^•y 
 
UNIVERSITY OF 
 NORTH CAROUNA 
 
 School o f Library 
 
 Sctetk«e 
 
THE 
 
 S I JM P L E FLOWER. 
 
 ■( r- 
 
 WITH ALTERATIONS AND ADDITIONS, 
 ADAPTING IT TO THE OENERAL PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL BtTNDAY 
 
 SCHOOL UNION. 
 
 
 " She had pictured to herself such a cotUige as she had seen near 
 her father's grouL.ls." 
 
 NEW-YORK: 
 
 PUBLISHED BY THE GEN. PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL 
 
 SUNUAY SCHOOL 
 
 u N I o ri. 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2012 with funding from 
 
 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 
 
 http://archive.org/details/simpleflowerOOchar 
 
THE 
 
 SIMPLE FLOWER. 
 
 " These sweet little flowers thrive every v/here," 
 said Emma, as she walked with her mother through 
 the pleasure grounds of their beautiful residence, 
 and stopped to admire the modest heart's-ease peep- 
 ing out from the long grass on a shady bank. 
 
 " They do indeed, my dear," replied her Mamma ; 
 " and they furnish us with a lovely emblem of that 
 contentment which with godliness is great gain, 
 which knows how to abound and how to suffer 
 need; and can glorify the Giver of all good under 
 the most afflictive dispensations." 
 
 Mrs. Merton said this with much feeling, and 
 Emma heard her sigh as she concluded : she would 
 have sighed also if she had known thai they were 
 about to leave the pleasant scenes of her childhood, 
 and to exchange the wealth to which they had long 
 been accustomed, for an income just sufficient to 
 support them above actual want. 
 
 Of this Emma was still ignorant, and she went 
 on praising her favorite flower. 
 
 " See, Mamma, how simple and pretty it looks in 
 this retired spot, as much at home among the grass 
 aad moss as a daisy would be : and yet how ele- 
 gint it appears in the flower garden j^onder, border- 
 ing the beds, and sprmkled up and down, where 
 
4 THE SIMPLE FLOWER. 
 
 the gay blossoms grow, with its colors of blue and 
 gold, as bright as the fairest among tiiem. O, it 
 thrives every where !" 
 
 Mrs. M. Yes, Emma, it will flourish in every 
 soil, rich and poor; and it will adorn every station, 
 high and low : it bears transplanting well, and en- 
 dures the change of seasons better than any flower 
 I am acquainted with. So that, if plants were capa- 
 ble of reason, and acted from its dictates, we might 
 say this little shrub fairly merited the partiality 
 with which you regard it. 
 
 Emma was delighted to hear her choice com- 
 mended by her dear Mamma; she gathered one of 
 the blossoms, and kissing it with great affection, 
 tripped along, exclaiming " O, my pretty heart's- 
 ease, how I do love you !" 
 
 The next morning Emma appeared at breakfast 
 with a great number of these ilowers, and said to 
 her Mother, ^' I have been trying to iiad two of them 
 marked exactly ahke, but J cannot — I discover some 
 little variety in every one, that seems to distinguish 
 it from its fellows. Is not that odd, Mamma?" 
 
 M:s. M. Not more strange, my dear, than the 
 difference that you see in the faces of your ac- 
 quaintance. There are many hundred millions of 
 iiuman countenances in the world, and probably 
 not two among them that perfectly resemble each 
 other. 
 
 "Well," said En^ma, "that Drings my flower 
 nearer to ourselves in its character j and I am 
 
THE SIMPLE IFLOWEft. 5 
 
 determined to rank it first and best among all the 
 flowers of the garden." 
 
 " Take care you do not become too partial, Em- 
 ma," replied her Mamma, smiling ; " but I must 
 confess it has often struck me, that among plants 
 the heart's-ease is what the children of God are 
 among mankind." 
 
 '' I think so too," said Emma, " for the children 
 of God are humble, and lov/ly, and contented, and 
 beautiful." 
 
 " In their lives and characters certainly beauti- 
 ful," continued Mrs. Merton ; "and their works 
 done in faith and humility, with their sacrifices of 
 prayer and praise, when presented through the 
 Saviour's mediation, ascend as a sweet-smelling 
 incense before the Lord." 
 
 " Mamma," exclaimed Emma earnestly, " I wish 
 to be like the heart's-ease." 
 
 Mrs. M. It is my prayer that you may be what 
 we are describing, my child ; but without the grace 
 of God you cannot become so. 
 
 Emma. In some things, Mamm^a, I am even now 
 a little like— for instance, I am very contented. 
 
 Mrs. M. Have you met vv^ith any temptation to 
 be otherwise, my dear? 
 
 Emma. yes, very often. I have suffered a 
 great many disappointments. It sometimes rains 
 hard when I have set my whole heart on going out ; 
 and I see several things that I should like very much 
 to have, but cannot get them ; — beside you know 
 1* 
 
6 THE SIMPLE FLOTVER. 
 
 rny canary bird died last spring, and my litt!e 
 pnppy was lost, and the gardener pulled up my moss- 
 rose tree. Then when ra}^ new bonnet came home, 
 what an ugly shape it had ! and I must w^ear it all 
 the summer and autumn. I assure you, Mamma, 
 if I did not look on the best side of every thing, 
 and try to be very contented, I should be a most 
 unhappy little girl — that is, I don't mean to praise 
 my^ejf"' — seeing her mother look grave — "nor to 
 complain, as if mine was a hard case ; but I am 
 quite sure from my bearing small troubles so well, 
 that I could be very resigned under greater mis- 
 fortunes." 
 
 Mrs. M. I hope we shall both have the grace of 
 resignation imparted to us, Emma, since we are 
 about to suffer adversity. 
 
 " Adversity. Mamma ! you suffer adversity ! 0, I 
 hope not, indeed" — and she ran to her mother, and 
 looked up in her face with great anxiety. Mrs. Mer- 
 ton kissed her affectionately and said, '• We shall 
 yet have much to be very thankful for, Emma ; food 
 and raiment, and a comfortable shelter : but the 
 mercantile house to which the chief part of my 
 fortune was intrusted has failed, and we miust leave 
 this abode, dismiss our servants, and retire to a very 
 humble cottage, such as the widow Smith lives in. 
 Can you bear transplanting like the heart's-ease, 
 Emma?" 
 
 The little girl was too much confused by this 
 unexpected intelligence, to give anv answer. She 
 
THE SIMPLE FLOWER. ¥ 
 
 looked around her at the pleasant room in which she 
 hnd so long been happy; stole a glance tliroughthe 
 window at the garden, then turned her eyes upon 
 her mother, and began to cry. 
 
 " Those tears are natural." said Mrs. Merton, 
 " but we must not indulge in selfish grief. I have 
 a painful task before me, to break these tidings to 
 my household, who have served me so faithfully, 
 and who must now earn tlieir bread elsewhere. 
 Come, Emma, we will first seek for comfort 
 where alone it is to be found ; in all miseries and 
 distress, it is the best wisdom to go to that friend 
 who is most near, most willing, and most able to 
 help us ; such a friend is God : and then in the 
 strength that will be given us from above, we will 
 make the necessary preparations for leaving this 
 sweet home. Experience will teach ns this great 
 truth, that the grace of an Almighty Saviour alone 
 can triumph over all troubles, and disappointments, 
 and adversities, and when human expectations and 
 human aids are at their lowest ebb, can roll in a 
 tide of joy which shall never retire or fail through- 
 out eternity." 
 
 They went to Mrs. Merton's dressing room, and 
 there they prayed that He who had taught them to 
 serve him in prosperity, would keep them patient 
 and cheerful in adversity, and cause all things to 
 work together for good to them. The servants 
 were then informed of the change in their lady's 
 circumstances, thanked for their fidelity, and ad- 
 
B THE SirviPLE FLOWEfi. 
 
 vised to seek other situations. Emma stood by he? 
 mother's side with downcast eyes, and a full heart, 
 while each of the domestics in turn received the 
 thanks and admonitions of a mistress, who in her 
 conduct toward them had never forgotten that she 
 likewise had a Master in heaven : and had rendered 
 to them what was just and equal, caring for their 
 souls, and watching over their conduct as every 
 real Christian master or mistress will do toward 
 all who are brought under their direction. 
 
 By giving up the house immediately Mrs. Merton 
 was enabled to oblige the person into whose hands 
 it came ; and having formed no establishment of his 
 own, he was glad to continue the servants in it; so 
 that Emma and her Mamma, and one young girl, 
 an orphan, who was kept to do the v/ork of the 
 cottage to which they v/ere going, prepared to leave 
 the house in three or four days. 
 
 Sad days these vrere to poor Emma — she strug- 
 gled hard to appear cheerful in her mother's pre- 
 sence, from a dread of adding to her trials ; but 
 whenever she could escape to the pleasure grounds, 
 she wandered about, indulging herself in the most 
 extravagant regret, and suffering melancholy to 
 overpower her mind : she did not pray to be de- 
 livered from over-much sorrow ; she did not reflect 
 that the sorrow of the Vv'orld worketh death ; but 
 finding a sort of pleasure in being extremely miser- 
 able, without considering that it was a reproach 
 to Him who had permitted this distress to come 
 
THE StMPLE FLOWER. S 
 
 upon her family, she roamed about, taking a long 
 leave of every spot, and increasing her regret, while 
 her mother was seeking in prayer to have her affec- 
 tions more entirely drawn from things on earth, and 
 more steadily set on those above. Emma thought 
 her grief very natural, and the indulgence of it quite 
 innocent; but our corrupt nature requires to be 
 watched, and its inclinations often checked : wdiile 
 nothing is really innocent that unfits us for the per- 
 formance of our daily duties, or makes it to appear 
 that the dealings of God toward us are hard and, 
 severe. 
 
 By a strange contradiction, the more Emma dif-^: 
 fered from her favorite flower, the more she loved 
 and mourned over it. She employed herself in. 
 carrying roots of it to every spot where it had not 
 yet fixed itself, and in this foolish occupation,, 
 wasted many hours that might have been devoted^ 
 to consoling her poor mother, and to improving this- 
 afflictive trial to her own advantage. ' It is only 
 for a few days,' thought Emma: but in these few 
 days she acquired a taste for idling, that weeks and- 
 months of application could scarcely overcome. 
 
 At length the day arrived when they were to bid 
 farewell to this spot ; and very early in the morning 
 both mother and daughter took a last survey of the- 
 garden and shrubbery. Neither was inclined to 
 speak. Emma carefully dug up several roots of 
 heart's-ease and deposited them in her little basket,, 
 gimong moss and grass, for the purpose of adorning; 
 
10 THE SIMPLE FLOWER. 
 
 her new abode. At last they turned into the walk 
 that led from their grounds across a meadow, by 
 which they could gain the house in a different di- 
 rection. Here Emma abruptly broke silence — 
 " Mamma, shall we never, never come back ?" 
 
 "I shall come back, my dear, probably before 
 you," replied her Mamma in a low voice, and look- 
 ing toward the burying ground, which was at a 
 short distance from whence they stood. 
 
 " O ! Mamma, do let us go to the church-yard," 
 cried Emma, hardly knowing why she wished it, 
 yet feeling as if it would be a relief to her mother, 
 and herself also. 
 
 To the church-yard they went; and bent their 
 steps to the spot where Emma's father lay. A tomb 
 covered his remains, which was railed in ; and the 
 long grass rose around it, and inserted itself between 
 the iron bars. There were rose trees too, growing 
 from little slips, that Mrs. Merton had set there two 
 years before ; and a tall yew tree, hanging its dark 
 boughs over the tomb, gave a solemn and a beauti- 
 ful effect to the scene. 
 
 Emma felt composed by it, but lamented her selfish 
 indulgence when she heard the deep sobs bursting 
 from the bosom of her mother, to whom this spot 
 was dearer than all that the house and garden con - 
 tained ; and she set herself to repair the mischief 
 that she seemed to have done, by speaking comfort 
 to her mother in her way. 
 
 "Mamma, we ought to be very thankful even for 
 
THE SIMPLE FLOWER. 11 
 
 the poor cottage we are going to, when we think what 
 a small, dark, lonely dwelling papa has got here." 
 
 Mrs. M. My love, we should be thankful for 
 every thing, since all is mercy far above our 
 deserts ; but I should be sorry indeed to consider 
 this as your papa's dwelling. 
 
 Emma. Why, is he not shut up there ? 
 
 Mrs. M. The earthly tabernacle of his body is 
 mouldering there, my Emma ; but he himself is 
 now clothed with immortality and dwelling in a 
 building of God, a house not made with hands, 
 eternal in the heavens. ' Better is the day of death 
 than the day of one's birth,' is the word of Scripture. 
 Better every v/ay. With our birth begin our 
 sufferings : our death ends them : our birth enters 
 the best of men into a world, a wilderness : our 
 death enters the good into a world of glory. 
 
 " And we know that he is in heaven, because he 
 was so good," added Emma. 
 
 " We know ihat he is in heaven," replied her 
 Mother, " because the Lord Jesus Christ has said, 
 ' He that believeth in me hath everlasting life.' 
 ' Though he were dead, yet shall he live,' W^e are 
 well assured that your father's whole trust was 
 placed in Him, who is the resurrection and the 
 life : and far, indeed, he was from accoimting him- 
 self good, or resting any hope whatever on his own 
 merits." 
 
 " But he was good, notwithstanding," said Emma. 
 
 Mrs. M. He was a faithful and a zealous servant 
 
 f 
 
12 THE SIMPLE FLOWER. 
 
 of his heavenly Master, my child ; he was the 
 tenderest, the best of husbands and fathers : he was 
 meek and lowly, yet firm and undaunted in the 
 cause of truth ; never shrinking from a bold con- 
 fession of his faith in his crucified Redeemer, nor 
 abashed by the scorn of those who despised the 
 holy name that he professed : he was a Christian, 
 Emma, in the fullest sense of the word. 
 
 Emma. Yet, Mamma, you seem to tliink he was 
 not good enough to go to heaven. 
 
 " I will tell you," replied Mrs. Merton, " what I 
 heard him say to his sister who came to see him in 
 his last illness, and who judged as you do. She 
 beheld his perfect composure, witnessed his declara- 
 tion of the happiness that he felt in the prospect of 
 soon seeing his Saviour face to face ; and remarked 
 to him, ' I always said that your death would be a 
 happy one, Francis, because you have lived so good 
 a life, and done your duty in every station so well.' 
 Your papa raised his head and replic:L 'Anne, if I 
 had no better hope before me than wh . ne review of 
 my conduct affords, I should say to uio rocks, Fall 
 on me, and to the hills. Cover me. I am a guilty 
 and polluted creature, born in sin, and sinning daily. 
 If I look to the perfect law of God, and hen to my 
 own heort and life, I must cry, ' Wo is me, for I am 
 undone ! But I have an advocate with the Father, 
 Jesus Christ the righteous, who is the pr .pitiation 
 for my sins. His merits, his suffierings, his Llood, 
 his promises, are what I desire to plead : and ft eling 
 
The simple Flower. 13 
 
 that I do rest on him entirely, as the rock of my 
 salvation, I can rejoice with joy unspeakable and 
 full of glory. The hope to which I have fled for 
 refuge is that set before us in the Gospel : and that 
 hope I have, as an anchor of the soul, both sure 
 and steadfast. On Christ is all my dependence; 
 and trusting in him I can never be ashamed.' " 
 
 " Ah !" said Emma, with a sigh, " I wish I under- 
 stood these things better !" 
 
 Mrs. M. God can reveal them to you, my dear : 
 but you must diligently use the means appointed 
 by him, and by prayer and watchfulness render 
 the study of his word effectual to your improve- 
 ment. We must depart, Emma ; and let the visit 
 "we have paid here dwell upon our minds, to 
 moderate the painful feelings which we may 
 experience to-day ; for while looking forward to 
 this lowly resting-place for our bodies, and to an 
 eternal inheritance of heavenly glory for our souls, 
 it will seem a light thing to exchange one earthly 
 abode for another. Trials and afflictions we must 
 expect, in common with all our sinful race ; as a 
 good bishop has expressed it, " Every man hath his 
 turn of sorrow ; whereby, some more, some less, all 
 men are in their times miserable. I never yet could 
 meet with the man that complained not of some- 
 what. Before sorrow come, I will prepare for it ; 
 when it is come, I will welcome it -, when it goes, 
 I will lake but half a farewell of it ; as still expect- 
 ing its leturn." 
 
14 THE SIMPLE FLOWER. 
 
 Mrs. Merton slowly walked away : Emma linger- 
 ed, hastily took a few roots of her plant from the 
 basket, and committed them to the ground, as near 
 the iron railing as she could ; then hastened after 
 her mother, and in a few hours left the home of 
 her infancy. 
 
 It was late before they reached their new abode. 
 Emma had no inclination to examine it closely ; 
 there was a little bare-looking garden behind it, in 
 which she set her plants, and then, fatigued and 
 dissatisfied, retired to rest. 
 
 In the morning her new situation was felt more 
 keenly. Instead of the elegant hangings and dam- 
 ask curtains that adorned her former bed-chamber, 
 she awoke to gaze upon walls simply colored with 
 a blue wash, and plain white dimity window blinds. 
 She had pictured to herself such a cottage as she 
 had seen near her father's grounds, half hid by 
 stately trees, and covered with jessamine and 
 honeysuckle ; but this was a new building, and very 
 little vegetation as yet appeared about it. The gar- 
 den was small, unsheltered and principally stocked 
 with useful herbs and roots, and a few young cur- 
 rant and gooseberry trees. The country around 
 was flat and uninteresting, and as far as Emma 
 could perceive from her window, did not even 
 afford a pleasant shady walk. She continued lean- 
 ing sullenly out at the little casement, until the 
 kind voice of her Mamma from the next room, 
 called her from her meditation. 
 
THE SIMPLE FLOWER. 15 
 
 They joined in prayer as usual, but Emma's mind 
 'was listless and not disposed for devotion. She did 
 not feel the thankfulness that her mother poured 
 forth for the blessings yet spared to them ; and 
 though she thought it lil:ely that the correction 
 might be for their good, as her mamma acknow- 
 ledged it to be; yet she would rather have been 
 without it ; and all those rebellious feelings dwelt 
 unchecked upon her thoughts, while kneeling before 
 the throne of Him who has said, " I know the things 
 that come into your mind, every one of them." 
 
 Emma went down stairs, and in the parlor she 
 found a few geraniums and other plants, which 
 her mother had brought as a relic of their former 
 home : but they only served to remind Emma of 
 the green-house, the parterre, the lawn, the shrub- 
 bery, and the thousand sweet flowers that she was 
 to see no more. She turned from them to the 
 breakfast table, and secretly drew a mortifying 
 compaiison between the china service which she 
 was accustomed to use, and the plain cottage furni- 
 ture before her. All seemed wrong; and in the 
 selfish regret of her own heart, she felt not for her 
 poor mother, whose change of circumstances must 
 have pressed more heavily on her from witnessing 
 the very bad grace with which they were met by 
 her little girl. All was silence, until Mrs. Merton, 
 seeing a poor, crippled child, slowly passing by 
 the garden rails, pointed her out to Emma, who 
 first looked, and then peevishly said, " I suppose we 
 
16 THE SIMPLE FLOWER. 
 
 shall be treated with the sight of such objects every 
 day; we. must have blinds to this little ugly 
 window.-' 
 
 "The sight of such objects, Emma," replied her 
 Mamma, very gravely, " may be useful to curb the 
 discontent and ingratitude of our own hearts." 
 
 Emma felt the reproof, but it only increased her 
 suilenness. 
 
 Mrs. Merton contmued ; " Who made us to differ 
 from the most wretched in body, the most depraved 
 in mind of our fellow-creatures ? Was the alRu- 
 ence to which we were born the recompense of our 
 merits, or the fruit of any claim that we had on Him 
 whose the earth is, and all the fulness thereof? 
 That helpless child, Emma, on whom your delicate 
 eye cannot bear to dwell, has a soul as immortal, as 
 precious in the sight of God, as yours can be : were 
 she suddenly placed in the midst of the comforts 
 that are 3-ct spared to us, how great would be her 
 wonder and thankfulness ! yet upon these mercies 
 I fear you look down with disdain, because j^our 
 inclinations have been gratified in various things, 
 of which the poor have no idea, and without which 
 man}^ a family in easy circumstances is grateful and 
 happy." 
 
 Emma. But, Mamma, is it not natural to feel the 
 loss of these conveniencies, considering one has 
 really been always used to them? 
 
 Mrs. M. It is natural, Emma, to the mind that 
 has never learned to rise above the vain things of 
 
i^ME SIMPLE FLOWER. 1^ 
 
 tliis world; and which regards self-indulgence as 
 the end of its being : but how contrary to the pro- 
 fession of those who acknowledge as the rule of 
 their faith the word which says, ^ If ye live after the 
 flesh ye shall die.' ^Love not the world, neither 
 the things that are in the world; if any man love 
 the world, the love of the Father is not in him.' 
 O my child ! if we would more frequently consider 
 that humbling declaration, ' Dust thou art, and unto 
 dust shalt thou return ;' if we would seriously re- 
 flect how little these human distinctions can avail 
 in the momentous concerns of eternity, we should 
 prize them as mere dross. 
 
 Produced from the earth, for a season we bloom. 
 But short the duration, and certain our doom : 
 "VVe fade as the leaf, in untimely decay, 
 And our sins, like a whirlwind, have swept us away. 
 
 The oak in its beauty, with majesty crown'd, 
 The shrub that but trails its low branch on the ground ; 
 The poisonous weed, and the scent-breathing sweet, 
 Will mingle their foliage in dust at our feet. 
 
 What boots it, O man, though thy station be high, 
 And fortune may shine like a fair summer's sky*? 
 A moment will check the free course of thy breath, 
 And thou must lie down with the poorest in death. 
 
 Alas for thy grandeur ! beneath thee is spread, 
 The worm : — and the worm may pass over thy head ) 
 The song and the revel no more dost thou crave, 
 All hush'd in the silence and gloom of the grave. 
 2* 
 
18 THE SIMPLE FLOWER. 
 
 There are trees that shall bloorii in the regions cf bliss, 
 The Lord is their root, and their beauty is this ; 
 In righteousness planted, they see not decay, 
 When earth and her dwellings shall vanish away. 
 
 O better to spring like a blade from the ground, 
 And humble and lowly, and m.ean to be found : 
 Than high in the world's leafy forest aspire, 
 Prepared for the flc>mes of unquenchable fire ! 
 
 After breakfast, they resumed the business of 
 Emma's education j and while at her lessons, she 
 felt all the bad effects of her late unreasonable 
 wanderings at home : her e3"es roved continually 
 toward the window, "without any real wish to go 
 out. and she was constantly changing her position 
 and longing to vary her employment. Her mother 
 remarked it, and lamented the uneasiness which she 
 witnessed, but knowing that no chastening for the 
 present seemeth joyous, but grievous, she made 
 allowances for the distress of her little girl ; and 
 owned the necessity of the correction which she 
 hoped would in the end yield the peaceable fruits of 
 righteousness. She adored the wisdom and the 
 love by which the secret evil of her child's- heart 
 was thus brought forth to view, and a remedy 
 applied, as she humbly trusted, before it became 
 more deeply rooted. We are often disposed to 
 murmer at afflictions, not knowing what messages 
 of mercy they may be made to bring, nor to what 
 a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory 
 they may point the way. 
 
THE SIMPLE FLOWEH. 19 
 
 M'hileMrs. Merton was indulging these thoughts, 
 and fostering a resigned and thankful spirit, little 
 Emma strolled through the garden, rather as a 
 matter of form, than of inclination, and scarcely 
 turned a look upon her heart's-ease, which seemed 
 to have lost its attractions by becoming a resident 
 in a spot that she so much disliked. Dinner 
 brought a renewal of the comparisons which she 
 had made at the breakfast table; and her IMamma 
 being employed all the evening in writing letters, 
 Emma languidly took out and arranged her little 
 treasuries of books and toys, and went to bed as 
 melancholy as she had risen. 
 
 The next day she made some few attempts to be 
 more cheerful, but without seeking by prayer or 
 serious reflection to impress on her mind the sinful- 
 ness of the repinings in which she had indulged. 
 She was tired of being miserable, and wished to re- 
 cover her usual gayety : but found herself unable t© 
 command her spirits, and unwilling to look up to the 
 only true source of all consolation and happiness. 
 
 In the evening her Mamma accompanied her to 
 the garden ; and after remarking how many useful 
 things were contained in its small space, they stop- 
 ped before the bed where Emma had placed her 
 plants. They were faint and withering, the flowers 
 dead, the leaves drooping and discolored, and all 
 seemed past recovery. 
 
 Emma looked at tliem with something like sul- 
 len satisfaction, and said, " Even heart's-ease will 
 not tlirive here." 
 
ssu The simple flower. 
 
 " Heart's-ease does not thrive here, indeed,^' replied 
 her Mother, "but whose is the fault? The flower 
 cannot support itself, nor exist without the supply 
 of moisture which a very little care would abund- 
 antly furnish it with. I grieve to see your plants 
 drooping thus, Emma, through your neglect ; but, 
 my child, I grieve much more to witness the de- 
 struction of your own peace of mind, overrun by 
 the weeds of discontent and pride, and left unre- 
 freshed by the showers of divine grace, which you 
 no longer seek to call down by prayer and watch^- 
 fulness." 
 
 Emma knew how well she deserved this rebuke ; 
 she blushed, and stammered out, " But, Mamma, the 
 change is so great, and so new — after a little time I 
 shall recover what I have lost." 
 
 Airs. M. Never, Emma, if you neglect the means 
 of grace. You may indeed forget your mortifica- 
 tions, and become reconciled by habit to your new 
 condition ; but as soon shall those flowers bloorft 
 again, without the aid of earth, air, or water, as 
 j^our spirit know the pleasantness of God-s peace, 
 while you indulge all these natural and evil feel- 
 ings, and go on frowardly in the way of your own 
 heart. 
 
 Emma. Why, Mamma, do not you regret the 
 change, and the loss of so many delightful things ? 
 
 Mrs. I\I. Perhaps I do, too much, Emma ; but 1 
 hope the comforts of God's word are not lost upon 
 nie : when the Son of God came to suffer for my 
 
THE SIMPLE FLOWER. 2"! 
 
 sins, he had not where to lay his head : he depended 
 upon the bounty of his disciples for his daily meal, 
 and I confess the view of that cottage, and our com- 
 parative wealth, constrains me to cry out, ' I am 
 not worthy of the least of thy mercies !' Let us go 
 to the Scriptures for comfort. David, the sweet 
 Psalmist of Israel says, ' This is my comfort in 
 my affiction : for thy word hath quickened me.' 
 While performance of the promise of God is 
 delayed, we may be 'rejoicing in hope,' and the 
 promise is our ' comfort in affliction ;' a comfort 
 divine, strong, and lasting ; a comfort that will not, 
 like all others, fail us when we most want it, in the 
 day of sickness, darkness, distress, and at the hour 
 of death ; but will always keep pace with our neces- 
 sities, increasing in proportion as the pleasures of 
 the world decrease, and then becommg complete 
 when they are no more. So powerful is the word 
 of God to revive us, when dead either in sins or in 
 sorrows — ' Thy word hath quickened me.' 
 
 "Mamma," said Emma, "I now see that I have 
 been very wrong. I boasted that I was like the 
 heart's-ease, and could be contented any where ; 
 but now, both my flowers and myself are perishing 
 through my sinful temper. I will remedy this mis- 
 chief ;" — and she ran to fetch water, and poured it 
 plentifully over the fading leaves. " Now," said she, 
 " they will recover, and you shall see how different 
 a child I shall become." 
 
 But the poor plants had been neglected too long : 
 
22 THE SIMPLE FL0W£R. 
 
 they continued to wither, and Emma soon had the 
 mortification to see them quite dead. Nor was this 
 her worst troul)lo, for she found that the Lord will 
 sometimes hide his eyes from those who have 
 rejected his counsel, and who would none of his 
 reproof. She was left, for a time, to suffer the 
 greatest distress of mind ; and when looking upon 
 the yellow leaves of her heart's-ease, she would ask 
 herself with secret dread, ' What, if the Lord should 
 leave me to perish also, and never more revive me 
 with the dew of his mercy !' 
 
 How gladly now would Emma have changed the 
 cottage so lately despised for the poorest hovel in 
 the land, if by so doing she could have regained 
 that sweet confidence which she oiice felt in ap- 
 proaching the throne of grace with her Mamma, 
 and addressing God as her reconciled Father, in 
 Christ Jesus. Often did she repeat the lines of a 
 beautiful hymn that her mother had taught her ; 
 '* Return, O holy Dove, return, 
 Sweet messenger of rest ' 
 I hate the sins that made thee mourn, 
 And drove thee from my breast.'' 
 
 But little Emma was to be brought into yet 
 deeper v^-aters of trial before she was comforted. 
 She w^as to experience more fully the truth of the 
 Apostle's declaration, 'I know that in me, that is in 
 my flesh, dwelleth no good thing,' and to learn how 
 many a stumbling-block the enemy of our salvation 
 can lay in the path of those who begin seriously to 
 
THE SIMPLE FLOWER. 23 
 
 inquire after the way in which God has commanded 
 his people to walk. 
 
 It has been observed that Mrs. Merton still re- 
 tained in her service a 5^oung girl whose orphan 
 state rendered her a fit object for such compassion- 
 ate care as her lady could yet show. Martha was 
 several years older than Emma, and early misfor- 
 tunes had been so far blessed to her, as to excite a 
 desire for more abiding comforts than this change- 
 ful world can give: but Martha was "slow of heart 
 to believe," and like too many others she looked less 
 into the word of God for confirmation of the truths 
 which she heard, than to the actions of his professed 
 servants, to discover how far ♦heir lives correspond- 
 ed with the peculiar sanctity insisted on by them as 
 inseparable from the Christian character. Our Lord 
 tells his disciples, that they are " as a city set on a 
 hill, which cannot be hid," — we know how they are 
 made " a spectacle to all men ;" and the adversary 
 is ever on the watch to blaspheme the Author and 
 Finisher of their i._/;th, if that faith fails to bear the 
 plenteous and uatainted fruit which the supply of 
 his grace is sufficient to produce in the conduct of 
 the true believer. .".Iririha sav/ that her young lady 
 considered herself a iiv.is character: her little books, 
 selected by her Marimia, were all of the most profit- 
 able description ; she was punctual in prayer, and 
 read the Scriptures dai'y, aloud. Martha had also 
 heard her speak frequently with mingled pity and 
 censure of children, \yho, being less carefully 
 
24 THE SIMPLE FLOWER. 
 
 instructed, were heedless of those things which 
 belonged to their eternal peace: whose hearts were 
 set on tlieir toys, their amusements, and foolish 
 distinctions in dress : seeking to outshine each 
 other in the display of fine clothes ; bnt totally re- 
 gardless of the inward adorning that the apostle 
 Paul recommends. Beside, Emma very often made 
 use of Scripture language in blaming Martha for 
 her occasional faults ; and took so much of the 
 preacher on herself, that it appeared quite natural 
 for the girl to examine her practice very closely. 
 
 It will be readily supposed by those who are at 
 all accustomed to watch their own evil hearts, that 
 Emma was too ready to vent upon Martha the ill- 
 humor occasioned by her discontent and self re- 
 proach, under the late reverse of fortune. She was 
 indeed very careful that her mother should not wit- 
 ness such unbecoming conduct ; but she frequently 
 behaved in a most tyrannical manner to this servant 
 girl ; and then, to prevent her complaining to Mrs. 
 Merton, she was obliged to bribe her with some 
 present, or to make amends as sue called it, by con- 
 versing with a degree of familarity that her Mamma 
 w^ould by no means have allowed of. Nothing was 
 more contrary to Mrs. Merton's character than 
 pride ; but she knew that it was no part of Chris- 
 tian humility to do away with the distinctions 
 which God has been pleased to permit between the 
 various ranks and classes in society. She taught 
 her little girl, both by doctrine and example, to be 
 
THE SIMPLE FLOWER. 25 
 
 gentle, patient, and obliging toward inferiors ; but 
 cautioned her against forgetting the respect due to 
 herself by encouraging any thing like intimacy 
 with those whose education and habits must render 
 them unsuitable companions for her. Until the 
 reverses in their fortune took place, Emma had 
 found no great difficulty in obeying her mother's 
 precepts, in this instance ; and she was both re- 
 spected and loved by the domestics in her former 
 abode. But now Martha had too often sufficient 
 gfbunds for the remark, that it was no great matter 
 to be good humored when people had every thing 
 at hand to content them : but that Miss Emma, 
 instead of pitying her for having all the work, that 
 so many had shared before, now thrown upon her 
 alone, treated her worse than a slave, because she 
 could not do as much as three or four people in as 
 little time. Often adding, what a sad thing it was, 
 that Miss Emma's religion did not teach her to be 
 more reasonable toward her fellow-creatures. 
 
 Observations like this, Martha would occasionally 
 make, when she knew that Emma must overhear a 
 great part of them : they irritated the little girl, 
 roused the evil spirit of pride : and very frequently 
 provoked her to scold and threaten, when she should 
 rather have mourned in secret, and prayed for grace 
 to contend against the feelings that exposed her to 
 such mortifying reproofs. It is by no means pro- 
 per for servants to convey their remarks in Martha's 
 vude manner; though a truly Christian child will 
 3 
 
SB THE SIMPLE PLOWEk. 
 
 ever be thankful to the lowest inferior for a timely 
 caution, given in respectful and modest terms : if, 
 however, people by intemperate language and in- 
 consistent conduct, expose themselves to the con- 
 tempt of those around them, they must expect to be 
 the subject of such observations as they would little 
 like to hear. But a much higher principle should 
 operate as a check on all unbecoming demeanor : 
 the pernicious effect of their example, is to harden 
 others, through the deceitfulness of sin, both against 
 just rebuke, when properly applied, and also against 
 the strivings of the spirit in their own bosoms, wiio, 
 by the voice of conscience, reproves them of sin and 
 of judgment. Satan furnishes them with excuseSj 
 to stifle the warning voice. ' If those Vv'ho know 
 so much better what is right than a poor ignorant 
 servant can do, give way to every peevish and un- 
 reasonable humor, what can be expected from me?' 
 And thus screening themselves beliind an evil exam- 
 ple, they indulge the corrupt propensity of their own 
 dispositions ; and refusing to hearken, may perish, 
 long after those who have so cruelly promoted their 
 destruction forget that ever they had seen them ; but 
 will not the Lord visit for these things ? That 'the 
 poor had the Gospel preached to them,' was a distin- 
 guishing mark of his divine mission. To preach the 
 Gospel to them he was anointed by the Father with 
 the Holy Spirit; and is it not a most awful thing to 
 oppose that work in which the Triune Jehovah has 
 vouchsafed in an especial manner to engage ? 
 
TUE SIMPLE FLOWER. ^7 
 
 Mrs. Merton made a remark of this kind to Emma, 
 on some occasion when she discovered an instance 
 of improper conduct on her part toward Martha. 
 Emma was both abashed and alarmed : " I am sure, 
 Mamma, I had no intention to do any thing so wick- 
 ed ; nothing conld be further from my thoughts." 
 
 "I believe it, Emhia," replied her Mother, "but Is 
 your sin palliated by that want of consideration? 
 Surely not : if the law of God were engraven on 
 your heart, it M'ould ever be present to your 
 thoughts, as a most powerful check upon evil sug- 
 gestions. Our blessed Lord has bade us take heed 
 ihat we offend not one of his little ones — the young, 
 the poor, the weak of liis flock. If by neglecting 
 to take heed, you commit this sin, and bring on 
 yourself the wo denounced on him by whom the 
 offence cometh, is the vengeance of God to sleep, 
 and his word to become void, because you sufter a 
 slotliful temper to wrap you in spiritual slumber?" 
 
 Emma attempted to excuse herself on the plea of 
 their misfortunes having rendered her more hasty 
 and peevish than she was naturally disposed to be. 
 
 "Tell me," said Mrs. Merton, " for what purpose 
 are afflictions sent?" Receiving no answer, she 
 continued, " Wherefore did the Lord lead the people 
 of Israel for forty j^ears through a wilderness, full 
 of gloom and danger, beset by foes ; and keep them 
 dependent on a daily miracle for their daily bread ?" 
 
 Emma replied, "To humble them, and to prove 
 them, and to see what was in their liearts." 
 
28 THE SIMPLE FLOWER. 
 
 Mrs. M. Yes ; mark, to humble them, not to make 
 them proud and passionate: to prove and shovj them 
 the evil already in their hearts, not to implant bad 
 dispositions that never existed there before. O my 
 child ! what accusation is this to bring against your 
 Heavenly Father, when you would make the rod a 
 root, not a corrector, of the deceit and desperate 
 wickedness that reign in the heart of every unre- 
 nev/ed sinner; and too ob&tinalely cling even about 
 that of the believer f 
 
 Emma. But, Mamma, the temptation is so 
 great. You don't know how provoking IVIartha 
 sometimes is. 
 
 3Irs. M. Temptation, my dear, is to be avoided : 
 we are instructed to pray against it ; but, as the 
 Lord sometimes sees it necessary for the trial of 
 our faith, we have a blessedness pronounced on him. 
 who endureth temptation : him, who recollecting 
 the promise that a way of escape shall ever be left 
 open, pleads his own weakness, and casting himself 
 upon the Lord in believing prayer, experiences that 
 he ' can do all things through Christ who strength- 
 eneth him.' A state of affluence is fraught with many 
 snares, calculated to draw and beguile the soul from 
 the contemplations of heavenly treasures. Of this 
 we have a proof in the young ruler who came to 
 Christ, Avith a fair account of his past duties, and 
 a professed desire to perform whatever might be 
 further necessary to obtain eternal life: but when 
 the Searcher of hearts probed the secret unsound- 
 
THE SIMPLE FLOWER. 29 
 
 ness of his, by requiring him to renounce his 
 worldly wealth, he was so entangled in its snares 
 that he went away ; turned his back on the Saviour, 
 and plunged into those things that would finally 
 drown him in perdition. But, delusive as riches 
 are, poverty and sorrow have their perils too. It 
 was in a season of peculiar privation and bodily 
 suffering, that the great enemy approached the Son 
 of God with his specious temptations : it was in the 
 hour of personal danger, that Peter so lamentably 
 fell. Satan, who overcame David in the midst of 
 sloth and luxury, defiling him with many sins, and 
 leading him to pierce himself through with many 
 sorrows, overwhelmed Job in the deepest penury, 
 affliction, and anguish of body and mind, for the 
 same hateful and cruel purpose. How formidable 
 is the power, how deadly the malice of this our 
 inveterate foe ! Christians can boast that they are not 
 ignorant of his devices ; yet how frequently is his 
 very existence forgotten, at the moment VA'hen he is 
 nearest to us: and !iow criminally negligent are 
 we in not putting on the whole armor of God, the 
 only defence against his overwhelming attacks ! 
 
 "Mamma," said Emma, " considering how very 
 crafty and strong this enemy is, can it be wondered 
 at if he often gets the better of a weak child like 
 me?" 
 
 Mrs. Merton shook her head — "Your object is to 
 justify yourself, as if Satan's strength must be too 
 great against you j but beware of that error. Have 
 
EO THE SIMPLE FLOWEB. 
 
 I not just said that we are too remiss, in not wield- 
 ing our spiritual weapons against our spiritual foe ? 
 Surely we are culpable beyond all expression in 
 consenting to the suggestions of the devil, who, let 
 it ever be remembered, can only tempt ; he cannot 
 compel. To the weakest child is the encourage- 
 ment as sure, as to the strongest and most experi- 
 enced Christian, ' Resist the devil and he will flee 
 from you.' Who shall compel us for a moment to 
 wear his chains, when we are invited to behold the 
 mighty work wrought to deliver sinners ' from the 
 bondage of Satan,' and to make them ' free indeed?' 
 Has not the Lord Jesus ' through death destroyed 
 him that hath the power of death, even the devil V 
 Are not all who believe, ' more than conquerors 
 through him that loved us ?' The subtlety and 
 power of your adversary do indeed call for inces- 
 sant watchfulness and prayer ; but will never excuse 
 your yielding in the smallest instance tohis tempta- 
 tions." 
 
 Thus constantly admonished, Emma learned more 
 carefully to watch over her own heart; and the 
 consequence was an increasing knowledge of her- 
 self, and a deepened view of the depravity with 
 which that fountain of her thoughts, words, and 
 actions, was tainted : until reduced almost to de- 
 spair, she would secretly exclaim, 'If out of the 
 abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh, what 
 an evil treasure must be lodged in mine ! I bring 
 forth from it nothing but evil things : I am con- 
 
THE SIMPLE FLOV/ER. 31 
 
 stantly disgracing myself and disgusting others, by 
 some new proof of a proud, wicked, contentious, 
 and uncharitable disposition. These cannot be the 
 feelings of God's children, for the fruit of the Spirit 
 is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, good- 
 ness, faith, meekness, temperance : none of these 
 things belong to my character, and therefore I am 
 not a Christian.' In this view of herself Emma 
 was perfectly right ; she had never fully experienced 
 the renewing power of the Holy Ghost, never 
 put off that old man, the corrupt nature that was 
 born with her, nor had she with her heart believed 
 unto salvation ; but Emma was quite wrong in the 
 conclusion which she drew from this distressing 
 survey. Supposing it impossible to contend suc- 
 cessfully against the enemy, who seemed to laugh to 
 scorn all her feeble attempts at self-reformation, she 
 was completely discouraged, and gave up the point, 
 expecting to be converted by a miracle of grace at 
 some future period ; or, what was too frequently 
 the case, driving the great subject of salvation 
 entirely from her thoughts, and laboring on mere 
 worldly motives, for a more decent and becoming 
 line of conduct ; laying a restraint on her temper, 
 and persuading herself that by so doing she was 
 rendering her character amiable and respectable. 
 In all this she met with slight internal opposition : 
 the enemy of souls cares little how moral and de- 
 corous, how benevolent and praiseworthy, our out- 
 ward demeanor may become, so long as it is not 
 
32 THE SIMPLE FLOWER. 
 
 founded on a regard to the divine command, a deep 
 sense of God's holiness, and an entire dependence 
 on His sacred influence, working in us that we may 
 have a good will to do His pleasure, and working 
 with us when we have that good will. Emma at 
 first wished the Lord to effect in her the change 
 that she knew was requisite ; but to be a fellow- 
 worker together with Goo, to do her part in it, by a 
 lively faith, perseverance in prayer, and steady resist- 
 ance against besetting sins, this was too arduous 
 an undertaking for her slothful spirit ; and while, 
 through her tender mother's care, the seed of the 
 word was still daily sown, she suffered a thousand 
 weeds to spring up, and choke the soil, making it 
 unfruitful, until her religion became a mere form ; 
 and she rested content in the observance of outward 
 duties, indifferent to the most awakening calls of ex- 
 hortation from without, and conscience from within. 
 More than two years thus passed away, and 
 Emma improved in every thing but the most im- 
 portant of all — she grew in stature, but not in grace : 
 her features were pleasing, but her real character 
 unlovely ; her manners were insinuating, but her 
 temper worldly, and her thoughts unholy. In er\'ery 
 branch of education that her mother, herself highly 
 accomplished, continued to exercise her in, she ex- 
 celled : but alas ! what availed these external deco- 
 rations, while her soul was secretly perishing for 
 lack of that knowledge which she was too indolent 
 to seek ! 
 
THE SIMPLE FLOWER. 33 
 
 She had now entered her fifteenth year, and a 
 new source of anxiety assailed her, which strongly 
 roused her feelings ; Mrs. Merton was of a delicate 
 constitution, and snice the death of her husband she 
 had not recovered from the effects of her long and 
 anxious attendance upon him through a painful 
 illness. Emma was accustomed to see her mamma 
 look pale, and eat little ; but now she was becoming 
 so very thin, and her appetite was so entirely gone, 
 and her whole appearance showed such extreme 
 weakness, that Emma began to be very much fright- 
 ened about her. 
 
 The aged clergyman of the parish died. His 
 successor, a most pious and excellent minister, soon 
 heard of the reverse in Mrs. Merton's fortune, and 
 observed her quiet devout attendance upon the out- 
 ward ordinances of religion. He felt more interested 
 in her, because of her sickly appearance, and the- 
 anxious looks of her daughier. He took an oppor- 
 tunity, of calling at the cottage, and offered his 
 friendship and services with so much sincere friend- 
 ship, that Mrs. Morton gladly accepted them. 
 
 Mr. Selby, that v/as the minister's name, had a 
 daughter two years older than Emma. Mary Selby 
 was pious, cheerful, active, and always looking out 
 for opportunities of doing good. She used to say, 
 ' There are younger girls than I buried in the 
 church-yard, and if I am called away also, I must 
 not be found like the foolish virgins, sleeping in 
 idleness, without oil in my lamp. There is much 
 
34 THE SIMPLE FLOWEH. 
 
 for such as I am to do ; many poor children are igiio- 
 rant of what I am made happy by knowing, that 
 Jesus Christ is the Saviour of all who believe, and 
 that they who name his Name are required to de- 
 part from iniquity. I must assist to teach these 
 poor children ; and I must earn a little, and save a 
 little to give to those who are sending Bibles and 
 Missionaries to the destitute in our own country, 
 and to the Heathen.' With these feelings, it will be 
 believed that IMary was seldom idle. Between her 
 school and her other work, she found that it w^as 
 pleasant to redeem the time, and improve it. 01 
 Emma she soon became so fond that there was some 
 danger of her being drawn off from her usual 
 employments by her socieH' : but Mary watched 
 against the temptation, and instead of becoming 
 idle herself, taught Emma to be industrious. 
 
 ,It will readily be believed that such a companion 
 "was a great acquisition to our poor Emma, even in 
 a worldly point of view: for she had scarcely an 
 acquaintance of an age suitable to her own ; and 
 since ^Irs. IMerton became so exceedingly weak, 
 her daughter had little inclination, and less oppor- 
 tunity for any society beyond the walls of their own 
 cottage, until this happy an'ival at the parsonage. 
 It was no small comfort to find a S3n'npathizing 
 friend in whose indulgent ear she could pour forth 
 her complaints and anxieties respecting her mother: 
 but in more important matters the benefit which she 
 derived from associating with IMary, was incalcu- 
 
THE SIMPLE F1.0WER. 35 
 
 iable. Satisfied that Mrs. Merton was most sincerely 
 pious, and observing the correct manner of Emma, 
 the Selbys concluded that her daughter, though 
 more reserved in her expressions, was equally influ- 
 enced by the spirit of Christianity. Mary, indeed, 
 sometimes doubted : but the uncertainty only in- 
 creased her anxiety to render her conversation as 
 profitable as possible to her young companion. She 
 consulted her on many excellent plans for the tem- 
 poral comfort and spiritual improvement of the poor 
 around them ; she read with her the most interest- 
 ing and affecting details of the progress of divine 
 truth, at home and abroad ; often inviting her to 
 join in prayer for the fulfilment of that glorious 
 time, when, ' from the rising of the sun even unto 
 the going dov/n of the same, the Lord's name shall 
 be great among the Gentiles, and in every place 
 incense shall be offered unto His name, and a pure 
 offering ;' when ' the Lord shall have turned again 
 the captivity of Zion, and all Israel shall be saved.' 
 Over such passages as these, Mary would even 
 weep for joy, as she traced in the great work so 
 auspiciously commenced throughout the world, the 
 dawning of an eternal day. " Think, dear Emma," 
 she would say, "how great a cause for humble 
 thankfulness have we, not only in being permitted 
 to behold these things, but in reflecting that our own 
 country is made the first, the most distinguished 
 instrument, in promoting the Lord's gracious pur- 
 poses ! Lock at this small speck on the globe. The 
 
do THE SIMPLE FLOWER. 
 
 British dominions, long receiving the Gospel, and 
 the abundent grace of Christ, are now like a little 
 fountain supplying a majestic river, dispersing the 
 treasure over the earth, in a constantly augmenting 
 stream of blessings !" 
 
 Emma saw so much to admire as well as to love 
 in her new friend, that she often spoke to her in the 
 language of commendation, which Mary failed not 
 to check and reprove. She would say, " You com- 
 pare me, Emma, with those unhappy persons who 
 scarcely know that they have immortal souls, and 
 who never reflect that they must stand before the 
 judgment seat of Christ, and give account of them- 
 selves to Ilim who cannot be deceived. Poor crea- 
 tures ! they do not consider that our time and all 
 the advantages enjoyed by us are but lent, and to be 
 employed for the glory of Him v/ho intrusts us with 
 them. When, in the sixteenth chapter of St. Luke, 
 I meet with those words, ' Give an account of thy 
 stewardship, for thou mayest be no longer steward,' 
 I am Jed to serious reflection. I know this passage 
 concerns me : and what a careless unfaithful steward 
 I have been of all the blessings committed to my 
 care !" 
 
 " You judge yourself very severely, dear Mary,'* 
 said Emma. " Nobody else thinks so of you." 
 
 "And if I do judge myself," she replied, " it is 
 but what I am commanded to do. By examining, 
 with sincerity and prayer, our own conduct and 
 motives, we are enabled to see what is wrong, and 
 
THE SIMPLE FLOWER. 37 
 
 directed where, especially, to strive against our- 
 selves. This I suppose is what the apostle St. Paul 
 means, when he says, 'judge yourselves brethren, 
 that ye be not judged of the Lord.' As to what 
 others may think of me, there are two texts from 
 the same Apostle, that serve to prevent my being 
 much affected by that. He speaks of some, who 
 * measuring themselves by themselves, are not 
 wise.' This arms me against such dangerous com- 
 mendations as yours, dear Emma. And when I am 
 blamed or ridiculed for following what I knoAV to 
 be my duty, I can in my heart, I hope, without any 
 angry or contemptuous feeling, address such censors 
 thus : ' With me it is a very small thing that I should 
 be judged of you or of man's judgment.' I know 
 that ' He that judgeth me is the Lord' — ' who will 
 bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and 
 make manifest the counsels of the heart.' " 
 
 " You seem," said Emma, " to have a text of 
 Scripture ready for every occasion." 
 
 " If I have not," answered Mary, " it is my own 
 fault. God has given us his word as 'a lamp unto 
 our feet, and a light unto our paths ;' but to what 
 purpose, if we do not take it abroad with us, when 
 we walk in this dangerous world ?'' 
 
 " But how can you remember so much of it ?" 
 asked Emma. 
 
 Mary. I know my need of such defence and 
 direction : and I pray constantly to have the law of 
 God put into my mind, and written on my heart : 
 4 
 
38 THE SIMPLE FLOWER 
 
 then, too, I have the assistance of pions parents, 
 who point out to me the passages most profitable 
 for one of my youth and inexperience. I endeavor 
 to read the Bible not as a matter of form, or of 
 merit, as I fear some ignorant young persons do ; 
 but as I should listen to directions, by which alone 
 I could escape straying into the haunts of wild. 
 beasts, or falling from the edge of a precipice, when 
 about to undertake a long and difficult journey. 
 
 " You make me fear that I never yet have read 
 the Scriptures properly," observed Emma. 
 
 " Then begin to-day," said Mary : " Delay not : 
 it is not your bodily safety, but the eternal interest 
 of your immortal soul that depends on it. God 
 gave his book to be studied ; and has annexed a 
 blessing to the devout observance of his command : 
 while those who neglect it go on in darkness, and 
 stumble, perhaps to fall for ever." 
 
 In the world a trembling stranger, 
 
 Shall I slight a heavenly guide? 
 Wherefore roam in fear and danger, 
 
 When the Lord would help provide: 
 Snares and perils spread before me. 
 
 Welcome be the beam that shows 
 Every evil brooding o'er me, 
 
 Each device of crafty foes. 
 
 While the page of truth perusing. 
 Lord, do thou unseal mine eyes ; 
 
 So, the trifler's part refusing, 
 1 should run to reach the prize. 
 
THE SIMPLE FLOWER. 39 
 
 ■Qn my solemn thought impressing 
 
 Things eternal, though unseen ; 
 Bid me scorn the worklling's blessing, 
 
 Joys unstable, poor and mean. 
 
 When thy law, declared in thunder, 
 
 Makes my guilty soul afraid ; 
 Let me speed, in grateful wonder, 
 
 To the Rock's protecting shade. 
 Blessed Jfisus — Rock of ages !— 
 
 Holy Spirit ! help I crave ; 
 When I search the sacred pages, 
 
 On my soul the words engrave ! 
 
 Mary repeated tliese lines with great feeling ; and 
 Emma was much affected by the conversation. She 
 secretly compared the eagerness of her friend in 
 seeking instruction from the Scriptures, and her 
 anxiety to keep constantly on her mind all that she 
 there learned, with her own cold, careless perform- 
 ance of what she dared not entirely neglect. ' I 
 feel as if I had omitted a duty, when I do not read 
 a chapter in the Bible,' thought Emma ; ' and when 
 I do so, as if 1 had performed an act of obedience: 
 but I have not prayed as Mary does, to remember 
 what I read continually afterward ; mamma tells 
 me to do so, and, I know, she does it herself: how 
 came I to neglect such a great duty ? I will begin 
 this very day, as Mary advises me, and never again 
 omit it.' 
 
 But poor Emma found it more easy to make this 
 good resolution than to abide by it. Something 
 
40 THE SIMPLE FLOWER. 
 
 was constantly intervening to call off her attention ; 
 frequently she delayed the reading of her Bible 
 for half-an-hour. and found the opportunity gone, 
 through successive interruptions. Beside — and she 
 felt it the worst of all obstacles — there was in her 
 heart an unwillingness to persevere steadily in 
 the course of reading and meditation that she had 
 marked out for herself: and trifles were not more 
 ready to intrude than she was to give her attention 
 to them ; although a sad, comfortless, and guilty 
 feeling seemed to imbitter her mind all day long, 
 when the duty had been unattended to. 
 
 Despairing at last of ever becoming like Mary in 
 this respect, she resolved to give up the attempt 
 altogether : but her looks were so overcast in conse- 
 quence, that her watchful mother felt assured some 
 new trouble pressed upon the evidently humbled 
 heart of her child. By the affectionate inquiries of 
 Mrs. Merton, Emma was at length induced to tell 
 the whole truth. Her Mamma secretly thanked 
 the Lord who had blessed her daughter with a 
 friend so truly valuable ; and replied to Emma's 
 sad recital of her discouragements and despair. 
 " What you complain of, my love, is the general 
 experience of all who diligently set themselves to 
 inquire after the things that belong unto their 
 peace. Let the constant obstructions with which 
 you meet, keep you waichful against an enemy 
 whom you find so eager to throw every stumbling- 
 block in your way: and while you feel your own 
 
THE SIMPLE FLOWER. 41 
 
 proneness to turn aside after all the idle baits that 
 he would ailure you with, consider, both how very 
 much so evil and thankless a nature needs the 
 renewing of the Holy Ghost, and how great is the 
 mercy and compassion that can so long bear with 
 oar deeply rooted sinfulness !" 
 
 " But, Mamma," said Emma, " T never, never 
 can keep to Mary's rule ; and I must give it up." 
 
 Mrs. AL I grieve to hear my Emma use such 
 language. I have seen you roused to double exer- 
 tion, when any difficulty impeded the progress of 
 your studies, or opposed the gratification of your 
 wishes : is it only in the trifles of this fleeting life 
 that you can persevere, while the great and eternal 
 business of salvation is to be laid aside so readily at 
 the first obstacle ? 
 
 Emma hung her head. "You know. Mamma, 
 I am too weak and sinful to do any thing right of 
 myself; and I do not feel as if any help was given 
 me from above." 
 
 Mrs. M. What help can you require, m}- child, 
 beyond that so freely and impressively promised by 
 our LoRo ? Find the eleventh chapter of St. Luke, 
 and read the ninth, and four following verses, 
 
 Emma read: — "And I say unto you, ask, and it 
 shall be given you ; seek, and ye shall find ; knock, 
 and it shall be opened unto you. For every one 
 that asketh, receiveth ; and he that seeketh. findeth ; 
 and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened. If a 
 
 son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, 
 
 4* 
 
42 THE SIMPLE FL0Vv-E3. 
 
 will he give him a stone ? or if he ask a fish, v/ill 
 he for a fish give him a serpent ? Or if he shall ask 
 an egg, will he offer him a scorpion ? If ye then, 
 being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your 
 children ; how much more shall 3^our heavenly 
 Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?" 
 
 " Now," continued Mrs. Merton, " our blessed 
 Lord here shows us the natural inclination of an 
 earthly parent to supply the wants of his offspring, 
 and the improbability of his disappointing their re- 
 liance on his care and judgment. Is there no com- 
 fortable help promised in the concluding words, ' If 
 ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts 
 unto your children ; how much more shall your 
 heavenly Father give the Holy .Spirit to them that 
 ask him ?' Is there no confidence inspired by the 
 positive assurance, 'I say unto you, ask, and it shall 
 be given you ; seek, and ye shall find ; knock, and 
 It shall be opened unto you V " 
 
 Emma. Ah ! yes Mamma ; it is very encouraging. 
 
 " Then go, my child, into my dressing-room," 
 said Mrs. Merton, " take that portion of Scripture to 
 meditate and pray over ; and be assured the promise 
 s unto you, as much as to any who heard it uttered." 
 
 Emma gladly obeyed : and as she went, could'not 
 
 t acknowledge that help was already sent, in the 
 
 unsel and assistance of her mother. 
 
 Emma repeated all this to IVIary, at their next 
 meeting : v/ho replied, " It is with you as it was 
 with me : and you must learn to wait the Lord'3 
 
THE SIMPLE FLOWER. 43 
 
 leisure. He often makes his people wait, for a trial 
 of their faith and patience : and you must remember 
 that we are told to consider Him who endured 
 such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest 
 we be weary and faint in our minds." 
 
 " What do you understand by that ?" said Emma. 
 
 Mary replied, " Papa tells me the Apostle means 
 to direct our attention, under all troubles, and per- 
 secutions, and hinderances, from without or within, 
 to the Lord Jesus, who patiently endured more than 
 we can imagine, to accomplish the great work of our 
 salvation; and the recollection of whose sufferings 
 must make us ready cheerfully to encounter what- 
 ever he permits to molest us, while we are running 
 the race set before us, to obtain tlie inheritance 
 which He has laid up for us in heaven." 
 
 Thus assisted and admonished, Emma was able 
 to persevere in her wise resolution ; always pray- 
 ing to be kept steadfast in the work of the Lord. 
 She found the promise fulfilled to her, and many a 
 warning or encouraging text w^as brought to her 
 mind, to check the rising murmur of discontent, to 
 combat the spirit of sloth and self-indulgence, and 
 to lead her onward in the narrow path, overhung as 
 it was by a dark cloud, that constantly saddened her 
 mind as she looked on the drooping form and faded 
 countenance of a parent, rendered daily more dear 
 to the child who now felt the full value of her 
 instructions and example. 
 
 Mr. Selby was in very easy circumstances, and 
 
44 THE SIMPLE FLOWER. 
 
 managed to convey many comforts to the cottagers 
 that their means could not have afforded them ; but 
 above all he supplied them liberally with the con- 
 solations of real religion. In his visits to them 
 Mary usually accompanied him : very often she 
 went alone, to carry some little delicacy in her small 
 basket ; and by her manner of offering it she made 
 it doubly welcome to the poor invalid ; for Mrs. 
 Merton soon became too weak to go beyond the 
 narrow bounds of her own garden and the adjoin- 
 ing ground. One afternoon in autumn, the two 
 young friends were rambling there, and Mrs. Mer- 
 ton slowly following them ; when a bird that ap- 
 peared to have been lamed in its wing, hopped 
 before them on the path, and endeavored to get 
 away — they pursued it to a corner of the field, but 
 it made its escape through the hedge. Emma stoop- 
 ed to look after it, and discovered a profusion of her 
 old favorites, the heart's-ease, blowing on the bank, 
 in the richest beauty. 
 
 " ! Mamma, Mamma," she exclaimed, " I have 
 found" and there she stopped, with the pain- 
 ful recollections that arose at the moment. 
 
 "You have found some old friends, I believe, 
 Emma," replied her Mother. 
 
 Emma. Why no. Mamma, not exactly so : but of 
 that race. 
 
 " Some of the very same that my Emma brought 
 from her home," said Mrs. Merton. 
 
 Emma. Impossible, Mamma. 
 
THE SIMPLE FLOWER. 43 
 
 Mrs. M. Not at all, my dear : I foresaw from the 
 unhappy nature of your feelings at the time, that 
 your heart's-ease would command but little of your 
 care ; and after yon were gone to rest, on the even- 
 ing of your arrival, I removed a root from the gar- 
 den to this spot; to prove whether, under proper 
 treatment, heart's-ease would not thrive even here. 
 
 Emma. O ! my dear Mamma, what a lesson 
 those flowers give me ! 
 
 '•' A sweet lesson," said Mary, " that shows us 
 what we may learn by considering the lilies of the 
 field how they grow." 
 
 " Yes, added Mrs. Merton, •' He who clothes them, 
 will not only give us covering for our bodies, but 
 will also adorn us with humility, meekness, patience, 
 and every fruit of the Spirit, if such be our desire. 
 Let us but do our part, as faithful laborers ; and see 
 here a proof that He will not fail to perform his." 
 
 "Sweet little flower," thought Emma, as she placed 
 one in her bosom, " you shall be my preacher." 
 
 It was not long after this, that Mrs. Merton be- 
 came quite unable to leave her bed; and the medical 
 gentleman whom Mr. Selby had introduced to her, 
 confessed that he had no hope of seeing her again 
 quit it alive. Emma nursed her mother with the 
 tenderest care ; and Mary shortened the time usually 
 allotted to her other charitable works, to share the 
 task — ' For,' thought she, 'here are the fatherless 
 and the widow in affliction, looking to us for suc- 
 cor ; and He has said, " I will have mercy and not 
 
48 THE SIMPLE FLOtv^ER. 
 
 sacrifice." My Bible and Missionary box may bt 
 less full ; but this present work is given to me, and 
 I must do it with all my might.'— And so indeed she 
 did ; for when Mrs. Merton became much worse, 
 she asked and obtained leave of her parents to stay 
 entirely with Emma, and a clever old nurse, whom 
 Mr. Selby had sent to attend the cottage. 
 
 The heart's-ease, from the fields, still formed a 
 part in ever\^ bouquet which the girls prepared foi* 
 their beloved, but dying charge; and Mrs. Merton 
 would smile as she bade Emma observe how well it 
 graced a sick room ; often outliving all the flowers 
 from the garden, and expanding one little bud after 
 another, as if still in its native soil. 
 
 "I never loved it so well," said Emma, trying to 
 hide her tears, " as since it cheered your painful 
 hours, Mamma." 
 
 " I cannot help preferring hyacinths, and other 
 bulbous roots," remarked Mary. 
 
 Mrs. M. Why, my dear ? 
 
 Emma. Because they give a more striking idea 
 of the resurrection. iMadam. When I bury such a 
 thing in the earth, and consider what a different and 
 lovely object will arise, I seem to comprehend the 
 feeling under wllich St. Paul wrote the fifteenth 
 chapter of his first Epistle to the Corinthians — it 
 fills my mind with such delightful hopes and antici- 
 pations. 
 
 "Yet I cannot give up my heart's-ease," said 
 Emma. 
 
THE StMPLE FLOW'ER. 47 
 
 ^' The Lord has given us," said Mrs. Merton, 
 " a great variety of beautiful types, my children , one 
 flower may more aptly represent to us the mortal 
 life, another the future state of the Christian, while 
 all proclaim the tidings of their Maker's power, 
 and providential care. — Nothing is formed in vain : 
 whatever we overlook, in this wide and wonderful 
 creation, is a loss to ourselves ; for all speak elo- 
 quently of Him for whose pleasure they are and 
 were created." 
 
 "But some are so small that we cannot examine 
 them," said Emma. 
 
 "Yes," replied her Mother, "man, as he ap- 
 proaches further in science, makes new discoveries 
 of his own ignorance. The solar microscope, an 
 instrument that magnifies every object to many 
 thousand times its natural size, shows a small tuft 
 of the common grass, when running to seed, in in- 
 conceivable beauty, as the richest flower of delicate 
 green, studded and fringed with silver--a most 
 magnificent object, 3^et trod under our feet without 
 a thought. When the Apostle declares the glory of 
 man to be as the flower of grass, he likens it to one 
 of the most beautiful as well as fragile things in 
 nature : ' the wind passeth over it, and it is gone — 
 but the word of the Lord shall endure for ever 5' and 
 that is the word of the Gospel, which brings to light 
 life and immortality, and shows to our sight of 
 faith, a glory that cannot fade." 
 
 In such conversations as these, Mrs. Merton 
 
48 THE SIMPLE FLOWER. 
 
 passed the hours, when she had strength sufficient; 
 and in listening to the blessed word of life, accom- 
 panied, as it alway was, with united prayer, and 
 frequently with the plain and forcible exposition of 
 the pious Mr. Selby. 
 
 That kind minister had visited Mrs. Merton one 
 day, and delicately told her, that on her departure 
 it was the wish of himself and his wife, to receive 
 Emma as an inmate of their house, and to educate 
 her with their Mary. The heart of Mrs. Merton 
 sang for joy at this intimation ; and since an allow- 
 ance was reserved for Emma in the wreck of their 
 property, that would prevent her ever being a bur- 
 den on these generous friends, she had no difficulty 
 in accepting the offer. 
 
 On that night she was so ill that Mary and Emma 
 would not leave her apartment ; and Mrs. Merton, 
 conscious that the hand of death was upon her, did 
 not wish to deprive them of a scene so awful and 
 so instructive. 
 
 After a time she appeared to slumber, and Mary 
 whispered to Emma, " Now let us read togethei' and 
 pray." 
 
 " Let us read," replied Emma, " the last chapter 
 of Hosea." 
 
 " Why that?" asked Mary. 
 
 " Because," said Emma, " that chapter brought so 
 much comfort to me, when my own sinfulness had 
 made me so very miserable ; it helped me to praise 
 the Lord, when I felt that his anger began to be 
 
THE SIMPLE FLOWER. 40 
 
 turned away ; and it suits mc now, becaui'-e it assures 
 me that in Him the fatherless findetn mercy." 
 
 They read the chapter, and Mary cor/ld not but 
 feel how applicable it was to poor Emma. 
 
 They prayed, and then Mary said, " You are much 
 supported, dear Emma." 
 
 "Yes, I am," she replied, while wiping away the 
 tears that streamed down her cheeks. " My mother 
 is about to be taken away from this world, to eternal 
 glory, but my less will be her great gain. If I 
 could tell you, Mary, all that passed in my mind Tor 
 some months after our first acquaintance, yon would 
 say the Lord is wonderful indeed in his doings 
 toward the children of men. If I had net be-^n so 
 corrected, my soul would have been loet : and if I 
 had not been so comforted, rny heart world have 
 broken. And it would break now," she added, 
 looking toward the bed, and sobbing, "only that I 
 know where she is going." 
 
 " Yes, my dear Emma," said Mary, " is there not 
 comfort in that? The daj^ of hnmaii life, is -a day 
 of trouble,' a day of darkness and gloomineoS, which 
 nothing can brighren, but the light of God's coun- 
 tenance ; nothing can render comfortable, but a 
 speedy answer of mercy and peace from rbove 
 When heart and flesh Aiil, to find the Lord ' your 
 rock, your fortress, your deliverer, your God, you:* 
 strength in whom you can trust, your bi ckler, and 
 the horn of your salvation, and your high tov^cr.' 
 Sweet names ! we know little of our wants anl 
 5 
 
50 THE SIMPLE FLOVvER. 
 
 dangers, or we should better feel how impossible il 
 would be to spare one of the many titles and charac- 
 ters under vvhich He makes himself known to us. — 
 AVliat comfort could we take from all these glorious 
 sayings, if we did not know that Jesus is Lord, yea 
 Lord of lords, one with the Father, God over all, 
 blessed for ever ? His sufferings as man, can atone 
 for the sins of a guilty w^orld. — I love to think of the 
 Lord Jesps now, as holding the keys of death and 
 of hell — as 'He that shutteth and no man openeth j 
 that openeth and no man shutteth.' " 
 
 " Yes," added Emma, •' He which was dead and 
 IS alive." 
 
 •' And therefore," said Mary, " because he was 
 dead and is alive, he says unto us, ' Fear not.' 
 Death is no longer an object of fear ; for the Lord 
 Jescs has been in the grave, to overcome him who 
 hath the power of death, that is the devil. And 
 since he is God, we are sure he has power to 
 quicken whom he will, and to fulfil his promise. 
 He has said, ' Because I live, ye shall live also.' 1 
 could not trust a Saviour M'ho was less than 
 Almighty. Let us be thankful then that our young 
 minds are impressed with these precious truths. 
 How many, even at this hour, may be watching the 
 last breath of those who are no less dear to them 
 than this departing soul is to us : they think of 
 heaven as a desirable place ; and recollecting all 
 that was most endearing in the character and con- 
 duct of the object before them, they look upon 
 
THE SIMPLE FLOWER. 5] 
 
 eternal life as the sure reward of such an amiable 
 person. Alas ! how many believe that a decent 
 attention to outward duties, and a patient submission 
 to sickness or sorrow, shall be crowned with glory, 
 and honor, and immortality!" 
 
 " They do not consider," Emma replied, " that 
 their worst sufferings are infinitely less than they 
 must deserve, if it was only because the best that 
 they can do falls so far short of what God requires. 
 And tlieir obedience would not purchase heaven if it 
 was perfect, for you know the Lord bids lis confess 
 that we are unprofitable servants; after doing all, it 
 is no more than our duty — and by the deeds of the 
 law can no flesh be justified." 
 
 Mary remarked, " The low notions that people in 
 general have of heaven make them suppose it is so 
 easily earned. Do they consider that ' eye hath not 
 seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the 
 heart of man the things M'hich God hath prepared 
 for them that love him V — do they know what it is 
 * to see His face,' and ' have His name written in theip 
 foreheads ;' to be 'a pillar in His temple* and to 
 *go no more out?' The soul must be fitted and 
 prepared to enjoy the glories of heaven, by making 
 communion with God, in prayer, and in His word 
 and service, its delight on earth. If these things 
 are strange or wearisome to us now, they would be 
 so then. The most beautiful scenery has no cliarms 
 for the blind, nor the sweetest music for the deaf ^ 
 nor could the presence of glorified spirits, oi hol;^ 
 
52 THE SIMPLE FLOWER. 
 
 angels, and of God himself, delight the soul that 
 continues ' earthly, sensual, devilish,' — such are all 
 ^vho have not been renewed in the image of their 
 Maker." 
 
 " Yet how many die in this false peace," said 
 Emma: " they 'have no bands in their death:' but 
 the delusion in which they perish is their own choice. 
 They know that the Bible reveals God's will to man : 
 they are aware that unless they do His will, they 
 cannot please him : 3^et they put that book aside, 
 and marking out a path of duties of their own 
 choosing, they determine to get to heaven by that 
 broad road, rather than seek the one narrow way 
 that He has appointed. It is so wonderful to see 
 God's Vv'ord neglected, where his name is confessed, 
 and his worship carried on, that if we did not too 
 cleady behold it, we could scarcely believo it pos- 
 sible." 
 
 " 3Iy Mamma never neglected it," said Emma ; 
 "in prosperity it seemed to keep her humble; and 
 in adversity to make her cheerful; while, as you 
 well know, it has been the best medicine to her in 
 sickness, and now smooths the bed of death," — her 
 heart was too fall to say more. 
 
 " It lias lighted her steps." exclaimed Mary, " to 
 the entrance of the valley of the shadow of death : 
 and now the Loud himself will be her light and 
 support, while she is passing through that valley." 
 
 " O yes," said Emma with animation, "the Lord 
 will surely come : He says, ' I go to prepare a place 
 
THE SIMPLE FLOWER. 53 
 
 for you ; and if I go and prepare a place for you, 1 
 will come again and receive you unto myself j that 
 where I am, there ye may be also.' " 
 
 Mrs. Merton extended her hand to her child, and 
 in a faint voice said, " Here is a word of comfort 
 from that well-spring of consolation, the holy Bible. 
 David could say, when in affliction, 'My flesh and 
 my heart faileth ; but God is the strength of my 
 heart and my portion for ever.' He said tliis be- 
 cause he could also say, ' Whom have I in heaven 
 but thee '? and there is none upon earth that I de- 
 sire beside thee.' ' In his presence is fulness of 
 joy; and at his right hand there are pleasures for 
 evermore.' " 
 They drew nearer to her, and she went on : — 
 " ' The sting of death is sin.' You have felt the 
 sharpness of that sting, my Emma, in the days of 
 3^our health. O remember, then, how terrible it 
 must be when heart and flesh are failing ! Remem- 
 ber Him who alone can take it away; and so live to 
 him, that in a dying hour he may not forsake you. 
 It is sweet to be stayed upon him : it is sweet to 
 feel, when approaching the deep waters of death, 
 
 that 
 
 * Safe is the expanded wave, 
 Gentle as a summer's eve ; 
 Not one object of his care 
 Ever suiTer'd shipwreck there.' " 
 
 Mrs. Merton paused, for she was exhausted : yet 
 her lips moved in pra3^er, and there was a lovely 
 
64 THE SIMPLE FLOWER. 
 
 smile upon them. The young girls felt awe-struck j 
 and pressed close to each other's side. The good 
 old nurse passed her arm around them. 
 
 " There is nothing terrible in death, my children," 
 said she, " when we know that it is the gate of life." 
 
 " Nothing terrible, nothing, nothing," said Mrs. 
 Merton. 
 
 Mary bent down her head, and ventured to 
 whisper, " Thanks be to God, who giveth us the 
 victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." 
 
 " Thanks, thanks be to God," repeated Mrs. Mer- 
 ton, and expired. 
 
 It was on a very chill evening, quite after the 
 close of autumn, that Emma and Mary visited the 
 spot where Mr. and Mrs. Merton were laid to rest. 
 Mr. Selby had taken them there to enjoy this sad 
 satisfaction. The wind whistled through the yew 
 tree, and its dark branches waved like the plume of 
 a hearse. The grass was yellow and matted, the 
 rose trees were bare, all looked dreary and melan-" 
 choly; but the lingering blossoms of the heart's-ease 
 yet shone amid the scene of desolation, and peeped 
 forth from among the dry stalks and shrivelled 
 leaves tfiat surrounded them. Emma looked : she 
 smiled through her tears ; a sensation of delight 
 stole over her spirit, and, as she turned away from 
 the beloved spot, she murmured, 
 
 " These sweet little flowers thrive every where." 
 
 THE END. 
 
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 THE HISTORY OF 
 
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ANNIVERSARY SERMON 
 
 TO THE 
 
 S C t) ( s 
 
 BELONGING TO THE 
 
 PROTESTANT EPISCOPAl 
 
 SUNDAY SCHOOL UNION 
 
 CITY OF NEW-YORK. 
 
 Delivered in St. John's Chapel in the Morning and St. Thomas' Church in I 
 Afternoon of Wednesday, 10th April, 1833. 
 
 BY LEWIS P. BAYARD, 
 
 Rector of St. aement'sChuich. 
 
 NEW-YORK: 
 
 PUBLISHED BY THE GEN. PROTESTANT EPISCOPlt 
 
 SUNRAY SCHOOL 
 
 UNION. 
 
ANNIVERSARY SERMON. 
 
 *' And now, little children, abide in Him, that when he shall appear we maj 
 have confidence and not be ashamed before him at his coming." — 1 John ii. 28. 
 
 These words were written by the disciple whom 
 Jesus loved ; and as we generally love those who 
 are most like ourselves, we may judge that our 
 Saviour loved St. John because he was more like 
 him than any of the other disciples. And how 
 great a praise it is to be like Christ. God we are 
 told is love ; and as Christ is God, so Christ is 
 also love. In this divine virtue St. John seems in 
 a very particular manner to have been like our 
 Saviour. Like him he was kind and condescend- 
 ing, gentle and affectionate, in all his words and 
 actions. Thus in his words how tenderly he 
 speaks in the text to all who love God, calling them 
 little children, that is, like little children, humble 
 and ready to receive instruction. In the same 
 manner our Saviour says to his disciples, " Little 
 children, yet a little while I am with you :" and 
 again he says, " Ye are my friends, if ye do whatso- 
 ever I command you :" and again, " As my Father 
 hath loved me, so have I loved youj continue ye 
 
 ( 3 ) 
 
4 ANNIVERSARY SERMON. 
 
 in my love. If ye keep my commandments ye 
 shall abide in my love, even as I have kept my 
 Father's commandments, and abide in his love. 
 This is my commandment, that ye love one an- 
 other as I have loved you." 
 
 Now in the writings of St. John, especially in 
 his epistles, this commandment of love to God 
 seems to be the one of all others upon which he 
 delights to speak, and which he urges as the great 
 distinguishing law of the Christian religion, without 
 an observance of which all pretences to goodness 
 are false and useless : and it is related that when 
 he was very old and infirm, and no longer able to 
 preach, he was carried to church, where all he 
 could say was, "Little children, love one another:" 
 and when the congregation was wearied by his 
 repeating the same thing, and inquired why he did 
 so, he answered, because it was the command of 
 our Lord, and that if they did nothing else, this 
 alone was enough. 
 
 This venerable Apostle of our Lord Jesus Christ 
 had great reason to write the words of the text. 
 He was surrounded by many persons who were 
 opposed to the Gospel of the Redeemer; not only 
 were the Christians persecuted by the Jews, who 
 denied that Christ was the true Messiah, but they 
 were cruelly put to death by the Gentile or 
 Heathen rulers, who denied the living and true 
 Jehovah, and worshipped the idols of wood and at 
 stone which their own hands had made, and their 
 
ANNIVERSARY SERMON. 9 
 
 own ignorance had led them to honor as gods. 
 There were also false teachers among the number 
 of those who professed and called themselves 
 Christians, who denied that Christ was God, 
 thereby attempting to take away from the Gospel 
 its most important and essential truth, — a truth 
 without which our preaching would be vain, and 
 your faith in Christ would be also vain. For if 
 Christ had been only a man, how could his death 
 be considered more valuable than that of any other 
 good man. But he declares in his Gospel, " I am 
 the resurrection and the life, he that believeth in 
 me, though he were dead, yet shall he live :" and 
 who but God could say this with truth ? Such 
 being the enemies of the Gospel by whom the 
 Apostle was surrounded, you see the reason why 
 he speaks as he does in the text : " Now, little 
 children, abide in Him." Now, while you are ex- 
 posed to the persecution of your open enemies, or 
 to the danger of false doctrine from your pre- 
 tended friends, " abide in him," the Lord of all 
 power and might without whom nothing is strong 
 and nothing is holy. You are not to suppose be- 
 cause the Apostle says now in the text, that he 
 would have us confine the application of his words 
 to the age only in which he lived: it may with 
 equal force apply to all ages of the Church until 
 the end of time. At all times the exhortation of 
 the text may be addressed to all Christians, and the 
 ministers of Christ may say, " Now, little child- 
 1* 
 
O ANNIVERSARY SERMON. 
 
 ren, abide in him :" for the Gospel has the same 
 holy comfort to offer now that it ever had. 
 
 The same hope of pardon is still held out by it 
 to all penitent sinners ; the world, the flesh, and the 
 devil are still our enemies, from whom we are still 
 as much in danger as they were to whom St. John 
 wrote this letter. We are as much tempted by 
 infirmities within and allurements without, and as 
 much require the admonition which another apostle 
 has given, "to be steadfast and unmoveable, always 
 abounding in the work of the Lord." Now, there- 
 fore, we are as much as ever called to " abide in 
 Him," as the strongest tower of our refuge from 
 danger; now, in all time of our prosperity, in all 
 lime of our adversity, in the most joyous scenes of 
 hfe, and at the closing trial of death, He is still the 
 same Almighty Helper and Saviour, " the same 
 yesterday, to-day, and for ever." 
 
 But the word 7iow may be considered with a 
 more particular reference to you, my dear child- 
 ren, who are assembled and met together on the 
 present occasion, " to render thanks to God for the 
 great benefits that you have received at his hands, 
 to set fortli his most worthy praise, to hear his 
 most holy word, and to ask those things which are 
 requisite and necessary as well for the body as the 
 Boul." N'ow in the days of thy youth remember 
 thy Creator; while yet you are in the way ot 
 being taught your Christian duties by your parents 
 at home, or by your teachers in the Sunday School, 
 
ANNIVERSARY SERMON. 7 
 
 and by God's ministers, whose sermons you hear 
 every Sunday in church. When you grow up to 
 be men and women, you may not have so much 
 time to attend to these things as you now enjoy ; 
 and if you had the time you would not any longer 
 have the opportunity, for you know they are not 
 men and women who are the scholars in our Sun- 
 day Schools; but children as you are, and some of 
 you " little children,''^ as St. John calls you in the 
 text, saying, " Now, little cliildren, abide in Him." 
 When you grow up you will some of you perhaps 
 go to far distant places, where you may have none 
 of the advantages of Christian knowledge which 
 you now possess; therefore now, while you have 
 kind teachers ready to instruct you in the way to 
 be happy all your life, in the way to die without 
 fear, and in the glorious hope of going to heaven, 
 there to dwell with God for ever; now learn all 
 you can of these divine truths of God's holy word, 
 which you are constantly taught in the Sunday 
 School and at church. As the bee works hard all 
 the summer to make honey for its food in winter, 
 so do you with liko industry now in the season o! 
 childhood and of youth, lay up in the storehouse 
 of your heart and mind those precious truths ol 
 the Bible, which will be to you a very present 
 help in the time of trouble, " in the hour of death, 
 and at the day of judgment." " Now is the 
 accepted time ; now is the day of salvation.'^'' 
 " Now, little children, abide in Him." In whom ? 
 
8 ANNIVERSARY SERMON. 
 
 you ask, — I answer, in God, in Christ. Thus 
 Christ himself says lo his disciples, " I am the 
 vine, ye are the branches ; as the branch cannot 
 bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine, no 
 more can ye unless ye abide in me." Now, I think, 
 I heai- you say, what is it to abide in Christ? This 
 is what I wish very clearly to explain, so that you 
 all may be able to understand it. Our Saviour 
 explains it in the words I have just told you ; he 
 spoke to his disciplas, saying, " I am the vine, ye 
 are the branches^ Christ is the vine, and all 
 Christians are united to Christ, as the branch to 
 the vine; and being tlius united to him is abiding 
 in Kim. If a branch is broken off from a vine, or 
 from a tree, we know it soon withers away and 
 dies, and is good for nothing but to be burned. 
 And so, if after being Christians, we should become 
 so wicked as to renounce Christ, we should be like 
 this withered branch, good for nothing in this 
 world, and fit only to depart in the day of judg- 
 ment from the left hand of our Judge into that " ever- 
 lasting fire," which our Saviour tells us is •' prepared 
 for the devil and his angels." Now Christ is the 
 head of the Church, and the Church is said to be 
 his " body." " -S?/ one spirit vje are baptized into 
 one body?'' The most of you here present, I 
 should think, have been baptized. You thus 
 became, in the language of the Catechism, '• mem- 
 bers of Christ, children of God, and inheritors of 
 the kingdom of heaven." Great is your privilege in 
 
ANNIVERSARY SERMON. 9 
 
 b«.iiig thus made members of the Church of Christ : 
 for you here receive instruction in all those things 
 wnich concern your present and everlasting happi- 
 ness. You are here taught to fear God and to keep 
 his commandments. You are here taught how 
 Christ loved you, and came from heaven to seek 
 and to save those who were living in ignorance and 
 wickedness. Good people, ever since the world 
 began, have belonged to the Church of God ; and 
 when they have died they have gone to heaven to 
 be for ever with God and with the holy angels. 
 Now, since you have joined such holy and vener- 
 able company as that which composes the true 
 Church of God, you are directed by the good old 
 Apostle, in the text, to continue in that faith, and 
 love, and every virtue which the Gospel teaches 
 you are the marks or badges by which true 
 Christians are to be known. " Now, little child- 
 ren, abide in Him." 
 
 I hope you understand now what it is to abide 
 in Christ. When you grow up and have left the 
 Sunday School, you will have to meet with many 
 very wicked people, some of whom may, perhaps, 
 try to make you ashamed of being good. Now, 
 I tell you of this beforehand, in order to warn 
 you against the danger; and to keep you from 
 such a danger, I could not think of any better 
 words to say to you, than those of the Apostle in 
 the text, " Now, little children, abide in Him." 
 You must remember what is said by the minister, 
 
10 ANNIVERSARY SERMON. 
 
 when he marks with the sign of the cro-ss those he 
 baptizes. You know he there says, " We receive 
 this child into the congregation of Christ's flock, 
 and do sign him with the sign of the cross, in token 
 that hereafter he shall not be ashamed to confess 
 the faith of Christ crucified, and manfully to fight 
 under his banner against sin, the world, and the 
 devil, and to continue Christ's faithful soldier and 
 servant unto his life's end,"— that is " to abide in 
 Him." 
 
 Now, that you may remember all your life what 
 it is to abide in Christ, I will tell you about a good 
 old man who was a bishop,* and was the friend and 
 companion of St. John, who wrote the words of the 
 text. 
 
 The name of this good bishop was Polycarp.t 
 The v/icked Heathen rulers, who hated the Chris- 
 tians, had him brought before them, and tried to 
 make him blaspheme Christ. To which Polycarp 
 replied, ^" Eighty and six years have I served him, 
 and he hath never wronged me, and how can I now 
 blaspheme my King and Saviour?" " I have wild 
 beasts," said the wicked ruler. " Call them," said 
 Polycarp. " I will tame your spirit by fire," said 
 the Roman tyrant. " You threaten me," said 
 Polycarp, " with the fire which burns only for a 
 moment, but are yourself ignorant of the fire of 
 eternal punishment reserved for the wicked in the 
 
 ♦ /f«e Note A at the encL t See Note B at the pad. 
 
ANNIVERSARY SERMON. II 
 
 Other world." When they had tied him to a stake 
 and kindled the fire around him, yet he chose to con- 
 tinue Christ's faithful soldier and servant nnto his 
 life's end ; and he offered the following prayer : — 
 '' O Father of thy beloved and blessed Son Jesus 
 Christ, — O God of all principalities and of all 
 creation, I bless thee, that thou hast counted me 
 worthy of this day and this hour to receive my 
 portion in the number of the martyrs in the cup of 
 Christ. I praise thee for all these things. I bless 
 thee, I glorify thee, by the Eternal High Priest, 
 Jesus Christ, thy beloved Son, through whom and 
 with whom, in the Holy Spirit, be glory to Thee 
 both now and for ever. Amen." — Thus you learn, 
 my dear children, how you are to abide in Christ. 
 You must believe in him, you must love him, and 
 you must serve and honor him all the days of your 
 life ; then see what the Apostle shows you will be 
 the reward of your faithfulness, — " When He 
 shall appear we may have confidence, and not be 
 ashamed before Him at his coming:" that is, at 
 the day of judgment we shall have confidence, and 
 not be ashamed before him. You all know the 
 meaning of '' having confidence" and " being 
 ashamed." You have " confidence" when, having 
 done well, you approach your parents or teachers ; 
 you come to them with joy, knowing that you will 
 receive their approbation. But on the contrary^ 
 when you have done wrong, you are " ashamed" 
 to look them in the foce, for you feel guilty, and 
 
1*<5 ANNIVERSARY SERMON. 
 
 know that you have justly deserved their dis- 
 pleasure. Now you see what the Apostle means in 
 the text, when he says, " If you will abide in 
 Christ, that in the day of judgment you shall 
 have confidence and not be ashamed before him." 
 A.nd at that day, dear children, I do most sincerely 
 hope, you all may " have confidence and not be 
 ashamed" before your Saviour, when he comes to 
 judge the world. But in order that you may be 
 thus eternally happy, remember, you must " abide" 
 in Christ. 
 
 It has given me very great pleasure to see so 
 many of you, my dear children, assembled in this 
 Temple of the Lord; and I hope you will never 
 forget what has now been said to you. I hope you 
 will improve the present advantages which the 
 noble institution of the Sunday School is now 
 affording you; that you will love God's word; that 
 you will love God's Church ; that you will love 
 God's holy day ; that you will obey and love your 
 parents and your tenchers; and that you will love 
 one another. Growing up in this divine love, 
 which is the " fulfilling of the law," you will thus 
 be prepared to be useful and happy in the world as 
 men and women ; and when death comes you will 
 then be prepared with confidence to appear before 
 your heavenly Father, because you will have your 
 Saviour for your friend, and you know he has pro- 
 mised in the day of judgment, to all who truly 
 love and serve him, that he will say, " Come, ye 
 
ANNIVERSARY SERMON. 13 
 
 blessed children of my Father, receive thekingdoni 
 prepared for you from the beginning of the world." 
 God grant that this may be the happy sentence 
 which you ail may receive at that day, for Jesus 
 Christ's sake. 
 
 Note A. 
 
 The word bishop means an ''overseer," and this shows what 
 is the nature of his office. He is tlie overseer of all the ministers 
 and congregations in iiis diocese or state. He is the chief minister, 
 ae a general in the army is coniinanJer-in-chief, having colonels 
 and captains under him; so the bishop is chief ruler, and has 
 under his authority the priests and deacons who belong to his 
 diocese. This was the way all Churches were governed in the 
 time of the Apostles, and for 1500 years afterward ; and this is 
 one reason that we say in the Creed, " I believe one Catholic 
 Apostolic Church." The word Catholic means universal, and the 
 Episcopal government of the Church was " universal," that is, pre- 
 vailed all over the world, from the time of the Apostles, for 1500 
 years, until it was unhappily changed by Calvin and some others, 
 who thereby became guilty of the sin of schism, which every body 
 knows is a great sin. — See 1 Cor. iii. 3-5. 
 
 Q. Is not the Church "apostolic 7" 
 
 A. The Church is apostolic, being built on the foundation of the 
 apostles, &c. Eph. ii. 20. 
 
 Q. How is any Church now apostolic 7 
 
 A. Every Church is apostolic which holds apostolic doctrine, 
 ministry, sacraments, and worship. 
 
 Q. How is any Church apostolic in its ministry 
 
 A. When it has the orders of the ministry which the apostlea 
 constituted. 
 
14 ANNIVERSARY SERMON. 
 
 Q.. Whet orders are these 1 
 
 A. " Ii vr, evideai unto all rnen diligently reading Holy Scrip- 
 ture and ancieut aatliors, that from the apostles' time there have 
 been these orders of ministers in Christ's Church — Bishops, 
 Priests, and Deacons." 
 
 Q,. Who appointed tiiese orders of the ministry? 
 
 ,4. God, by his " Providence and Holy Spirit," through Jesus 
 Christ and his apostles. 
 
 Q.. What is the internal call to the ministry? 
 
 A. It is that of the Holy Spirit renewing tlie soul, and exciting a 
 person to take Ufiou ium tlie ministry for the glory of God and the 
 salvation of ir>-n 
 
 Q. But is not an external call or commission from God also 
 necessary to constitute a minister ? 
 
 A Yes; no man taketh. this honor unto himself, but he that ia 
 called of God, as was Aaron. Heb. v. 4. 
 
 Q. Did ever our blessed Lord exercise the ministry without 
 this divine commission! 
 
 A. No: Christ glorified not himself to ,'e made a High 
 Priest ; but he that said tinto him, Tlwu art my Sun, to-day have 
 .(begotten thee. Heb. v. 5. 
 
 Q,. From whom is this commission to the ministry to be 
 derived 7 
 
 A. From Christ the Ilead of the Church, and therefore the 
 source of all power in it. 
 
 Q,. How is this commission to be derived from Christ 1 
 
 A. Through the highest order of the ministry, first called 
 Apostles, now called Bishops. 
 
 Q,. Have the Bishops alone the power of ordaining or conferring 
 this commission to the ministry 7 
 
 ^1. Yes ; they alone have the power of ordaining, that is, of com- 
 missioning the ministry. 
 
 Q. To whom did Christ first give power to ordain or com- 
 mission the ministry? 
 
 A. To the apostles and their successors, 
 
 Q. How do you prove this 1 
 
ANNIVERSARY SERMON. 15 
 
 A. He sent, his apostles, and their successors to the end of the 
 toartd, as his Father sent him, to be the ministers and governors 
 of his Church. Matt, xxviii. 20; Jolni xx. 21. 
 
 Q. Wlioni did t!ic apostles commission as then- successors'? 
 
 ^1. Timothy at Ephesus, and Titus at Crete, were commissioned 
 to ordain. J Tim. v. 22 ; Tit. i. 5. 
 
 Q. Did not the Elders or Presbjrters wlio were tlien at Ephesus 
 and Crete possess this power 1 
 
 A. No; for then it would have been unnecessary to send 
 Timothy and Titus there to exercise it. 
 
 Q. Were not Timothy and Titus the governors of tliese Elders 
 or Presbyters, and therefore superior to them ? 
 
 A. Yes; they were to judge them. 1 Tim. v. 19; Tit. iii. 10. 
 
 Q. What were the order of ministers who succeeded the 
 apostles and Timothy and Titus in their powers of ordination and 
 government called 1 
 
 A. After the death of the apostles, the first order of the ministry 
 were called Bishops. 
 
 Q. To whom was this title Bisliop previously applied 1 
 
 A. To the second order of the ministry, then called Presbyters or 
 Elders, ana ixtw also Priests. 
 
 Q. Were not these Presbyters or Elders, though called Bishops, 
 inferior in office to the apostles and their successors, afterward 
 called Bishops'? 
 
 A. Yes ; the apostles, and Timothy and Titus, held distinct and 
 superior offices, which have been conveyed to those nov/ called 
 Bishops. 
 
 Q. Is there not proof in history of tins'? 
 
 A. Y'es ; an ancient father, Theodoret, !3aj's expressly, that the 
 name of Apostle was left to the earlier ano.qtlfs;. 
 
 Q. And what title does he say their siicce,5Sors took 7 
 
 A. Their successors in the powers of ordination and governmsn 
 look, he says, the name oi^ Bishops. 
 
 Q. Do not all the writci-s of the Cliurcli from the beginning bear 
 icsiiuiony to the superioiity of Bishops? 
 
16 ANNIVERSARY SERMON. 
 
 A. Yes ; Ignatius, the disciple of St. John, and all the succeeding 
 faihers, bear decided testimony to tiie superior powers of ijishopsl 
 
 Q. State the testimony of Ignatius. 
 
 A. Ignatius says, " Let no man do any thing of what belongs to 
 -he Church without the Bishop." 
 
 Q. How long were Bishops thus considei-ed throughout the 
 universal Church? 
 
 A. Until the time of the Reformation, in the fifteenth century 
 
 Q. Did iliey thon from the first ordain 1 
 
 A. Yes; Presbyters never assumed the power of ordinatioQ 
 until the Reformation. 
 
 Q. Wiiat are the peculiar and superior powers of Bishops? 
 
 A. To ordain persons to the ministry, and to superintend and 
 govern the Church. 
 
 Catechism, No. III., p. 46, 
 
 Note B. 
 
 Bishop of Smyrna, in Asia Minor, of whom Eusebius, the 
 historian, informs us, that he was familiarly conversant with the 
 Apostles, and received the government of the Church of Smyrna 
 from those who had been eye-witnesses and ministers of our Lord. 
 It makes not a little for the honor of St. Polycarp, and argues his 
 mighty diligence for the good of souls, that Ignatius, passing to 
 his martyrdom, v.'rote to him and particularly recommended to him 
 the inspection and oversight of his Church at Antioch, knowing 
 hirn (says Eusebius) to be truly an apostolical man, and being 
 assured that he would use his utmost care and fidelity in that 
 matter. Smyrna v/as near to Ephesus. and St. John seems to 
 have had a more tlian ordinary regard to this Church, it being, 
 next Ephesus, the first of those peven famous Asian Churches to 
 whom he directed his epistles, and St. Polycarp at tliis time bishop 
 of it ; for that he was that ange.l of the Church of Smyrna, to 
 whom St. Jolin writes in his Revelation, is not only higlily pro- 
 bable, but by Usher in his Preface to the Epistle of Ignatius, put 
 past all question. 
 
Tfif, following sermon was delivered by the autlior to the child- 
 ren of his Sunday School, immediately after a public examination. 
 
 The author hoi>es he iias accomplished what is set forth in the 
 title page. 
 
 He publishes the sermon because he ventures to believe this 
 mode of preaching to children is well calculated to interest them 
 and secure their attention. He found it so, in reference to his 
 own school. For this, however, his scholars were prepared, as 
 the schools with which he has been for the last two years con- 
 nected, have been conducted on the colloquial plan. From this, 
 he thinks, very perceptible benefits have been derived, not only to 
 the scholars, but to the teachers. 
 
 By this means, his schools have been converted into Bible 
 classes, from the youngest to the oldest scholars. His plan has 
 been adopted with success by some of his brethren in the ministry. 
 
 He has always been in the habit of taking the general super- 
 vision of his schools, and for the last two years, has had an exer- 
 cise of his own with the children; endeavoring to make the whole 
 course of instruction as simple and as practical as possible. 
 
 The institution of Sunday Schools is a most blessed charity, 
 and if the present performance shall prove in any way conducive 
 to its extension, or its more etiectual operation, the author will 
 consider himself honored, but will give God the praise. 
 
 Page 2. No. 2008. 
 
A 
 
 SEIIMON FOM CIIII^BREN. 
 
 Come, ye children, hearken unto me ; I will teach you the 
 fear of the Lord. 
 
 ZAth Psalm, Wth verse. 
 
 I AM 2:oing to preach this sermon to you, little children, 
 and therefore I ask you all to be very silent, and to listen to 
 every word that I say. I will try to make it very plain, so 
 that you may easily understand it ; but you know that if it 
 is never so plain, you cannot understand it unless you are 
 careful to listen. 
 
 This is the reason why the text begins by telling you to 
 hearken; for to hearken means to hear — to be still and at- 
 tentive, and to try to understand. 
 
 This I am sure all the good children will do; all those v^'ho 
 learn their lessons well, and go regularly to their Sunday 
 school in good time, and behave well while they are there, 
 and mind all that their teachers bid them to do. 
 
 I shall think you are all such good children if I see you all 
 sitting very still, and listening to what I am saying. But if 
 I see any little girl or boy misbehaving or not listening, then 
 I shall be afraid that that is a bad scholar and a disobedient 
 child : and I dare say if I should ask your teachers they 
 would tell me that I was right. 
 
 I have told you, that to hearken, means to hear or to listen, 
 so now I will repeat the text to you, that you may remember 
 it the better — •■' Come, ye children, hearken unto me ; I will 
 teach you the fear of the Lord." 
 
 But some children may think it very strange that they 
 should be preached to so particularly, I must Uierefore first 
 tell them the reasons for doing so. 
 
 You must know then, that children, when they arc baptized, 
 are made members of the Church, as much as ever grown 
 people are. They are brouglit into the fold of Chrisi, being 
 dedicated to God the Father, who made them and all the 
 world — to God the Son, who redeemed them and all man- 
 kind — and to God the Holy Ghost, who sanctifieth them and 
 all the people of God ; and therefore not only their parents, 
 
but the ministers of the Church also, nre bound to make them 
 know their duty " so soon as they shall be able to learn." 
 
 Little children arc the lambs of the flock of Christ ; and 
 our blessed Saviour, who was himself the good Shepherd, 
 and who laid down his life for the sheep, gave very particular 
 directions when he was on earth, to one of his apostles, to 
 " feed his lambs." 
 
 He had taught his ministers as much as this before, for 
 when some persons brought little ciiildren to him that he 
 might touch them, and when his disciples forbade them, and 
 did not wish to let them come, Jesus was much displeased, and 
 said unto them, " Suifer the little children to come unto me, 
 and forbid them not ; for of such is the kingdom of God." 
 
 And at anotlier time, when some persons asked him, " Who 
 is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven ?'" he called a little 
 child unto him, and set Ihm in the midst of them, and said, 
 " Verily J say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become 
 as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of 
 heaven,' 
 
 Whenever any persons are found who are disposed to learn, 
 and to hear instruction, the Bible says, " God speaketh unto 
 them as unto children." St. Paul also, writinof to the Ephe- 
 sians, says, " Be ye therefore followers of God as dear chil- 
 dren." And because true Christians are humble, and of a 
 meek and quiet spirit, St. John, in his epistles, often calls 
 them " little children." 
 
 When you see that our Saviour took so much notice of little 
 children — that he praised and loved them — and when you also 
 see " how he exhorteth all men to follow their innocency,'' 
 you need not wonder that his ministers -should love them, and 
 should be anxious to teach them too ; especially wlien they 
 recollect his command, whicli I mentioned to you before, that 
 they should '• feed his lambs" — -which means to instruct them, 
 and to watch over them, and to see that they are brought up 
 " in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." 
 
 Children then are a part of the family — the household — 
 the flock of Christ — they are inchided among the number of 
 those whom he hath redeemed with his most precious blood — 
 and are bound to worship and gloriiy God here, that they 
 may enjoy him hsreal'ter ; and the proper time to teach them 
 in what manner they are to "worship and glorify God" is 
 while they are young. You have all heard what the wise man 
 said on this subject. He did not say that parents and minis- 
 ters should wait until you are grown up before they tell you 
 your duty ; but he said, " Train up a child in the way he 
 
should go." Train him up while he is a child, just as you woul» 
 train a vine and lead it in the manner you wish to have i\ 
 grow, while it is yet tender — " Train up a child in the way 
 ne should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it." 
 
 And to show how necessary this training or teaching is, he 
 says in another place, that " a cliild left to himself bringeth 
 his mother to shame." Now only think how bad a child nmst 
 be, when even his mother is ashamed of him ! You know 
 that mothers are so good and so affectionate that they will 
 love their children even when every body else dislikes them. 
 But here it is said, that if a child is left to himself, he will 
 bring even his mother to shame ! And I am sure I need not 
 tell you, that whenever a child becomes so bad, every one 
 must wish to avoid him; and then, besides making his mother 
 unhappy, he must make himself unhappy too ! 
 
 It is to prevent all this misery to you and to yoiir parents, 
 and to make you good children, so that you may be an honour, 
 and a pride, and a pleasure to your parents, that so much 
 pains is taken to train you up while you are young, to instruct 
 you in the way you should go, to bring you up in the nurture 
 and admonition of the Lord. 
 
 The words " nurture and admonition of the Lord" mean the 
 same as teaching the knowledge of him, and impressing that 
 knowledge on the mind : and " to train," means to catechise, 
 (for it so reads in the margin of the Bible,) and you all know 
 how careful the Church has been to provide good Catechisms, 
 which make the Bible easy, and to give them to you : and 
 how ready your ministers are to instruct you in them, and 
 hoM'^ much they desire to make you understand them. 
 
 Some of the best and greatest men that ever lived, have 
 taken pleasure in writing Catechisms for little children, be- 
 cause, like their blessed Lord and Master, they loved little 
 children, and wished to see them made happy by being in- 
 formed of their duty. 
 
 Your Catechisms are among the best that any children have 
 ever had ; and to make them suitable for all, you have the 
 " Scripture Catechism" for the younger children, and the 
 '* Church Catechism" in the Prayer Book, and "the Church 
 Catechism broke into short Questions and Answers, and 
 enlarged and explained," and proved to be all true, and taken 
 out of the Bible, by pointing out the texts where every part 
 is to be found. And in addition to your minister and youi 
 parents, you have your good Sunday school teachers, who are 
 willing to assist your minister and your parents in teachinn 
 you all these things. 
 
Now, afler telling you so much, to show that it is right for 
 the Church, and your minister, and your parents, and your 
 Sunday school teachers, to take pains to instruct you in your 
 duty, I think you will see that it is right sometimes to preach 
 to you about it too, and especially when so large a number of 
 children are collected together as are now here before me. 
 
 But besides all this, the Bible itself preaches to little chil- 
 dren, for it says in one place, '' Children, obey your parents in 
 the Lord, for this is ricfht;" and in another place, as if to re- 
 prove those boys or girls who only mind their parents in some 
 things, and disobey them in others, it says, '• Children, obey 
 your parents 171 all tilings /' and the fifth commandment, which 
 begins, "Honour thy father and thy mother." is addressed 
 chiefly to children, and so too are many other places, which 1 
 would beg you to mark whenever you find them in readincr youi 
 Bibles ; and get them by heart, and be careful to practise them. 
 
 in the book of Proverbs you will find the wise man con- 
 tinually saying, " ]My son," do this, and, '• my son," avoid 
 that ; and, in the very beginning of it, it says, that it is in- 
 tended '• to teach the yoiai^ man knowledge and discretion." 
 A.nd in the book of Ecclesiastes you are expressly command 
 ed to •■ Remember your Creator in the days of your youth." 
 
 Well, now that you know it to be right to preach to children, 
 and that we preach to you for 5'our good, I must go on and 
 explain the text to you — ■• Come, ye children, hearken unto 
 me ; I will teach you tlie fear of the Lord." 
 
 It is very likely that some of you will think you would 
 ratlier not hear any thing about the fear of the Lord. One 
 little boy may say, " I am already afraid to think about God, 
 and 1 do not want to become more so." 
 
 Now this is one of the very reasons why I wish to preach to 
 you about it; for you must know, little children, that the text 
 is not intended to make you afraid of the Lord, as such chil- 
 dren seem to suppose. The Bible teaches us to love God ; 
 and our Saviour calls this the first and great commandment — 
 "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and 
 with all thy soul, and with all thy mind." 
 
 The fear of the Lord which 1 v.ish to teach you. is a. fear 
 of offending him. This is the fear of which the Bible speaks; 
 and indeed the way in which 3'ou are to show that you truly 
 love God. is by being afraid to disobey hJs comn:andments. 1 
 hope you will always be afraid to do any thing which his word 
 has told you to be wrcaig, or to neglect what you know to be 
 right; but you ought never to be afraid of God when you ara 
 
striving to do what he commands, and to please him, as good 
 children should, for he has said, '' I love them that love me ;" 
 and in order to encourage you to serve him while you are 
 yourtg, he has given ihe promise, " they that seek me early 
 shall lind me." 
 
 The fear- of the Lord in the text then means, a revrence 
 for him ; a respect such as you would feel towards a parent, 
 or any person whose good opuiion you wish to gain ; and this 
 fear always includes love and confidence, and a desire to please 
 him. This fear of the Lord is that holy fear which religious 
 people have for him ; and they are not afraid of God, because 
 they know him to be good and gracious, and they believe his 
 promise, that he loves them that love him. It is only wicked 
 people, or those who neglect religion, that are afraid of God ; 
 and they may well be so, for he has threatened to punish 
 them for not having a right fear of him, such as would keep 
 them from sinning against him. 
 
 The fear of the Lord then, which the Bible teaches, is a 
 fear of doing any thing that is wrong — any thing which God 
 would dislike, or which he has forbidden, or which he has 
 threatened to punish; and it implies also such a respect for 
 the character of God, such a belief of his wisdom, and his 
 power, and his goodness, as would make "you love the thing 
 which he commands, and desire that which he doth promise." 
 You can yourselves tell whether children have this fear of 
 God or not. If you were to hear a boy saying bad words, 
 swearing, or profaning the name of God, when you know 
 that God has said he will not hold him guiltless that taketh 
 his name in vain ; would you not say at once '• that boy has 
 never been taught the fear of the Lord ?" Or if you saw a 
 girl or boy answering back to their father or mother, disobey- 
 ing them when they had bid them do any thing, and perhaps 
 mocking them, as only the very worst children in the world 
 would do, when God has said, "■ Honour thy father and thy 
 mother;" " Children, obey your parents in all things ;'' and 
 when his word has threatened, " The eye that mocketh at 
 his father, and despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the 
 valley sliall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it;" 
 would you not say that tliat child also had nut been tauglit the 
 fear of the Lord.'' and would you not say the same thing of 
 those that profaned the Lord's day, when the commandment 
 Bays, "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy;" or ot 
 those that tell wilful falsehoods, when it says in the Bible, 
 " all liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with 
 fire and brimstone ?" 
 
8 
 
 Yes, I am sure you would say of all such as wilfully mis- 
 behave, and of all too who never say their prayers and never 
 read God's word, " there is no fear of God before their eyes;" 
 and you would think too that they had never been at a Sun- 
 day school, where children are taught the fear of the Lord. 
 But I must tell you a thing which I am almost ashamed to 
 tell, and which I would not tell, if I did not hope it would 
 shame the bad boy to whom it relates, if he is here, or any 
 others who may act like him. 
 
 I was one day going through the street, and heard a boy 
 using very bad language to another, and presently he began 
 to swear, and profane the most holy name of God. I was 
 shocked, and thought this must be one of those poor children 
 who had been left to himself, and iiad never been instructed. 
 So I went to him, and asked him whether he had ever attend- 
 ed a Sunday school.^ and I cannot tell you how he surprised 
 me when he said he had, and that he belonged to one of 
 the schools now before me. If I could recollect his name I 
 would think it right to tell it aloud to you all : for what can be 
 so base as for a boy who goes to Sunday school, who is every 
 Sunday taught to reverence God and not to take his name in 
 vain ; who repeats the commandments, and says the Cate- 
 chism, yet to behave so wickedly : Such a boy may perhaps 
 learn his lessons well, but that only makes him the more 
 guilty for not minding them : he may fear his teachers^ but 
 ne does not fear God. 
 
 If there were many such cases, I should be sorry that your 
 teachers were spending so much of their time to no purpose ; 
 but it is only now and then we meet with such boys. I would 
 perhaps not have mentioned this, if I had not yesterday fallen 
 in with another like the one I have spoken of. I am glad to 
 tell you that he did not belong to any of our schools. 
 
 I have said enough to show you what is meant by not fear- 
 ing the Lord, and now you might almost understand yourselves 
 what is meant by the text when it says, " Come, ye children, 
 and hearken unto me ; and I will teach you the fear of the 
 Lord." 
 
 I hope many of you are yourselves examples of what it 
 means — that you have learned to reverence his name — that 
 you read his holy word, desiring to know how you ought to 
 live to please him — that you keep holy his sacred day — that 
 you honour your parents, and love your brothers and sisters, 
 and say your prayers to God for them, as well as for your- 
 Belves, every morning and evening, and " walk in his fear all 
 the day long," This is what is meant by fearing the Lord; 
 
9 
 
 and this fear of the Lord is said in many places in Scripture 
 to be " the beginning of wisdom," and I will give you two 
 reasons why it is so. 
 
 The first is, that it will make you respected, and beloved, 
 and happy, in this life. This is taught you in every part of 
 tlie Bible, and I am sure you might discover the same thing 
 by looking round upon the world, for who is so happy as he 
 who in ah his actions hates what God hath forbidden, and 
 does what he hath commanded, who avoids all strifes and 
 quarrels, who maintains love and friendship with his neigh- 
 bours, who •' follows peace with all men, and holiness, with- 
 out which no ma,n shall see the Lord.'' 
 
 If you do so you will gain the favour of men, or if not 
 you will still be suie of God's protection, and that is enough; 
 for if the Lord is on your side, you need not fear what man 
 can do to you. " For when a man's ways please the Lord, he 
 maketh his enemies to be at peace with him." 
 
 Thus you will find "the fear of the Lord is honour, and 
 glory, and gladness, and a crown of rejoicing. The fear of 
 the Lord maketh a cheerful heart, and giveth joy and glad- 
 ness, and a long life." Fear the Lord then, if you would be 
 truly happy, for they that fear him lack nothing. *' The 
 lions do lack and suffer hunger, but they that fear the Lord 
 will lack no manner of thing that is good." 
 
 " As for the ungodly, it is not so with them." The wicked 
 person has no real friend on earth, and God is his enemy ; 
 " for the countenance of the Lord is against them that do 
 evil, to root out the r enter abr arte e of them from the earth. 
 The Lord approveth the way of the righteous, but the way 
 of the ungodly shall perish." 
 
 Thus you see that if you wish to be happy even here, you 
 must be good. This will make you beloved by all around 
 you, and make the hearts of your parents to rejoice over their 
 child ; and if they should die while you are yet young, you 
 may still look up to God to take care of you, and say, '■' When 
 my father and my mother forsake me, the Lord taketh me up." 
 
 The first reason then which I have given you, why this 
 fear of the Lord about which I have spoken, is the beginning 
 of wisdom, is, that it will make you respected, and beloved, 
 and happy in this life. But another life is before you when 
 this is past ; and this fear of the Lord is the beginning of 
 wisdom in respect of that also, for it will be certain to make 
 you happy hereafter. Not that you can make yourselves 
 worthy of God's favour, so as to demand any reward from 
 
10 
 
 him, for " we are accounted righteous before God, only for 
 
 the merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ by faith, and 
 not for our own works or deservings ;"' but God has made 
 great promises to them that love him and keep his command- 
 ments. We are all sinners frcxn the youngest to tlie oldest, 
 and we have reason to pray God to have mercy upon us as 
 offenders against him. We have every day reason to sa}'-, as 
 we do in our prayers, that " we have e^rred and strayed from 
 his ways like lost sheep — that we have left undone those 
 things which we ought to have done ; and that i\'e have done 
 those things which v»'e ought not to have done ;" and there- 
 fore we beg him " not to deal with us according to our sins, 
 neither to reward us according to our iniquities." 
 
 Now it is your privileo-e, little children, to know that God 
 is good ; that though we have sinned against him, '■ there is 
 forgiveness with him, that he may be feared ;" you are taught 
 " to enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts 
 with praise ;"' you are taught '"to be thankful unto him, and 
 to speak good of his name." You have all heard that beautiful 
 collect which teaches us to pray to God as him that '•' hateth 
 nothing that he hath made, and doth forgive the sins of all 
 those that are penitent ;" and you have read in the Bible, 
 *' that God so loved the world tliat he gave his only begotten 
 Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but 
 have everlasting life." 
 
 When our blessed Saviour in the fulness of time came into 
 the world to die for sinners according to the Scriptures, he 
 was very careful to impress this lesson, that God was good ; 
 and in that prayer which we call the Lord's prayer, because 
 we received it from him. he instructed us to look up to that 
 
 freat Being who dwelleth in heaven, and to call him " our 
 'ather " — '■ Our Father, who art in heaven;" and because he 
 knew how weak we are of ourselves, and how unable to serve 
 him as we ought, he promised to send his Holy Spirit, that 
 Spirit which will put into our minds good desires, and enable 
 us to bring them to good effect ; and to encourage you to 
 pray for his assistance, he lias assured you. that if your earthly 
 fathers " will give sfood D-ifls unto their children, much more 
 will your Father who is' in heaven give the Holy Spirit to 
 them that ask him." If then, little children, you are willing 
 to be taught the fear of the Lord, and if you pray to him, he 
 will give you that Holy Spirit ; and if you sincerely obey its 
 influences, you will find tliat his " grace is sufficient for you; 
 his strength will be made perfect in your weakness ;" he will 
 " guide you with his counsel while you live, and after that 
 
11 
 
 receive you into glory." Jesus Christ, your blessed Saviour, 
 when he had sutfered the sliarpnSss of death, opened the 
 kingdom of heaven to all believers. He has risen from the 
 dead, the tirst-fruits of them that slept ; and is noAv ascended 
 unto his Father and your Father, to his God and your God ; 
 and he has given his promise to them that love and obey 
 him, that because he lives, they shall live also — that they 
 shall be with him where he is to behold his glory. 
 
 You see that if you are good, and put your trust in him, 
 you need not fear to die whenever God pleases to call you 
 out of this world. You shall •' walk through the vallej^ of 
 the shadow of death, and fear no evil ;" for your Savicir, 
 who lias promised that he will come and receive you u'^to 
 himself, will support and defend you. This, then, is the 
 second reason why you should fear the Lord. " Whoso 
 feareth the Lord, it shall go well with him at the last, and he 
 Bhall find favour in the day of his death." 
 
 Now I have told you what " the fear of the Lord" means ; 
 and I have given you two reasons why it is " the beginning 
 of wisdom." The first is, that it will make you happy iji this 
 life ; the second, that it will make you happy in the jiext. 
 
 Recollect then it is never too soon to begin to be trul}^ wise, 
 any more than it can be too soon to begin to be truly happy. 
 Besides tnis, you may die while you are young ; and only 
 think what it must be to be afraid to die, as all wicked children 
 surely must. But if you fear God while you live, you will 
 not be afraid of him when you come to die. Tliis we Icnoic, 
 for every year some of the children of our Sunday schools 
 die, and when they have been good children, it delights us to 
 hear how willing they were to go to God — how they thanked 
 their kind instructors for teachin* them the fear of the Lord — 
 how they trusted in his promises, and believing in the merits 
 of Him who redeemed them by nis blood, and sanctified them 
 by his grace, did not fear to die — how they consoled their 
 parents and friends, by telling them not to weep for them, 
 for that they knew they were going to be happy v/ith God ! 
 
 These are the blessed consequences of learning '■'• the fear 
 of the Lord,'' and doing his will. 1 hope and pray that you 
 all will fear and obey him, and therefore,! shall close my 
 sermon, in the words of St. John — " And now, little children, 
 ooide in him, that when he shall appear, ye may have coa- 
 fidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming." 
 
Bmutiful Books, 
 
 PUBLISHED BY 
 
 THE GENERAL PROTESTANT EPISCOPXl, 
 SUNDAY SCHOOL UNION. 
 
 Depository 20 John Street, New York. 
 
 Qllje (Hombataiits. 
 
 Just Published, 
 With beautifiU Engravings fro7ii Designs by Darleij. 
 
 " ' The Combat-ants' is, perliaps, the best of the 
 series of allegorical portraitures of the Christian 
 life which has lately issued from Mr. ^lonro's 
 pen. An allegory, to be of any use, should prac- 
 tically enforce a lesson, the theoretical truth of 
 which is as Avidel}^ indisputable as possible. And 
 Mr. Monro, like Mr. Adams, has certainly in all 
 cases followed with more or less closeness this 
 general rule : and, in the present, wherein the 
 groat and universal truth of the militant cliarac- 
 ter of the Christian life on earth is well and for- 
 cibly illustrated, he is (juite free from one slight- 
 est infraction of it. Moreover, there are pas- 
 sages in ' The Combatants,' that call up, though 
 in a less degree, similar feelings to those with 
 
2 BEAUTIFUL PUBLICATIONS 
 
 which we read '- The Old Man's Home.' There 
 is more than one scene in the allegory, particularly 
 the closing scenes of the lives of the imaginary 
 combatants, in which we fancy that we hear the 
 writer speak what he has seen and heard and 
 known, and not the mere speculations of his fancy ; 
 and on this account we think that this little story 
 bears the palm over any of those, by the same 
 author, which have preceded it." 
 
 London Guardian. 
 
 ffilje Park Hber. 
 
 AN ALLEGORY BY THE REV. EDWARD MONRO. 
 
 With beautiful Engrav ings from Designs by Cliapruan. 
 
 " This is a beautiful book, and calculated to 
 make a deep impression on the minds of tho 
 young. The allegory is admirably sustained, and 
 the application most touching and pathetic." 
 Young Churchman^ Mlstellany. 
 
 '• This is one of the best religious allegories 
 which we have seen." 
 
 True Catholic. 
 
 '• The conversational and narrative parts are 
 happily intermingled, and it will be found both 
 suggestive and impressive." 
 
 Literary World. 
 
OF THE SUNDAY SCHOOL UNION, 6 
 
 ffilje Kind's Mtssm^n's. 
 
 BY THE ATTTHOR OF THE OLD MAN'S HOME. 
 
 With beautiful Engravings from Designs by Weir, 
 
 '' The design of this allegory is, to illustrate 
 the Christian sentiment of ' stewardship.' In 
 the city of Moeticia, lying west of the dominions 
 of the G-reat King, were four brothers — Philar- 
 gyr, Megacles, Euprepes, and Sophron ; imper- 
 sonations of Avarice, Fame, Ostentation, and 
 Heavenly Wisdom. The allegorical representa- 
 tions by which these moral qualities pass before 
 us are ingeniously sustained, and the final end of 
 each impressively described. The ' King's Mes- 
 sengers' are the calls of Charity. We think this 
 the most ingenious of Mr. Adams' Allegories. 
 The engravings are from original designs, and 
 the whole execution of the work is far in advance 
 of the London edition." 
 
 Church Review. 
 
 " This book, like many other publications of 
 the General Prot. Epis. Sunday School Union, is 
 adapted to the wants and tastes of adults as well 
 as children. It is inimitably excellent. It 
 can interest even the thoughtless, and none 
 but the desperately perverse can rise from the pe- 
 rusal of it without being improved ; it aims sim- 
 ply at illustrating and enforcing the memorable 
 
4 BEAUTIFUL PUBLICATIONS 
 
 injunction of our Lord, '■ Lay up for yourselves 
 treasures in Heaven ;" and it accomplishes its 
 purpose in a way at once excellent and captivat- 
 ing. It is an allegory of a very unostentatious 
 plan, so clearly and happily sustained, that from 
 first to last it has all the effect of a captivating 
 tale, and at the same time, keeps the attention of 
 the reader constantly fixed upon the moral it in- 
 culcates." 
 
 Evergreen. 
 
 -' This Allegory (alas, that it is the last of its 
 excellent author) is designed to inculcate the 
 Christian duties of alms-giving, and of kindness 
 to the poor ; incidentally, contempt of the world, 
 and the cultivation of a love for heavenly things, 
 are also taught. 
 
 ***** We recommend earnestly 
 to all who have the care of children, to make 
 them acquainted with it ; and will merely remark, 
 that, while there is nothing, whatever, in the book 
 to which the most fastidious Churchman could 
 not readily subscribe, or which he would not be 
 anxious that his little ones should learn, there is 
 also nothing which could render a Christian of 
 any other class unwilling to put it into the hands 
 of his children." 
 
 Tribe Catholic 
 
OF THE SUNDAY SCHOOL UNION. 5 
 
 " This is in appearance a most attractive book, 
 SO far as cliaste and beautiful binding, excellent 
 printing, and appropriate and finely executed il- 
 lustrations can make it so. Of its contents we need 
 hardly speak to those who are acquainted with 
 its author's otlier writings. ****** 
 ****** We commend it as a sound, 
 practical work, adapted to the understanding of 
 children, and conveying most important lessons 
 in a manner likely to secure attention, and to 
 make a deep and lasting impression on the young 
 heart." 
 
 Banner of the Cross. 
 
 Qllje CDllr iilan'0 Qome. 
 
 BY THE AUTHOR OF SACRED ALLEGORIES. 
 
 With beautiful Engravings,, from Designs by Weir. 
 
 " This is a narrative of an • Old man' of ninety 
 six years, whom the writer firot meets in a roman- 
 tic dell on the coast of the Isle of Wight, and in 
 whose mind the one all-engrossing thought, which 
 took complete possession of every feeling and 
 sympathy of his nature, was that of his final Home. 
 His residence in the asylum for half a century, 
 his literal interpretation of the precepts and 
 promises of God's Holy Word, his reputed insan- 
 ity, his allegorical conversation, his attachment to 
 • little Annie,' his past history and bereavements, 
 
b BEAUTIFUL PUBLICO TFONS 
 
 hi-s death, and his resting-plaoe in the cLuroh-yard, 
 are incidents which the gifted author has woven 
 into a stor}'. told with great simplicity and eliect. 
 The illustrations of the engraver are as taste- 
 fully executed as the designs (which are orlgiiial 
 with the Union) are happily conceived. We are 
 not surprised at the popularity of 3Ir. Adams' 
 books." 
 
 Church 'Review. 
 
 " This is a touching tale of an Old man crazed 
 by domestic bereavement, who recovers hisintellect 
 so far as to grasp the idea., that he is journeying 
 to his Home to rejoin his lost wife and children, 
 and to grasp firmly no other idea. If it is not 
 true, there is an air of truth about it. which is 
 unequalled except by De Foe. But whether truth 
 or fiction, it is one of the most instructive little 
 books we know of, and one to the tendencies of 
 which we can give the most unreserved recom- 
 mendation." 
 
 True, Catholic. 
 
 " The Old Man\s Home is by the author of 
 ' The Shadow of the Cross,' and may well take 
 place by its side as a companion volume. The 
 title plainly indicates the subject. Devoid of the 
 slightest approach to rant or turgidity, the touch- 
 ing and simple story is told with much purity 
 
OF THE SUNDAY SCHOOL UNION. 7 
 
 and grace of ?tyle : and the interest whicli is early 
 excited is sustained without flagging to the very 
 last page. Let a book like this be put in the 
 hands of a child, and we have no fear of the re- 
 sult." 
 
 Literary World. 
 
 Saci'Di) Allegories. 
 
 SCDe <S|)atioh) of t!ic ©ross. 
 Silje Bfstant ?9iUs. 
 
 BY THE REV. WILLIAM ADAMS, M.A. 
 
 With beautiful Engravings from Designs by Chapman. 
 
 " These are among the most suitable presents 
 for the approaching festival, which Christian 
 parents or friends can select for their children. 
 The only allegories which we think entitled to be 
 compared with them are the ' Pilgrim's Progress' 
 and those of Archdeacon Wilberforce. While 
 the mixture of an erroneous theology checks our 
 admiration of the in some respects unrivalled 
 work of Bunyan, there is no drawback of that 
 kind from those of Wilberforce or Adams. The 
 allegories immediately before us are brought into 
 a small compass, and will be easily understood by 
 all but very young children. The printing and 
 general getting up of the books is worthy of the 
 
8 BEAUTIFUL PUBLICATIONS 
 
 books themselves, and the illustrations which 
 have been added to the American edition are in 
 the best style of American art. We cheerfully 
 give to these books the very highest commenda- 
 tion." 
 
 True Catholic. 
 
 " This volume contains • The Shadow of the 
 Cross' and 'The Distant Hills.' Not long ago, 
 as we lay on a sick bed, the ' Shadow of the Cross' 
 was read to us, and we thought, at the time, that 
 there could be nothing more beautiful or more 
 affecting. This impression has never since been 
 effaced ; and we regard these allegories as worthy 
 of a place in every family and every Sunday 
 school library." ***** 
 
 Young Churchman! s Miscellany. 
 
 " Written in simple, earnest language, free 
 from affectation or attempt at fine writing, they 
 also possess much narrative interest, and no small 
 degree of descriptive power. Such qualities ren- 
 der it an eligible work to put into the hands of 
 children. The wood engravings are unusually 
 well executed, from the elegant designs of Chap- 
 man ; they are charming specimens of the art. 
 The paper, print, and binding are all of good 
 quality, and show that good taste and good judg- 
 ment have presided over the mechanical as well 
 as the intellectual department." 
 
 Literary World 
 
PUBLISHED BY 
 
 THE GEN. PROT. EPIS. S. SCHOOL UNION. 
 
 DEPOSITORY 20 JOHN STREET, NEW YORK, 
 
 DANIEL DANA, JR. AGENT. 
 
 BOOKS OF OBSTRUCTION, AT REDUCED PRICES. 
 
 The Union Priiner, . . per hundred. $ 2 00 
 
 Protestant Episcopal S. S. Book, No. 1, . . 1 25 
 
 2, . 1 50 
 
 3, . . 1 75 
 '\ " " 4, . 3 50 
 
 Questions on the Sunday School Books, . . 4 00 
 Catechism No. 1, {Scripture Catechism,) . 1 25 
 Catechism No. 2, {Catechism broken into short Ques- 
 tions and Answers,) . . • 2 00 
 Catechism No. 3, {Catechism evlarged by Bishop Ho- 
 
 bart,) stiff covers, . . . 6 00 
 Catechism No. 4, {Catechism of the History of our 
 
 Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,) . 4 00 
 
 Beaven's Help to Catechising, . . . 6 00 
 
 Lloyd's Catechism on the Evidences of the Bible, 2 50 
 
 Church Catechism, . . . . . 1 00 
 
 First Truths, ... . 2 00 
 
 Duty to God, ...... 50 
 
 Church Primer, . . . . . 1 25 
 
 Easy Questions for a little Child, . . . 2 00 
 
 Sunday School Office of Devotion, . . 1 75 
 
 Sunday School Psalms and Hymns, . . 5 00 
 Sunday School Liturgy and Psalms and Hymns, stiff 
 
 covers . . . . . . 6 00 
 
 Manual of Short Prayers for Children, . . 1 50 
 
 Harmony of the Creeds, . . . . 2 00 
 
 Questions on Book of Common Prayer, . 2 00 
 
 Collects, from the Prayer Book, . . . 1 50 
 
 Questions on the Collects, stiff covers, . . 6 00 
 
 Catechism on the Collects, half bound, . . 20 00 
 
 Epistles and Gospels from Prayer Book, . 6 00 
 Questions on Epistles and Gospels, Parts 1 and 2, stiff 
 
 covers, . . . . . . 8 00 
 
 Manual of Oral Instruction upon the Bible, . 2 00 
 
 Bible Companion, Vol. 1, Old Testament, . 18 00 
 
 " 2, New, " . . 20 00 
 
 Questions on St. Matthew, Part I, stiff covers, 6 00 
 
 n, " . . 6 00 
 
 III, " . 6 00 
 
 Questions on The Acts, Part I, " . . 6 00 
 
 II, " . 6 00 
 
 ni, " . . 5 00 
 
LIBRARY BOOKS. 
 
 Arabian Martyr, .... cts. 9 
 Adorning of Good "Works, .... 9 
 
 Anniversary Sermons, by Duffie and Bayard, . 10 
 
 Anniversary Book, .... 10 
 
 Adversity a Blessing, . . . . .10 
 
 Alan Gilbert's Last Birth-day, ... 21 
 
 Agathos, and other Sunday Stories, . . .30 
 
 Bee Hive Cottage, ..... 9 
 
 Boy who Loved the Bible, . . _ . 9 
 Blind :Man and Little George, and I can do Without it, 10 
 Barnabas Hill, . 
 Beatitudes. (The^ 
 
 Blossoms of Childhood, 
 
 Botany of the Scriptures, .... 35 
 
 Blessings of Providence, . . . .30 
 
 Caskets, (The) ..... 9 
 
 Crooked Paths, ..... 9 
 
 Convenient Food, ..... 10 
 
 Children of Hazlewood School, ... 12 
 
 Castle on the Rock, ...... 15 
 
 Cripple of the Rail Road, .... 15 
 
 Child of the Church, .... 18 
 
 Conversations between a Mother and her Daughter, 26 
 Conversations on the Lives and Writings of the Evan- 
 
 geUsts and Apostles,_ . , . .26 
 
 Commandment with Promise, ... 35 
 
 Children's Magazine, . . 17 volumes, each, 40 
 
 The Same, in 34 Half Yearly Volumes, each, 23 
 Dialogues on Attending Church, and Bishop Hobart's 
 
 Address to a Sunday School, . . 10 
 Death of John Baptist, . _ . . .10 
 
 Dialogues at Woodvale about Missions, . . 20 
 
 Duffie's Sermons, ..... 21 
 
 Dark River, (The) ..... 30 
 
 An Elegant Edition, on large paper, fine muslin, 62 
 
 Distant Hills, (The) . . . . _ • . 62 
 
 An Elegant Illustrated Book, not yet issued in 
 Library Style. 
 Ellen's Visit to the Shepherd, , . . .10 
 
 Edward Trueman, or False Impressions, . 18 
 Edwin, or the Motherless Boy, . . .28 
 
 Fear of the LoKD, ..... 9 
 
 Faithful Little Girl, 10 
 
 Faithful Dogs, ..... 10 
 
 Floods, (The) 10 
 
 Fisherman's Hut, ..... 12 
 
 Fidelis, The Soldier of the Prince of Peace, . 12 
 
LIBRARY BOOKS. 
 
 Farmer's Narrative of his Conversion, . cts. 
 
 Fall of Crcesus, ..... 
 First Day of the Week, .... 
 
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 Family Visiter, . . 3 vols. 12 mo., each. 
 
 Gardener's Daughter, ..... 
 Guilty Tongue, ..... 
 Honest Penny, (An) ..... 
 Happy Death, ..... 
 
 Humble Reformer, ..... 
 Holy Child Jesus, ..... 
 Holy Child of Nazareth, .... 
 
 Harvest Home, . . _ . 
 
 History of Our Blessed Lord, in Easy Verse, 
 
 An Elegant Edition of this Book, on large and 
 
 thick paper, with 6 Beautiful Lithographic 
 
 Illustrations, in muslin, . 
 Harry Williams, 
 House of the Thief, 
 It will Never be Found Out, . 
 Infant Brother, 
 
 James Ford, The Heedless Boy, 
 John Pascal and Henry Marshall, 
 James Talbot, . 
 James Haswell, 
 Jessamine Cottage, 
 Joseph and His Brethren, .... 
 Juvenile Repository, . . .3 vols., each. 
 
 Vol. IV. 
 Juvenile Library, . .6 vols. 32mo., each. 
 
 Journal of Christian Education, 4 vols. 8 vo., each, 1 
 Kind Father's Advice, .... 
 Lost Child, (The) 
 Little Beggars, (The) 
 Little Flora, . 
 Little Foundling, 
 Loss of the Kent, 
 Lectures for Children, 
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 Laundry Maid, 
 Last Day of the Week, 
 Letters to Sunday Scholars, 
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 Memory, 
 Miller's Daughter, . 
 
LIBRARY BOOKS. 
 
 My Bible and }ly Calling, 
 
 McEUen Family, 
 
 Memoir of Sarah E. D. 
 
 Matthew and Francis Preston, 
 
 Mary Grant, 
 
 Monument of Parental Affection, 
 
 Memory's Tribute, 
 
 Marten and His Scholars, . 
 
 IMeeting of the Travellers, 
 
 Morning Improved, Vol. 1. 
 
 Morning Improved, Vol. 2. 
 
 My Station and Its Duties, 
 
 McEllen Tracts, 
 
 Noise, (The) 
 
 Neale's Emblems, 
 
 Orphan Boy and Procrastination, 
 
 Orphan Rachel, 
 
 Proper Spirit, 
 
 Pastoral Letter and Voice from the Dead, 
 
 Plan of Salvation, . 
 
 Philip and His Garden, 
 
 Present far Sunday Scholars, 
 
 Premium, (The) and The Two Servants, 
 
 Pattv and Jane, .... 
 
 Pinlc Tippet, 
 
 Palestine and Lebanon, (Three Weeks in) 
 
 Patrick's Book for Beginners, 
 
 Rushbearing, (The) 
 
 Remembrances of Scotland, . 
 
 Rector's Visits, on the Lord's Prayer, 
 
 Runaway, (The) 
 
 Recollections of a Beloved Sister, 
 
 Sunday School Teachers, 
 
 Seeds of Greediness, 
 
 Soldier's Grave, 
 
 Star, (The) . 
 
 Sundays at Home, 
 
 School Dialogues, . 
 
 Spiritual Vegetation, 
 
 Scripture Language, 
 
 Stray Child, 
 
 Savioup.'s Example, (The) 
 
 Seed Time and Harvest, 
 
 Sarah Wolston, 
 
 Simple Flower, 
 
 Soldier's Daughter, 
 
 Scripture History* 
 
LIBRARY BOOKS. 
 
 Susan Harvey, . _ . . . cts. 
 
 Sunday School Memorials, .... 
 
 Sacred History, Old Testament, . 
 " " New Testament, 
 
 Shadow of the Cross, .... 
 
 An Eiegantly Illustrated Book, not yet issued in 
 Library Siyle. 
 Sermons to Children, 2 vols. .... 
 
 Sketches and Stories for Young Children, 32mo.,fine 
 mushn, ...... 
 
 4 vols. 12mo., each. 
 
 52 
 
 25 
 
 Sunday School Visiter, . 4 vols. 12mo., each, 75 
 
 Two FamiUes, ...... 9 
 
 Thief Reclaimed, ..... 9 
 
 Translation of Elijah, ..... 10 
 
 Travelling Beggars, .... 10 
 
 Two Carpenters, ..... 14 
 
 Treatise on Prayer, .... 22 
 
 Verse Book, ...... 10 
 
 Visit, (The) 10 
 
 ViUage, (The) 16 
 
 Visits to Aunt Clement, . . • . 27 
 
 Visit to Nahant, ..... 30 
 
 "Wisdom in Youth, ..... 9 
 
 WiUirim and Susan, ..... 10 
 
 Whit IS Liberty'? 12 
 
 Widow Gray, . ..... 12 
 
 Way of Peace, ..... 15 
 
 Week Completed, 18 
 
 Wonders of the Deep, .... 21 
 Week in the New Year, . . . .25 
 
 Workhouse, (The) .... 25 
 
 Week, (The) 36 
 
 Winter's Tale, (The) .... 25 
 Yes and No, and the Swan, . . .10 
 
 Young Prophet, ..... 10 
 Young Christian's Pocket Book, . . .18 
 
 Many of the Books in this List are also furnished in fin© 
 muslin, gilt, at an advance of 4 a 8 cents in the price. 
 
-. ^ — -~ — ^ ^^w^ 
 
 BEAUTIFUL BOCKS, g 
 
 f PUBLISHED BY THE GEN. PROT. EFIS. S. SCHOOL UNION, ^^ 
 Depository 20 Jobiii St. N. Y. 
 
 THE 
 
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BEAUTIFUL BOOKS, 
 
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