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ever hope, or wish to see again, the darling son you have lost, you must prepare to follow him to heaven; as the sheep followed the little lamb, in the arms of the good Shepherd, to the protecting fold on the moor.

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"Let me now," said this zealous Christian, warn you most emphatically, and yet most kindly, that such a glorious result will never be obtained, unless your conduct for the future be the very reverse of that of the past. To afford me an encouraging hope that such will be the case, let me beg of you to kneel down with me, at the present moment, while I put up a prayer in your behalf, as well as in my own, to that great and good Being, who alone, by his Holy Spirit, can convert the sinner from the error of his ways.'

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The impression had been happily made. The force of truth, so wisely and so energetically displayed, had brought conviction to their souls. With subdued manners, and a contrite expression of countenance, they now followed the example of their kind visitor, and knelt down for the first time that she had ever been able to persuade them to this act of penitence and faith.

My gentle reader may well conceive what was the nature, as well as the fervency, of those prayers and petitions which she addressed to Heaven on this solemn occasion.

With a thanksgiving heart for the good she had been permitted to effect, Mrs. Gracelove rose from her knees, and at length left the cottage. She placed, at the same time, in the hands of each of her seeming penitents one of the admirable little papers of that noble institution, the Religious Tract Society, which has so largely benefited the world by its wisdom and its efforts.

One of the tracts contained that beautiful and evangelical hymn by Toplady, here given, and which was so calculated

to bring before the minds of these ignorant cottagers the great leading doctrine of the Bible.

“Rock of ages! cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee;

Let the water and the blood,

From thy side, a healing flood,

Be of sin the double cure;

Save from wrath, and make me pure.

Should my tears for ever flow,
Should my zeal no languor know,
This for sin could not atone;

Thou must save, and Thou alone;
In my hand no price I bring,
Simply to Thy cross I cling.

While I draw this fleeting breath,
When mine eye-lids close in death,
When I rise to worlds unknown
And behold Thee on Thy throne,
Rock of ages! cleft for me,

Let me hide myself in Thee."

Similar in its exposition of the sublime doctrine of Christ crucified-the only salvation of man-contained in the hymn of one of the tracts, was the following hymn by Watts, forming part of the other, and composed in the same spirit of faith and devotion.

The author makes no apology for their insertion, as he feels quite confident that his reader will require none. The repetition of such religious themes can never weary the pious mind. And as the writer has always felt his own devotion quickened whenever he has read them, so, in like manner, is he convinced that the same effect will be produced on the minds of those who honour these pages with a perusal.

"Not all the blood of beasts,

On Jewish altars slain,

Could give the guilty conscience peace,

Or wash away the stain.

But Christ, the heavenly Lamb,

Takes all our sins away;

A sacrifice of nobler name,

And richer blood than they.

My faith would lay her hand
On that dear head of thine,
While like a penitent I stand,
And there confess my sin.

My soul looks back to see

The burdens Thou didst bear,

When Thou didst hang upon the tree,
And hopes her guilt was there.

Believing we rejoice

To see the curse remove;

We bless the Lamb with cheerful voice,

And sing his bleeding love."

In concluding this little episode, and in anticipation of the wish of my reader, he will be gratified to learn that the "good work" had been begun in the hearts of the two cottagers, whose little history has been just related, from the day of the important visit in question. Mrs. Gracelove had the gratification in this, as in various other instances, to the increase of her faith, of witnessing the fulfilment of that gracious scripture -"He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ." *

In addition, however, to these frequent ministrations of benevolence in the cottages of the poor, this lady

* Phil. i. 6.

warmly interested herself in forming various charitable associations, for the benefit of the indigent classes. Such were the little societies, composed of the Christian families of respectability in the neighbourhood, for supplying the poor with clothing, coals, and other requisites, on the approach of winter. These associations were productive of a double advantage, that of economy, on the one hand, and the extension of liberality, on the other. For the principle on which they were founded, was that of requiring each poor family to pay a certain sum, in order to receive back, during the inclement season of the year, twice the amount in value of those articles of which they stood most in need. Those, therefore, who carefully saved their money for this purpose, were rewarded by the additional donation; while those whose improvidence misapplied or wasted what should have formed the required contribution, were not encouraged to expect the assistance rendered to their more prudent neighbours.

Thus, by the judicious application of the subscriptions raised for these purposes, was much good quietly and unostentatiously effected for the more distressed among the poor. The consequence of these benevolent measures was the formation of a contented and cheerful population. For when the lower classes of society perceive a zealous disposition on the part of their superiors to administer to their necessities; when they feel that their more pressing wants are relieved by the supply of food, of clothing, and of fuel, they are inclined to bear, without repining, the minor evils incident to their lot.

A predisposition, thus favourably produced, re-acts on the heart and mind with a corresponding influence. It opens the latter to receive instruction with willingness, which can scarcely be expected when the calls of hunger remain unsatisfied; which is but too often, alas! the case, day by day, and week by week, whether through want of employment, or

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sickness, or any of those numerous ills which flesh is heir

to."

Extreme hunger is sharp as a serpent's tooth; and if it be, possibly, more endurable than the extremity of thirst, (of which the author was in danger of perishing twenty years ago in the Desert of Egypt, when travelling overland was a very different affair to the holiday excursion now,) yet must it inevitably disqualify the mind, while unappeased, to attend to the lessons either of morality or religion. It is emphatically said, that "hunger will eat through a stone wall;" and knowing what is the intensity of its extreme gnawings, the writer has been often and deeply struck with the admirable patience and fortitude with which the labouring classes, when in a state of starvation, have borne their distresses. Instead of rushing forth into acts of wild insubordination and violence, and endeavouring, by brute force, to obtain what their willing but unproductive labour will not procure for them, they will wait with the most exemplary forbearance, well worthy of imitation in their superiors, till the too often tardy and disproportionate hand of charity is stretched forth to their relief.

The charitable associations, however, to which we have been alluding, were founded on the sound principle of supplying the wants of the body first and then, with the vantage ground of assuaged hunger, and of gratitude superinduced by its removal, to direct their energies to the cultivation of the mind.

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Both these offices of pure disinterested kindness were most conscientiously performed by Mr. and Mrs. Gracelove. The endeavours of the latter, especially, -as the practical part of these duties was brought more within her sphere, were unceasing and untiring. Hers was a zeal not "without knowledge," but accompanied by the most enlarged degree of Christian experience. The quiet and unpretending manner,

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