sion of sins;' and it is said that God will take away from us the heart of stone, and give us a heart of flesh implying that our hearts are too hard to understand any thing of Him, or to enter into His service, and therefore before we can stir one step towards it, we must have the new heart given to us, after which we may look for the evidences and the fruits. For as we are said to be trees of the Lord's planting, surely we require to be first planted, before we can bring forth fruit ! Our Lord says, 'without me ye can do nothing;' and 'as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.' Consequently before we expect to see any growth, we must see the branches abiding in the vine. The sinner must go to Christ for salvation, or rather he must first be led there, (for no man can come unto me except the Father draw him,') and when he is there, trusting in Christ Jesus, he may confidently expect to be yielding evidences, or as the same parable expresses it, when he is abiding in Him, he shall bring forth much fruit. I find many people expect the fruits before they see the plant rooted; now we do not act so unwisely in respect to natural objects, from whence the similies are borrowed;

we plant a tree in the ground, and look to see if it has taken firm root; and when this is the case, we expect the fruit: but not when the tree is lying out of the ground, ready to wither for want of proper planting: We know that it must be well rooted first: And how can a barren, lifeless, dead mass of matter give itself life, and heat, and motion? Surely God alone can quicken such a body; as He did the Ephesians of old, to whom the Apostle writes thus: And you hath He quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins.' Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of His will.' With this clear scriptural view, it is not possible to go far wrong, and my wish was (as I have said before) to show the sinner, that if she could believe in the Lord Jesus, she would have all her sins forgiven, be received into His favour, have 'the best robe' brought out, and be taught to walk so circumspectly, that all should see what a change had been wrought, and what fruits those trees could yield, which were of the Lord's own planting."

Mary found that her arguments made but slight impression on Mrs. Harding, who calcu

N

lated and pondered over every idea, and could not give up the notion, that repentance, and mortification, and other fruits of the Spirit, were absolutely necessary to be manifested before the sinner could presume to go boldly to the Saviour, imploring forgiveness and reception into His favour.

The conversation ended here, and the same day they received letters hastening their return. Mary regretted leaving, on account of the young woman; she saw her for a short time before she set out on her journey, and was much gratified to find her more composed, and apparently more cheerful. She had written out the substance of their conversation, and with so much correctness, that Mary was quite surprised. She took leave of her with real sorrow, and exhorted her to read her Bible diligently, searching for the Saviour in all she read. She urged her to look to Him in confidence to trust Him, and not to fear. The poor young woman promised faithfully to try and follow her advice, and her countenance bore full testimony to the words she uttered.

Mr. Conroy and his niece having arranged to stop for a day or two at Mr. Harding's

on their return towards home, lost no time in setting out for the residence of Mary's brother, which was more than one day's journey from the place where they now

were,

CHAPTER XIII.

THE PREACHER SOUGHT TO FIND OUT ACCEPTABLE WORDS.' Eccl. xii. 10.

MARY's brother had been expecting them, and met the carriage as it drove up the lane leading towards his parsonage. He was delighted to see Mary, who was his favourite sister, and welcomed his uncle with all the pleasure and satisfaction which is naturally felt on receiving a person, to whom you are much indebted, for the first time into your own house.

Mr. Conroy was all animation: he was fond of his nephew; had placed him in the living; had anticipated the happiness of seeing him comfortably settled there, and now talked about his house, his parish, and his affairs, with the interest of a party concerned. Mary began inspecting the house and furniture. "Henry, this is an uncommonly pretty place, how pleased mamma will be to visit you here! your drawingroom, though, wants a sofa, for comfort." "A