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great Jehovah. 'Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea: even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold If I say, surely the darkness shall cover me; even the light about me. Yea the darkness hideth not from Thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to Thee.' *

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"The subsequent history," observed Mrs. Gracelove, "of Jonah's awful transgression, and which was written for our learning, proves most emphatically the truth of the verses you have just read. Though Jonah fled to Tarshish, as he vainly thought,' from the presence of the Lord,' yet the allseeing eye of God watched his rebellious movements, and fearfully punished his disobedient servant. The ship, on board of which he had gone as a place of security, and as a means of escape, proved the very place of his destruction. For the Lord raised a mighty tempest in the sea,' in consequence of which the vessel was in the most imminent danger of being lost; and, as was the custom in those days, the affrighted sailors' cast lots' that they might know for whose cause this evil came upon them. So they cast lots and the lot fell upon Jonah. So they took up Jonah and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging. Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the Lord, and made vows. Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.'

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Thus you perceive, my dear, but very naughty child, * Psalm cxxxix. 7-12.

what a dreadful fate followed the disobedience of the prophet. Nay, so powerfully did conscience at length operate on his terrified mind, that he was compelled to become his own accuser: for you have just read, in the twelfth verse of the first chapter, the confession he made to the sailors, in the following words-" And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you: for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you. This was no less than the Spirit of God speaking by the voice of the prophet; for, as you have seen, the moment the offender was cast forth the sea became calm, and the ship was in safety.

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"I wish now to call your attention, Maria," proceeded her mamma, to the mercy as well as to the judgments of the Almighty; and to impress on your mind the profound efficacy of sincere and fervent prayer, when offered up in penitence and true faith. When Jonah, after having been thus swallowed up by the great fish which the Lord had prepared,' prayed unto God from the depths of the sea-from the dreadful prison in which he was now confined, the belly of the fish-the Lord, in his infinite and long suffering compassion, most graciously heard him. His cry of affliction was regarded, and his prayer of faith granted by Him who desireth not the death of a sinner, but rather that he turn from his wickedness and live.' And the Lord spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah on the dry land.'

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"And now, my child," said the pious and judicious mother, "let me make the application of what you have now read and heard to your own case. Though your offence, I admit, is by no means so great as was that of Jonah, for the reason I have mentioned, yet still is it an offence, and of the same character-an offence both to God and man. In the fifth commandment, as you well know, your Maker

strictly enjoins obedience to parents, as the condition of your being permitted to live. And as He removed Jonah, by a fearful judgment, from the face of the earth, for the space of three days and three nights, and would most probably have continued the judgment against him for ever, had he not repented of his sin and prayed unto the Lord his God;' so is there much reason to fear, my dear Maria, that unless you repent of the disobedience you have committed this morning, God will visit your offence for the violation of his fifth commandment. The case of the people of Nineveh affords, also, an additional ground of hope, that all who repent of their sins, and pray for mercy, will receive a gracious pardon. For it is recorded of them, that God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil that He had said that He would do unto them; and He did it not.'*

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"And now my dear, but offending child," said her loving parent, "kneel down, and beg pardon of God for the disobedience of which you have been guilty."

The poor child, who had at first manifested some degree of irritability at the discovery that had been made of her undutiful conduct, as well as of sullenness, during a portion of the long lecture that had been delivered to her, but who had become gradually softened by the affectionate and convincing admonitions of her tender parent, accompanied as they had been by the serious warnings enforced by the history of Jonah, now burst into tears, and falling on her knees, hid her weeping face in the lap of her mother.

Her sobs, for some time, interrupted her speech. Her little heart was full to overflowing; for she knew the habitual kindness and parental indulgence of her dear mamma towards her, and was deeply affected by the tenderness of her reproof.

* Jonah iii. 10.

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At length, turning upwards her eyes streaming with tears, and clasping her fond parent's hands, she exclaimed with broken accents, 0 my dear mamma, I have been very, very naughty! Do not be angry with me any more! I am very, very sorry for having offended you, and I pray God to forgive me, as well as you, my dear mamma, for my undutiful behaviour! Do you pray to God also for me, that He may pardon me, and prevent my being so naughty again!"

This earnest appeal of her penitent child was more than Mrs. Gracelove could bear. Tears now streamed from her own eyes, but they were tears of thankfulness and joy. She felt at that moment what the poet calls the "luxury of grief;" and if a celestial heart can rejoice under similar circumstances,—if "joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth," think what must be the yearnings of a fond mother's heart over the contrition of her kneeling child.

Mrs. Gracelove immediately raised her up and pressed her to her bosom in silent gratitude; after which she knelt down with her daughter, and put up to heaven such a prayerequally for the welfare of her own soul as for that of her dear child-as the pious reader may better conceive than the writer describe.

*Luke xv. 7.

CHAPTER IV.

THE reader being now sufficiently acquainted with the moral economy of Mr. and Mrs. Gracelove's household, will feel, it is hoped, more than anxious to know how the other great duties of life were performed; namely, those in relation to our neighbour, and which constitute the second great law of the two tables.

In this respect, also, was their practice in strict religious consistency with the duties already enumerated. They felt deeply conscious that He who had said, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might:" that He who had said, in reference to his commandments," thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up," *-had also as strictly enjoined on his people-" Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." They recollected that "on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." ‡

It was, therefore, as might be expected, the almost daily practice of these worthy persons to visit the cottages of the poor scattered around them; to listen to their tales of sorrow, relieve their wants, and in every possible way within their

* Deut. vi. 5, 7.

+ Matt. xix. 19.

Matt. xxii. 40.

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