them as 
 he thinks proper. He should be civil, 
 impartial and obliging to all. He should 
 endeavour to assist them when in trouble 
 or difficulty, and take the part of the 
 younger scholars when any of the elder 
 scholars Avould hurt or ill-treat them. He 
 should be a peace-maker and a friend to 
 all. This a monitor ought to be in addition 
 to the marks of a good scholar. 
 
DUTIES OF THE SCHOOL. 251 
 
 I should now endeavour to improve 
 this subject. Children should always 
 obey the rules of the school where they 
 go : there are right doings and wrong 
 doings, or pure and impure actions. How 
 careful children ought to be, and watch- 
 ful, that their actions may be such as they 
 shall never be ashamed of, neither in this 
 world nor when they stand before the bar 
 of God. 
 
 Take heed that you are not the worse 
 for going to school. Remember, that 
 " evil communications corrupt good man- 
 ners." Let your conversation, your con- 
 duct, your example prove that you are a 
 good scholar and desirous of gaining use- 
 ful knowledge. Let the great end of 
 learning to read be, that you may be able 
 to read the Holy Scriptures, v/hich " are 
 able to make you wise unto salvation." 
 Let the great end of your learning to 
 write be, that you may be able to commu- 
 nicate to those who are afar off the glad 
 tidings of salvation. Let the great end 
 of arithmetic be, that you may be taught 
 
252 DUTIES OF THE SCHOOL. 
 
 " SO to number your days that you may 
 apply your hearts unto wisdom." To 
 seek the salvation of your souls, seek to be 
 taught by the Holy Spirit and the "great 
 Master of assemblies," at whose feet Mary 
 sat when she made choice of that part 
 which could not be taken away from her. 
 
 There is, in some schools, what is called 
 a weekly review ; be prepared for it, and 
 remember that Christ will review your ac- 
 tions, both good and bad, at the last day. 
 
 There are, in some schools, quarterly 
 examinations. Let your lessons be well 
 repeated, that you pass through the 
 examination with honour to yourselves, 
 with pleasure to your teacher, and with 
 satisfaction to all who may be present. 
 
 There is, in all schools, a general vaca- 
 tion or holiday once a year ; some give a 
 longer, some a shorter time. It is a neces- 
 sary relaxation to your own minds and 
 your teacher's. Health requires it, that 
 he may return to his duty, to his arduous 
 and important employ, with new zeal and 
 redoubled vigour. 
 
DUTIES OF THE SCHOOL. 253 
 
 The hour of death may be called a 
 vacation or breaking up. Death destroys 
 the body and separates the soul from it. 
 The vacation destroys order and separates 
 the scholar from his teacher. There is an 
 end of lessons and learning for a time. 
 There is no work nor device in the grave. 
 At death, all our labour and toil will 
 cease. The Bible cannot be read there, 
 no tables repeated there, no copies written 
 there. Those fingers that now hold the 
 pen will be cold and stiff. No account 
 can be cast up there. Now you leave 
 the school-room and its duties for a time : 
 then you will return to the house ap- 
 pointed for all living. But remember 
 this, — take notice of it, my dear young 
 friends, — at the morning of the day of 
 judgment, you will have a sum to do 
 of which all the rules in arithmetic can 
 furnish no example and give no answer. 
 Who can enumerate the ages of eternity ! 
 Who can add to eternity ! Who can sub- 
 tract or take from eternity ! Who can 
 multiply eternity ! Eternhy cannot be 
 
 22 
 
254 DUTIES OF THE SCHOOL. 
 
 divided ! Happy are those who have 
 learned that holy art, that divine arith- 
 metic, of numbering their days and ap- 
 plying their hearts to wisdom. 
 
 " Lord of the starry world on high, 
 To thee I raise my infant cry ; 
 hear my lisping prayer, and grant 
 The mercies which thou know'st I want. 
 
 ' Since I to thee my being owe, 
 Teach me betimes thyself to know; 
 And give me grace to walk the road 
 That leads to glory and to God. 
 
 "To this great end, my parents bless, 
 And crown their labours with success ; 
 That they may have the joy to see 
 Their offspring training up for thee. 
 
 " Give me a ready active mind. 
 To useful knowledge still inclined ; 
 And grant my memory may retain 
 What from my teacher's care I gain. 
 
 "But most of all, assist me. Lord, 
 To study and to love thy word; 
 Let me its sacred truths imbibe, 
 And in my life those truths transcribe. 
 
 "Impress it on my mind, that I, 
 A child of earth, am born to die; 
 Yet that my spirit shall survive, 
 And through eternal ages live." 
 
A WORD IN SEASON. 255 
 
 LECTURE XII. 
 
 A Word in Season ; or^ Death and Judgment, 
 
 Rev. XX. 12. — ^^dnd I saw the dead^ small and 
 great, stand before God^ 
 
 My dear yotjng friends, 
 
 At this season of the year,* you are 
 more particularly reminded, by the objects 
 around you, of your latter end. All 
 nature appears to be dead. The trees 
 are without leaves and the gardens with- 
 out flowers : the waters are bound in fet- 
 ters of ice, and the ground is covered with 
 frost and snow. Christmas is past. The 
 year will soon be gone, and New-year's 
 day is near at hand. 
 
 You live in a world of changes, and 
 pass through a variety of scenes. Some- 
 times a dark cloud appears, and then a 
 
 ♦ Winter. 
 
256 A WORD IN season; or, 
 
 bright one. The wheel of nature is con- 
 tinually turning round : sometimes one 
 part is uppermost and sometimes another. 
 One event regularly follows another. At 
 the command of God, darkness goes away 
 and daylight comes : the day gives place 
 to night, and the night again to day. It 
 is now winter, but this will be followed 
 by spring : then comes the summer, after- 
 wards fall or autumn, and then the winter 
 will return again. " Every purpose has 
 its time, and to every thing there is a sea- 
 son." For while the earth remaineth, 
 "seed-time and harvest, cold and heat, 
 summer and winter, day and night shall 
 not cease." 
 
 "Thus shall the moving engine last, 
 Till all his saints are gathered in; 
 Then for the trumpet's dreadful blast, 
 To shake it all to dust again." 
 
 You are now in health, but pain and 
 sickness may soon come upon you. You 
 are young, but not too young to die. 
 Death and judgment are subjects which 
 are by no means agreeable to the young. 
 
DEATH AND JUDGMENT. 257 
 
 You are looking forward to years of plea- 
 sure, to a long life of health and happi- 
 ness : but you are born to trouble. Your 
 days may be few and evil. You appear 
 like flowers in spring. You are the 
 objects of delight and admiration : but 
 " man cometh up like a flower, and is cut 
 down ; he fleeth also as a shadow, and 
 continueth not; he dieth and wasteth 
 away, yea, he giveth up the ghost, 
 and where is he ? Your days are deter- 
 mined, the number of your months are 
 with God ; he hath appointed thy bounds 
 and over them you cannot pass. It is 
 appointed unto all once to die." 
 
 I stand on holy ground. 
 
 The subjects of this lecture are serious 
 and awful ; full of the most important 
 consequences, not only to the children 
 now present, but to every child in this 
 wide world. my soul, how many are 
 now plunging into an awful eternity I 
 my young friends, what shall I say ? Can 
 I hope to prevail on any of you to attend 
 to these serious things ? They belong to 
 
 22"* 
 
258 A WORD IN season; or, 
 
 you all. Every one is equally concerned. 
 
 Not a child here can say, " I have nothing 
 
 to do with death and judgment." These 
 
 bodies must return to the dust from 
 
 whence they were taken, and your souls 
 
 to God who gave them. 
 
 " The dust returns to dust again, 
 The soul, in agonies of pain. 
 Ascends to God, not there dwell, 
 But hears her doom and sinks to hell." 
 
 Let me lead you to an open grave. 
 There I see you weeping over a father or a 
 mother, a brother or a sister, standing by 
 that house which is appointed for all 
 living. I see your eyes filled with tears, 
 and your little hearts ready to burst with 
 grief. Shall I address you ? Shall I speak 
 in vain ? Shall I spend my strength for 
 naught? thou Eternal Spirit of God, 
 soften every hard heart; impress every 
 mind. He that hath ears to hear, let 
 him hear. 
 
 "Stoop down, my thoughts, that used to rise, 
 Converse a while with death ; 
 Think how a gasping mortal lies, 
 And pants away his breath. 
 
DEATH AND JUDGMENT. 259 
 
 "His quivering lip hangs feebly down, 
 His pulses faint and few ; 
 Then speechless, with a doleful groan 
 He bids the world adieu. 
 
 "But oh! the soul that never dies, 
 At once it leaves the clay ; 
 Ye thoughts, pursue it where it flies, 
 And track its wondrous way. 
 
 " Up to the courts where angels dwell, 
 It mounts, triumphant there ; 
 Or devils plunge it down to hell, 
 In infinite despair." 
 
 " And I saw the dead, small and great, 
 stand before God." First, Death is 
 mentioned in the words of the text. 
 " And I saw the dead." What is death ? 
 Ah, my yoimg friends, we must experi- 
 mentally know what death is. You and 
 I must die. Let us think of death. It is 
 a serious thing to die. Think what it is 
 to be sick : what pain you then feel. 
 But what is that, when compared with 
 death ? Let us suppose the king of terrors 
 standing before our eyes, with the fatal 
 dart in his hand. His arm is already 
 
260 A WORD IN season; ok, 
 
 lifted up; the blow is certain, and the 
 aim is sure. Our last and solemn hour is 
 now come, and we must bid a long, long 
 farewell to all things here below. Our 
 lips quiver; our breath fails; our sight 
 grows dim; our hands and feet are be- 
 dewed with a cold sweat, and our cheeks 
 covered with the paleness of death ! 
 What an affecting thought. This warm 
 active body becomes cold and still ; these 
 feet will cease to walk ; these hands will 
 no longer obey the will ; these eyes will 
 be closed ; this tongue will speak no 
 more ; this heart will cease to beat, and 
 my blood cease to flow ; the pulse stops, 
 and the lungs no longer perform their 
 office; the breath is gone, to return no 
 more. The shroud is sent for, and 
 wrapped round the body; the coffin is 
 made, and the grave is dug. Nothing 
 now remains but to carry you to your 
 long home, and cover you with earth, and 
 leave you to mingle with the dust out of 
 which you were made. 
 
 It is an awful thing to die. Death is 
 
DEATH AND JUDGMENT. 261 
 
 terrible to the Avicked, for they " are driven 
 away in their wickedness." 
 
 " Death ! 'tis a melancholy day 
 To those who have no God ; 
 When the poor soul is forced away 
 To seek her last abode." 
 
 At death, all your plans and schemes 
 must be laid aside : all your joys and 
 sorrows will be ended : you must leave 
 all your playmates and playthings behind 
 you. Then you will hear no more ser- 
 mons ; sing no more hymns ; read no 
 more chapters ; repeat no more catechism. 
 Your place at school, at church, and at 
 home by your own fireside, will be empty. 
 You will never sit there nor here, any 
 more, forever. Remember, you cannot 
 be good children after you are dead, if you 
 are bad all your life-time. You cannot 
 then pray to God for pardon of your sins : 
 you cannot seek the Lord Jesus Christ for 
 your Saviour, when you are confined in 
 the grave. 0, my dear children, think of 
 death. 
 
262 A WORD IN SEASON ; OR, 
 
 " O, now improve the hours you have, 
 Before the day of grace is fled ; 
 There's no repentance in the grave, 
 Nor pardon offered to the dead." 
 
 What is it that makes you so much 
 afraid of death ? It is because you are 
 wicked. Sin makes you afraid to die, 
 and it is sin that is the cause of death ; it 
 is part of the punishment which God told 
 our first parents, Adam and Eve, would 
 be the consequence of breaking his com- 
 mands and eating the forbidden fruit. 
 *'In the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt 
 surely die." "Wherefore as by one man 
 sin entered into the world, and death by 
 sin ; and so death passed upon all men, for 
 that all have sinned." 
 
 All men must die, young and old, rich 
 and poor. Death pays no respect to any, 
 but visits all in their turn. To-day lie 
 takes the king from his throne ; to-mor- 
 row the beggar from the dunghill. To-day 
 he takes the infant from the bosom of its 
 mother; to-morrow a lovely youth from 
 school. 
 
DEATH AND JUDGMENT. 263 
 
 "For when he summons, then we all must go, 
 To endless happiness or endless wo." 
 
 Your wisdom will not save you from 
 death : Solomon died, and so must you. 
 Your beauty will not save you from death : 
 Abigail died, so must you. Your strength 
 will not save you : Samson died, so must 
 you. Your goodness or piety will not 
 save you : David died, and so must you. 
 Your sparkling eyes and your rosy cheeks 
 will not save you from the pointed arrows 
 of death. Your gold and silver will not 
 bribe death, nor tempt nor persuade him 
 to spare you a little longer. You know 
 you must die. You often feel sick and ill, 
 and sooner or later it will end in death. 
 You often see funerals pass as you walk 
 along the streets. Scarcely a day passes 
 but some one is carried to the grave. Let 
 every child say : — 
 
 " There is an hour when I must die, 
 
 Nor do I know how soon 'twill come; 
 How many children, young as I, 
 
 Are called by death to hear their doom !" 
 
 The time when and the manner how 
 
264 A WORD IN season; or, 
 
 you may die are both unknown to you. 
 Nothing is so sure as death, and nothing 
 so uncertain as the time. You may be too 
 old to Uve, but you can never be too 
 young to die; you should therefore live 
 every hour as if you were to die the 
 next. 
 
 The Assyrian king, who spent his life 
 in wickedness, said, when he came to die, 
 "0 if I had thought I should have died as 
 I do, I would not have lived as I did." 
 
 A fine boy, about twelve years of age, 
 set off to school at two o'clock. He was 
 met by a boy riding a horse. The boy 
 asked him to ride the horse to the stable, 
 to which he consented. He had not been 
 seated more than two minutes before the 
 horse stumbled and threw him. In the 
 fall, his thigh was broken in two places ; 
 and before he could crawl away a loaded 
 wagon passed over him, and after lying 
 two hours, in the greatest agony, his soul 
 entered into the eternal world. 
 
 The manner in which you may die is 
 at present unknown. Some die what is 
 
DEATH AND JUDGMENT. 265 
 
 called a natural death, and others what 
 is called a violent death. There is but one 
 way into this world, but there are many 
 ways out of it. Some die a painful and 
 others an easy death. Some there are 
 who are called very suddenly into the 
 eternal world. 0, my dear young friends, 
 how very important and necessary it is to 
 be always prepared to die. 
 
 "Dangers stand thick through all the ground 
 To push us to the tomb, 
 And fierce diseases wait around 
 To hurry children home." 
 
 Thus we find that " it is appointed unto 
 all once to die, and after this the judg- 
 ment. For the trumpet shall sound, and 
 the dead shall be raised incorruptible. 
 And I saw the dead, small and great, 
 stand before God." By these words we 
 find that not only the hour of death, but, 
 
 Secondly, The day of judgment is men- 
 tioned in the words of the text. From 
 the tenth verse to the end of the chapter, 
 we have a brief but particular account of 
 the proceedings of the day of judgment, 
 
 23 
 
266 A WORD IN season; or, 
 
 that great, that awful day, for which all 
 other days were made. 
 
 That there will be a day of judgment 
 is plain from the words of the text. This 
 is not the only part of the word of God 
 where the day of judgment is mentioned. 
 I could tell you of many others, but two 
 or three will be sufficient. " For God 
 will bring every work into judgment, 
 whether it be good or whether it be evil. 
 Even a child is known by his doings, 
 whether his work be pure and whether it 
 be right. For we shall all stand before 
 the judgment-seat of Christ." Yes, my 
 young friends, the great day of his wrath 
 will come, when Jesus shall be revealed 
 from heaven in flaming fire, taking ven- 
 geance on them that know not God and 
 that obey not his gospel. 
 
 If there is to be no day of judgment ; 
 if there is no account to be given, no 
 reckoning to be made, no tribunal before 
 which you are to be brought, why are 
 you afraid to die ? Why hide your sins 
 as if you were ashamed of them ? Why 
 
DEATH AND JUDGMENT. 2G7 
 
 tell SO many stories to cover your faults, 
 and thus endeavour to escape punish- 
 ment? Why are you afraid of the anger 
 of God? Your own conscience condemns 
 your conduct : your sins will certainly 
 find you out. It is conscience that re- 
 minds you of a judgment to come. It 
 was conscience that made Felix tremble 
 when Paul reasoned of righteousness, 
 temperance and a judgment to come. 
 Why did the knees of Belshazzar smite, 
 one against the other, when he saw the 
 handwriting on the wall, and was told 
 by Daniel that he was weighed in the 
 balance and found wanting? It is con- 
 science that approves of that which is 
 right, and disapproves of that which is 
 wrong. That silent monitor is placed by 
 God in every bosom. Attend to the 
 voice of conscience. Despise not the 
 advice of conscience, and never act con- 
 trary to it. 
 
 Did not God judge the wickedness of 
 man in the days of Noah, when the 
 wicked were swept away by a flood of 
 
268 A WORD IN season; or, 
 
 water! Did not God judge Sodom and 
 Gomorrah, when he poured out fire and 
 brimstone and destroyed the wicked peo- 
 ple and children that were there ? If 
 God has punished some for their wicked- 
 ness, you may depend on it that he intends 
 to punish all. 
 
 Jesus Christ is appointed by God the 
 Father to be the Judge of the world at 
 the last day. He will appear in his own 
 glory, in the glory of his Father and of 
 his holy angels. Every eye shall see him, 
 and they also which pierced him ; the wick- 
 ed shall weep and wail because of him. 
 
 A good man, who had served God for 
 thirty years, had five sons and two daugh- 
 ters, who, in spite of all his advice and 
 all his prayers and tears, were very wick- 
 ed children. In January, 1809, he dream- 
 ed that the day of judgment was come. 
 He saw the Judge on his great white 
 throne ; the holy angels sat around him, 
 and all nations were gathered before him. 
 He and his wife were standing on the 
 right hand of the Judge, but he could not 
 
DEATH AND JUDGMENT. 269 
 
 see any of his children. " I cannot bear 
 this," he said, " I must go and seek them." 
 So he went to the left hand and found 
 them all seven standing together, tearing 
 their hair and beating their breasts and 
 cursing the day that ever they were born. 
 As soon as they saw him, they caught 
 hold of him and said, " father, we will 
 part no more." He said, " My dear child- 
 ren, I am come to try, if possible, to get 
 you out of this dismal situation." He 
 took them all with him; but when he 
 was come within bow-shot of the Judge, 
 he thought he cast an angry look at him 
 and said, "What do thy children with 
 thee now ? They would not take thy 
 warning when on earth, they shall not 
 share the crown with thee now. Depart, 
 ye cursed." At these words he awoke, 
 bathed with sweat and tears. He re- 
 lated his dream to his family one Sun- 
 day evening. The effect of it was that 
 five of the children were converted to God. 
 The other two were afterwards brought to 
 acknowledge the truth, in answer to prayer. 
 
 23* 
 
270 A WORD IN season: or 
 
 Thirdly. We find by the words of the 
 text who those are that will be judged: 
 the small and the great. Children, as 
 well as those who are grown up, must 
 stand before God : the young and the old. 
 There you must stand and give an account 
 of all your bad actions, of all your evil 
 thoughts and idle words. For you must 
 give an account of all the deeds done in 
 the body, both good and bad. Even the 
 secrets of your hearts will be made 
 known, and for every idle word you must 
 give account to God. Awful thought ! 
 How many bad, wicked, sinful words 
 have you spoken ! 
 
 "And must the crimes that we have done 
 Be read and published there 1 
 Be all exposed before the sun, 
 While men and angels hearl" 
 
 "But," says a little girl, "why must 
 we stand before God? What will he say 
 to us? What actions shall we have to 
 give an account of?" 
 
 Lying, Sabbath-breaking, disobedience 
 to parents, wasting your time in idleness 
 
DEATH AND JUDGMENT. 271 
 
 and mischief, and many more that I can- 
 not now name. Some children are very 
 sly; but these sly cliildren do a great deal 
 of mischief. Some are very bold in sin ; 
 but at that day they will be ashamed. 
 Your secret sins which have been com- 
 mitted in the black and dark nights will 
 be exposed. There are many sins which 
 you have committed that are only known 
 to God and yourselves. How many sto- 
 ries have you told, and then said that you 
 were only in sport. It was only a joke ; 
 you did not mean what you said. Many 
 things you have said, yet it would have 
 been far better for you to have been born 
 dumb than to have uttered such filthy 
 words and taken the name of the Lord in 
 vain : for you must answer for all your 
 cursing and swearing. 
 
 Let those who laugh and mock at 
 serious things take care, for they must 
 give an account of what they say. 
 
 There will be many witnesses against 
 you, so that you will not be able to make 
 any excuse. Your parents must be against 
 
272 A WORD IN season; or, 
 
 you. I must be a witness against you at 
 that day, if you do not repent and seek 
 for the pardon of your sins before you die. 
 Angels will witness against you. Your 
 companions will also be witnesses against 
 you. Conscience will also accuse you. 
 Satan will accuse you, and God himself, 
 who searches all hearts, will punish you 
 as sinners. The Judge will be impartial. 
 He will pay no more respect to those 
 children that are rich than he does to 
 those who are poor. 
 
 The consequences of the day of judg- 
 ment to good children will be delightful. 
 It will wipe off all that disgrace and 
 scorn and contempt that have been thrown 
 on them by the wicked. We shall then 
 know who loved God and Jesus Christ 
 most. And he will love them, and tell 
 them so before men, angels and devils. 
 He will say to them, " Come, ye blessed 
 of my Father, inherit the kingdom." 
 
 But how awful will the consequences 
 of the day of judgment be to those who 
 know not God ! Wicked, ungodly child- 
 
DEATH AND JUDGMENT. 273 
 
 Yen ! They will be exposed ; their secret 
 sins will be brought to light ; they will be 
 driven from God's tribunal with a curse, 
 and tormented in hell forever ! Hear 
 their awful and tremendous sentence, 
 '' Depart from me, ye cursed, into ever- 
 lasting fire, prepared for the devil and his 
 angels." This is the last closing scene. 
 The sentence will be executed. This is 
 awful to think of, but much more tremen- 
 dous to experience. 0, my dear children, 
 my bowels yearn over you. I pity your 
 awful condition from my soul. that 
 my head were waters and mine eyes a 
 fountain of tears, that I might weep day 
 and night over the misery of wicked and 
 careless children. 
 
 I shall conclude these important and 
 solemn subjects, by a few remarks, suita- 
 ble to you, my young friends ; to the subject 
 before me, and to the season of the year. 
 1. Death may have been very near to 
 some of you in the past year. Is it so, my 
 young friends ? Does the colour of your 
 garments show that what I say is true ? 
 
274 A WORD IN SEASON ; OR, 
 
 Has not death taken from you a dear com- 
 panion ? Has he not separated from you 
 a beloved schooi-fellow, one who sat near 
 you at school, perhaps on the same bench, 
 or in the same class? But the place is 
 now filled by another. Is it true that you 
 have been deprived of a sister or a brother ? 
 Have you lost a tender father or an affec- 
 tionate mother ? Ah, my young friends, 
 he has also visited me the last week, and 
 snatched from me a beloved child. My 
 feelings and yours are something similar. 
 I can " weep Avith those who weep." 
 Even now I see the tears starting from 
 your eyes. that you may be prepared 
 to die whenever death may come. 
 
 2. I remark that you must all die. 
 When I look into yonder grave-yard, I 
 see many hillocks, many grave-stones : 
 perhaps there may be an open one, which 
 will, ere long, be filled by a cold and life- 
 less body. 
 
 " And must this body die, 
 
 This mortal frame decay 1 
 And must these active limbs of mine 
 
 Lie mouldering in the clayl" 
 
DEATH AND JUDGMENT. 275 
 
 Is it an infant, a child, or a young per- 
 son in the bloom of youth ? Is it one who 
 has seen many summers, and passed 
 through many winters in this vale of 
 tears ? Ah, my young friends, it has been 
 said, Xerxes wept over his vast army of 
 1,000,000 men, to think they would all die 
 within a hundred years. I might weep to 
 think you will not only die in that time, 
 but that your eternal state will be unalter- 
 ably fixed. Before a hundred years are 
 past and gone, you will be happy or mise- 
 rable forever. 
 
 3. Many of you (perhaps I might say, 
 all of you) are unprepared to die. I would 
 not for a thousand worlds say that you 
 may count on many years to come. Long 
 life falls to the lot of very few of Adam's 
 children. The remainder of your days on 
 earth may be but few. What if an angel 
 should come down from heaven, and tell 
 one of you little boys or one of you little 
 girls, that before this year expires, you 
 must die and appear before the bar of 
 God! 
 
276 A WORD IN season; or, 
 
 My dear children, this year is almost 
 closed ; yet near as it is to the end, you 
 may die. I repeat it, before Wednesday 
 next,* an arrow from the bow of death 
 may pierce your heart ! Are you fit to 
 die ? Are you sure of going to heaven, 
 if you should die ? or do you think that 
 you are so sinful that you never can be 
 admitted into that holy and happy place ? 
 
 4. If you are not prepared for the hour 
 of death, how will you be able to stand 
 before God at the day of judgment? 
 What a solemn, awful day it will be to 
 thousands ! I fear that you would give 
 but a sad account of yourselves. How 
 have you spent your time ? What answer 
 will you make when the Judge shall ask a 
 reason for your sinful, wicked conduct in 
 the present world ? 
 
 5. Remember that " we must all appear 
 before the judgment-seat of Christ." We 
 must all be there ! The small and great 
 must stand before God. Your parents 
 
 * New-year's day. 
 
DEATH AND JUDGMENT. 277 
 
 and friends, your brothers and sisters 
 must be there. God forbid that I should 
 be a witness against you at that day. 
 However painful the thought may be to 
 me now, yet it must be so. I must declare 
 before all the world, before angels and 
 men, that I have solemnly warned you of 
 your danger. Your conscience tells you 
 so at this moment : but at the day of judg- 
 ment it will speak in a much louder voice 
 and in a more unwelcome tone. * Prepare 
 to meet your God !' * Flee from the wrath 
 to come.' Jesus waits to receive you in 
 his arms, — 
 
 " And he can make a dying bed 
 Feel soft as downy pillows are." 
 
 God is waiting to be gracious. Let me 
 entreat you, let me beg of you, let me 
 persuade you, to seek for pardon and a 
 new heart. If you value your own souls; 
 if you wish to be happy when you die ; 
 if you wish a crown of glory and eternal 
 joy, think on what I have said ; think on 
 what you have now heard. that you 
 
 24 
 
278 A WORD IN season; or, 
 
 were wise, that you understood these 
 things ; that you would consider your 
 latter end. 
 
 6. Adore the goodness and mercy of 
 God in sparing you another year. How 
 has the year been spent? In what manner 
 have the months, the weeks, and the days 
 been employed? What have you been 
 doing all your life-time ? 
 
 " Can you give for every day 
 Some good account at lastl" 
 
 What do you think ? Are not some of 
 you weary of attending to this disagreeable 
 and melancholy subject? It is a serious 
 thing to die, and very awful indeed if you 
 are unprepared for death. 
 
 " Oft as the bell, with solemn toll, 
 Speaks the departure of a soul : 
 Let each one ask himself, ' Am I 
 Prepared, should I be called to die 1 
 
 " Only this frail and fleeting breath 
 Preserves me from the jaws of death; 
 Soon as it fails, at once I'm gone, 
 And plunged into a world unknown. 
 
DEATH AND JUDGMENT. 279 
 
 "Then, leaving all I loved below, 
 To God's tribunal I must go ; 
 Must hear the Judge pronounce my fate, 
 And fix my everlasting state. 
 
 *' But could I bear to hear him say, 
 
 'Depart, ye cursed, far away; 
 With Satan, in the lowest hell. 
 Thou art forever doomed to dwell.' 
 
 "Lord Jesus! help me now to flee 
 And fix my hopes alone on Thee : 
 Apply thy blood, thy Spirit give. 
 Subdue my sin and in me live. 
 
 "Then when the solemn bell I hear, 
 If saved from guilt, I need not fear. 
 Nor would the thought distressing be, 
 Perhaps it next may toll for me." 
 
280 THE missionary's farewell. 
 
 LECTURE XIII. 
 
 The Missionary's Farewell. 
 1 John ii. 18. — ^^ Little children^ it is the last time. 
 
 ii 
 
 My dear young friends, 
 
 Amidst a multitude of preparations 
 and a variety of pressing engagements, I 
 have taken this opportunity of bidding 
 you farewell. I am now about to close 
 my public labours among the young in 
 this part of the world. In a few days I 
 shall sail for India, where there are thou- 
 sands of children who never heard of 
 Jesus, of God, of heaven or hell. 
 
 "How do I pity those that dwell 
 
 Where ignorance and darkness reigns; 
 They know no heaven, they fear no hell, 
 Those endless joys, those endless pains." 
 
 That I shall see you again in this world 
 is at present uncertain. I had taken my 
 farewell of you once before; but God, 
 
THE xMISSIONARY's FAREWELL. 281 
 
 whose ways are not like ours, brought 
 me back agam, I hope for your good: 
 yes, my dear young friends, I hope there 
 are those before me who will have reason 
 to bless God for my return. When I 
 consider that, since I landed the second 
 time in this city, more than a thousand 
 children have heard of Jesus; and that 
 on my way and while in the city of New 
 York, I preached to more than three 
 thousand different children ; I am con- 
 strained to say that surely I have not 
 laboured in vain, nor spent my strength 
 for naught. God has said, that his word 
 shall not return unto him void, but that it 
 shall accomplish the thing whereunto he 
 hath sent it. 
 
 My dear young friends, as it is the last 
 time, I hope you will be attentive. The 
 salvation of your souls lies very near 
 my heart ; death may come, and your 
 ears may never again hear the sound of 
 the preacher's voice addressing you from 
 this sacred place. You may not hear 
 such instructions any more. I have read 
 
 24"* 
 
282 THE missionary's farewell. 
 
 of a missionary who went to preach to 
 the heathen. They were displeased, they 
 would not listen to him, and were going 
 to murder him. He told them how cruel 
 and unkind it was in them to endeavour 
 to take away the life of a man who had 
 them all in his heart, at the same time 
 opening his bosom, where he had con- 
 cealed a small looking-glass. The savages 
 came, they saw their faces in the glass ; 
 they were surprised and really thought 
 that what he said was true. This glass 
 was indeed the means of turning aside 
 their hatred, and saved the life of the mis- 
 sionary. Ah, my dear children, could 
 you see my heart, could you at all times 
 know my thoughts, you would see and 
 think that the salvation of your souls 
 mounts above every thought. All other 
 things seem to me of little importance. 
 
 Remember how I have been with you 
 at all seasons, and have taught you pub- 
 licly and from school to school. You 
 have heard my prayers, seen my anxiety, 
 witnessed my tears. I have visited you 
 
THE missionary's FAREWELL. 283 
 
 when sick, and instructed you when in 
 health. Many a weary step have I walk- 
 ed, to tell you of Jesus and remind you of 
 the time appointed for the monthly lecture. 
 Yes, my young friends, I may say, that 
 " I have not shunned to declare unto you 
 the whole counsel of God." Neither 
 summer's heat, nor winter's cold, have 
 kept me back from endeavouring to do 
 you good. that the Lord may bless 
 my feeble efforts, and the instructions be 
 remembered and read with gratitude and 
 pleasure. 
 
 " I pray that you may early prove 
 The Spirit's power to teach ; 
 You cannot be too young to love 
 That Jesus whom I preach." 
 
 I. As this is the last time, there are 
 some important things which I hope you 
 will consider. You have been told, that 
 there is a God who made all things, the 
 heavens over your heads and the earth 
 under your feet ; the sun, moon and stars 
 are the work of his hand ; he made the 
 fowls of the air, the fishes of the sea, and 
 
284 THE missionary's farewell. 
 
 the beasts of the field. God created you. 
 He formed your bodies from th© dust of 
 the earth, and breathed into them "the 
 breath of hfe." 
 
 He requires that you should love him 
 with all your heart, and serve him with 
 all your strength ; that you should obey 
 all his commands, and at all times fear to 
 offend him. You ought to say, and every 
 good child will say, 
 
 " My heart shall be in pain to hear 
 Children affront the Lord above ; 
 'Tis that great God whose power I fear, 
 That heavenly Father whom I love." 
 
 You are all sinners, young in years, but 
 old in sin. While you live in sin, you are 
 enemies to God. You cannot go to hea- 
 ven if you die in sin, but must be cast 
 into hell, together with all those that for- 
 get God. 
 
 You are all in danger of eternal misery 
 in hell ; because the wrath of God will 
 be revealed from heaven against all un- 
 godliness and unrighteousness of men 
 You have been warned to flee from thf) 
 
THE missionary's FAREWELL. 285 
 
 wrath to come ; but you have despised the 
 warning. The Lord has called, and you 
 liave refused; he has stretched out his 
 hand, but you regarded it not. You have 
 set at naught all his counsels and would 
 have none of his reproof. The Lord also 
 will laugh at your calamity and mock 
 when your fear cometh ; when your fear 
 cometh as a desolation and your destruc- 
 tion as a whirlwind : when distress and 
 anguish come upon you, then you shall 
 call, but he will not answer; you shall 
 seek the Lord early, but shall not find him, 
 because you hated knowledge and did not 
 choose the fear of the Lord. 
 
 If you, by reason of sin, are in danger 
 of eternal misery, where will you find a 
 refuge from the v/rath of God? He is 
 angry with you every day. Jesus alone 
 can save you ; his love to sinners caused 
 him to make himself an offering for sin. 
 His blood was shed for the remission of 
 sins. His arms are open to receive you. 
 " Him that cometh unto me," saith Jesus, 
 " I will in no wise cast out." pleasing, 
 
286 THE missionary's farewell. 
 
 delightful words, " in no loise cast out." 
 Though your sins exceed the number of 
 the stars of heaven, or the sands on the 
 sea shore, he will not refuse to pardon 
 them. Come then, my dear young friends, 
 come to Jesus, and he will not send you 
 away. that you may seek him early, 
 and find him precious to your souls. Re- 
 member, there is no one, either in hea- 
 ven or earth, that can save you, but Jesus. 
 Trust in him; plead his merits, his suf- 
 ferings and death ; and trust in him 
 for the salvation of your souls, for a 
 place in heaven aud an unfading crown 
 of glory. 
 
 Your hearts are wicked ; yes, they are 
 deceitful above all things, and desperately 
 wicked. " He that trusteth to his own 
 heart," says Solomon, " is a fool ;" there- 
 fore, trust in the Lord with all thine heart 
 and lean not to thine own understanding. 
 Keep your hearts with all diligence, for 
 out of them are the issues of life. Your 
 hearts of stone must be changed to hearts 
 of flesh. 
 
THE missionary's FAREWELL. 287 
 
 "True, you are young, but there's a stone 
 Within the youngest breast. 
 Or half the crimes that you have done 
 Would rob you of your rest." 
 
 While you have wicked hearts, you can- 
 not do any thing that is good. There is 
 none that doeth good. All your actions 
 ■will be sinful ; you will not love God ; 
 you cannot bear to hear of death or judg- 
 ment, heaven or hell ; every thing that is 
 serious will be disagreeable to you : but 
 without a new heart, without you are 
 made new creatures, without holiness, 
 none shall see the Lord. 
 
 Another important truth is, that you 
 cannot change your own heart; you 
 cannot be good of yourselves. God must 
 make you good, and he can do it, and will 
 do it, if you pray to him. He will give 
 you his Holy Spirit, if you ask him for it. 
 Therefore remember that the Holy Spirit 
 alone can renew your hearts : he can make 
 you see what great sinners you have been 
 against God. Remember that the eye of 
 God is always upon you ; that you are 
 
288 THE missionary's farewell. 
 
 accountable to him for all you think, say, 
 or do. He has taken notice of your con- 
 duct while you have been in this house. 
 " Keep thy foot," says Solomon, " when 
 thou goest to the house of God, and be 
 more ready to hear than to give the sa- 
 crifice of fools; for they consider not 
 that they do evil." God knows all the 
 lectures you have heard, all the hymns 
 you have sung, all the instructions you 
 have received ; he knows all the sermons 
 you have heard ; yes, for every word that 
 you have heard, you must give an account 
 at the last day. God will judge the 
 secrets of men ; he will bring every work 
 into judgment, with every secret thing, 
 whether it be good or whether it be evil. 
 
 II. As this is the last time, I will 
 endeavour to give you some advice, which 
 I hope you will remember. 
 
 Hate sin of every kind, in every shape. 
 Flee youthful lusts. Abstain from the 
 very appearance of evil. think of 
 the consequences of sin ; it caused God to 
 deluge the world with a flood of water. 
 
THE missionary's FAREWELL. 289 
 
 It caused God to rain, from heaven, fire 
 and brimstone upon the cities of Sodom 
 and Gomorrah, and destroy all the cities 
 of the plain with a fiery flood. Sin opened 
 the bottomless pit, and kindled those flames 
 which will never be quenched. But, 
 what is more still, sin was the cause of all 
 the suflerings of the Son of God. Sin will 
 ruin your souls and plunge them into eter- 
 nal misery. 
 
 Begin and end every day with prayer 
 to God. Pray frequently, earnestly and 
 sincerely. In every trial and distress, seek 
 the Lord by prayer ; pour all your sorrows 
 into his bosom, cast your burden upon him, 
 for he careth for you. How can you go 
 out in the morning without prayer to God.^ 
 You cannot protect yourselves from dan- 
 ger. You cannot preserve your souls 
 from sin. Never lie down in your beds 
 before you have begged the protection of 
 Him whose arm is almighty. How can 
 you close your eyes to sleep, when you 
 know not but that you may not wake be- 
 fore the morning of the day of judgment? 
 
 25 
 
290 THE missionary's farewell. 
 
 Always speak the truth. Do not tell a 
 lie even in jest. Remember the punish- 
 ment of Gehazi. Think of the awful 
 death of Ananias and his wife Sapphira. 
 God could strike you dead, when you tell 
 stories, as easily as he did them. " There- 
 fore, because there is wrath, beware, lest 
 he take thee away with a stroke, and then 
 a great ransom shall not deliver thee.'* 
 
 " O may you always watch your lips, 
 Lest you be struck to death and hell ; 
 Since God a book of reckoning keeps, 
 For every lie that children tell." 
 
 Love God: love him for his goodness; 
 love him for his mercy. Love the 
 Saviour : love him for what he has done 
 for you, for what he is now doing for you, 
 and love him for what he has promised to 
 do for you. 
 
 Be not careless about the eternal wel- 
 fare of your soul, nor inattentive to the 
 instructions of your teachers. Forget not 
 God in your mirth. Indulge not angry 
 words. A soft answer turneth away 
 wrath, but grievous words stir up anger. 
 
THE missionary's FAREWELL. 291 
 
 Despise not that which is good. Swear 
 not at all. Bless, and curse not. Let 
 your communications be yea, yea, and 
 nay, nay. Think not to hide any of your 
 sins, for be sure your sins will find you 
 out. 0, my dear young friends, seek the 
 Lord while he may be found, call upon 
 him while he is near. Let not your good- 
 ness be like the morning cloud or early 
 dew, which soon passeth away. Keep 
 thy tongue from evil and thy lips from 
 speaking guile. Depart from evil and do 
 good ; seek peace and pursue it, because 
 the eyes of the Lord are upon the right- 
 eous, and his ears are open unto their cry. 
 taste and see that the Lord is good ; 
 blessed is the man that trusteth in him. 
 
 in. As this is the last time, I will 
 remind you of some duties which you 
 ought to perform. 
 
 Obedience to parents. Children, obey 
 your parents in all things, for this is well 
 pleasing unto the Lord. Honour thy 
 father and thy mother, that thy days may 
 be long in the land which the Lord thy 
 
292 THE MISSIONARY S FAREWELL. 
 
 God giveth thee. Love your brothers and 
 sisters ; be kind to them all ; do all you can 
 to assist them ; teach them and pray for 
 them. Pay the greatest respect to the 
 aged ; take heed of mocking and despising 
 gray hairs. Thou shalt rise up before the 
 hoary head and shalt honour the old man, 
 saith the Lord. Remember the punish- 
 ment of those children that mocked 
 Elisha. 
 
 •' When children, in their wanton play, 
 Served old Elisha so ; 
 And bade the prophet go his way, 
 * Go up, thou bald head, go :' 
 
 God quickly stopped their wicked breath* 
 
 And sent two raging bears, 
 That tore them limb from limb to death, 
 
 With blood and groans and tears." 
 
 Read good books, but above all read 
 the Holy Scriptures. Read them every 
 day. love the Bible, for it is the best 
 of all books. Follow its directions, make 
 it your guide in every difficulty, make 
 it your companion in all your travels; 
 never make a voyage on the water or a 
 
THE missionary's FAREWELL. 293 
 
 journey on land without that precious book. 
 Remember that the Bible is full of truth ; 
 it is excellent in all its parts. 
 
 " Precious Book, of books the best, 
 Dearest gift of God but one. 
 That surpasses all the rest, 
 Gift of God's beloved Son." 
 
 Read it for instruction ; it contains hea- 
 venly wisdom. The Bible will impress 
 your minds, renew your hearts, enlighten 
 your understandings, regulate your con- 
 duct, guide your actions, influence the 
 choice of all your companions in life. It 
 will increase your happiness here and 
 hereafter. The more you read it, the 
 more you will love it. It will be your 
 support at death. then, my dear child- 
 ren, do not forget to search the Scriptures, 
 for they show the way to eternal life 
 through Jesus Christ, and bear witness 
 that he is the only Saviour of sinners. 
 
 IV. As this is the last time, I will 
 mention some blessings which I hope you 
 will enjoy. The best of all blessings is a 
 
 new heart. This, God will give you if 
 
 25* ■ 
 
294 THE missionary's farewell. 
 
 you ask him. Without this blessing you 
 cannot be happy; without a new heart 
 you cannot enter heaven. 
 
 The next blessing which I hope you 
 will enjoy is, the teaching of the Holy 
 Spirit. If you have him for your Teacher, 
 you will be happy indeed. 
 
 Another blessing is, the love of Christ. 
 If you love Jesus, he will love you, God 
 will love you, angels will love you, good 
 men will love you. If you are made the 
 partakers of the grace of God, and taught 
 by the Holy Spirit to see the evil of sin 
 and your need of a Saviour, then I hope 
 you will enjoy the pardon of sin : God is 
 able, and will pardon you all for Christ's 
 sake. Then, instead of a guilty conscience, 
 instead of being afraid to die, you will 
 long to go to heaven, and dwell with God 
 and Jesus Christ, with all the holy angels, 
 and all the good children that are there? 
 forever and ever. 
 
 that you may enjoy all the pleasures 
 of early piety ; that you may seek the 
 Lord early and find him. You will never 
 
THE missionary's FAREWELL. 295 
 
 repent of begiuning to serve the Lord too 
 soon. 
 
 " You can't too early serve the Lord, 
 Nor learn too soon his fear ; 
 Nor prize too much his precious word, 
 Or praise his name too dear." 
 
 Remember now thy Creator in the days 
 of thy youth. Now is your accepted 
 time, now is the day of your salvation. 
 The ways of the Lord are ways of plea- 
 santness, and all his paths are paths of 
 peace. that you may enjoy all the 
 blessings of the gospel, all the comforts of 
 religion while you live, and eternal glory 
 in the world to come. If therefore you 
 wish to be happy, let me entreat you to 
 be good. Think of these things. You must 
 die ; but when, you cannot tell, and if you 
 die before you are partakers of the bless- 
 ings I have now mentioned, you will be 
 miserable forever. 
 
 V. As this is the last time, there is one 
 thing that I must warn you of. I shall 
 not see you any more in this world. I 
 shall see you again in the world to come. 
 
296 THE MISSIONARY S FAREWELL. 
 
 I shall see you at the last day, at the bar 
 of God. Remember this ; there we shall 
 meet again. Ah, my dear children, shall 
 I see any of you at the left hand of the 
 Judge ? Shall I see any of the children 
 that have attended these lectures driven 
 down to hell ? Shall I hear the Judge 
 pronounce that awful sentence, " Depart 
 from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, 
 prepared for the devil and his angels ?" 
 painful thought ! God forbid that any of 
 you should still remain careless and wick- 
 ed, and at that day be doomed to eternal 
 misery. Let it not be. Seek the Lord 
 while he may be found ; flee from the 
 wrath to come ; pray for a new heart and 
 the pardon of your sins. Remember that 
 you must all stand before the judgment- 
 seat of Christ ; you must give an account 
 of the deeds done in the body. that I 
 may see you at the right hand of the 
 Judge ; that I may meet you with joy in 
 heaven above. Remember that eternal 
 misery will be the portion of wicked child- 
 ren. 
 
THE missionary's FAREWELL. 297 
 
 And now, my dear children, farewelL 
 May you fare well now, while you are 
 young. God hath said. Say ye to the 
 righteous, that it shall be well with him ; 
 for they eat the fruit of their doings. Wo 
 unto the wicked ; it shall be ill with him, 
 the reward of his hands shall be given 
 him. 
 
 May you fare well when on your knees 
 at a throne of grace. May you fare well 
 when you read the Holy Scriptures. May 
 you fare well when you are laid on a bed 
 of afHiction. When pain and anguish 
 come upon you, then may God support 
 you ; may you find comfort in trusting to 
 his promises and relying on his mercy ; 
 may his arms support you while walking 
 through the dark valley of the shadow 
 of death ; then may you fear no evil. 
 May it be well with you at your dying 
 hour. that you may leave the world 
 with joy, and enter on that glorious rest 
 above in a triumphant manner. May it 
 be well with you at the day of judgment, 
 when you stand before the great white 
 
298 THE missionary's farewell. 
 
 throne. that it may be well with you, 
 and may you hear the Judge of all say, 
 *' Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit 
 the kingdom prepared for you from the 
 foundation of the world." Then shall 
 you receive a harp of gold and a crown 
 of glory, which shall be the reward of all 
 that serve God and love his Son Jesus. 
 There you will be forever before the 
 throne of God, and dwell in his presence, 
 where is fulness of joy, and at his right 
 hand, where are pleasures forevermore. 
 
 It has been suggested to me, by a pious 
 friend, to appoint a certain day in every 
 year, for you to think of the instructions 
 that you have heard, and to pray for the 
 little children in India. In order that you 
 may remember, I shall, on the first day 
 OF May, in every year, set apart some 
 portion of that day to think of and pray 
 to God for the little children in America, 
 and for you who have attended these 
 monthly lectures in particular. Then will 
 I plead with God, that he may bless you 
 
THE missionary's FAREWELL. 299 
 
 and cause his face to shine upon you, and 
 that he will enable you to remember the 
 instructions that you have heard. And I 
 hope you will, on that day, pray for me, 
 that I may be made useful to the dear 
 children in that part of the world. It may 
 not be amiss for you, on that day, to read 
 this Farewell Address ; it will help to put 
 you in remembrance of what you have 
 heard. 
 
 And now, my dear children, once more 
 I bid yo\x farewell. When we meet again, 
 may it be in heaven. May God be your 
 God, your guide even unto death. May 
 he be your Father and Friend ; may Jesus 
 be your Saviour ; may the Holy Spirit be 
 your Teacher; may the Bible be your 
 treasure and delight ; may heaven be 
 your eternal home, and everlasting happi- 
 ness your endless reward. Amen. 
 
 "Come, children, hail the Prince of Peace, 
 Obey the Saviour's call : 
 Come, seek his face and taste his grace, 
 And crown him Lord of all. 
 
300 THE missionary's farewell. 
 
 " Ye lambs of Christ, your tribute bring, 
 Ye children, great and small ; 
 Hosannas sing to Christ your King, 
 O ! crown him Lord of all. 
 
 " This Jesus will your sins forgive ; 
 For you he drank the gall, 
 For you he died, that you might live, 
 To crown him Lord of all. 
 
 " Let every little girl and boy 
 Who dwell upon this ball. 
 Their tongues employ, with songs of joy, 
 And crown him Lord of all. 
 
 " Ye angels, round his throne unite. 
 While we before him fall ; 
 Ye saints, assist with all your might. 
 To crown him Lord of all. 
 
 *♦ Let all these children. Lord, be thine, 
 When saved from Satan's thrall ; 
 Then we shall meet, at Jesus* feet, 
 To crown him Lord of all." 
 
 THE END. 
 
 H 55- 78 li 
 

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