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cheek with his delicate hand, and to return her regard with many sweet smiles. Henrie was very beautiful, though always pale, never having very strong health. It seemed that God, in his great mercy, very early answered Maria's prayers in his behalf; for when he was very young, he shewed that his heart was filled with the love of God. (Blessed are those who, like holy St. John, are sanctified even from the womb) Little Henrie always had the greatest fear of doing any thing which might make God angry: he was gentle and humble to all around him; and to his little cousin's, the sons of Claude, he was most affectionate and mild. When they were old enough, these three little boys used to go with the Pastor Claude when he went to visit his poor people in their little cottages among the valleys, and hearken to all his holy discourse with them; and as he walked back, the little boys would often ask him to explain to them such things as he had been teaching to his people. Thus they acquired, when very young, such a knowledge of God, and of the holy Bible, as might have put to shame many of the wise and prudent of the world; making out the words of our blessed Saviour: 'I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them to babes." (Matt. xi. 25.)

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Many of the cottages which Claude and his little boys used to visit, were placed in spots of ground so beautiful, that they would have reminded you of the garden of Eden; some in deep and shady valleys, where the brooks of clear water ran murmuring among groves of trees and over mossy banks; some on high lawns on the sides of the mountains, where the eagles and mountain birds found shelter in the lofty forest trees: some of these cottages stood on the brows of rugged rocks,

which jutted out from the side of the hills, on spots so steep and high that Claude's own little stout boys could scarcely climb them; and Claude was often obliged to carry little Henrie up these steeps in his arms. In these different situations were flowers of various colours, and of various kinds, and many beautiful trees, besides birds innumerable, and wild animals of various sorts. Claude knew the names and natures of all these; and he often passed the time, as he walked, in teaching these things to his children. Neither did he neglect, as they got older, to give them such instructions as they could get from books. He taught his little boys first to read French; and afterwards he made them well acquainted with Latin, and the history of ancient times, particularly the history of such holy people as have lived and died in the service of God; of such of them as

through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens: women received their dead raised to life again, and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection: and others bad trial of cruel mockings and scourgings; yea, moreover, of bonds and imprisonment: they were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword; they wandered about in sheep-skins and goats-skins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented, (of whom the world was not worthy); they wandered in deserts and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise, God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.' (Heb. xi.

33-40.) Claude also taught his little boys to write; and they could sing sweetly many of the old Hymns and Psalms which from time immemorial had been practised among the Waldenses.

"Claude's own little sons were obliged to do many little homely household jobs, to help their mother: they used to fetch the goats to the cottagedoor, along the hiil-side path, and milk them, and feed them; they used to weed the garden; and often to sweep the house, and make up the fire. In all these things little Henrie was as forward as the rest, though the son of one of the greatest men in France. And here is one of the sweet influences of the Christian religion: by it the mountains are levelled, and the valleys exalted. But though this family were obliged to labour at. the lowest work, yet they practised towards each other the most courteous and gentle manners, always in honour preferring each other, as it behoveth all Christians to do. In this manner Henrie was brought up amongst the Waldenses till he was more than twelve years of age, at which time the servant came from his father, the Marquis, to bring him to Paris.

"When the Marquis's letter arrived, all the little family in the Pastor Claude's house were full of grief. You must go, my dear child,' said the Pastor; you must go, my beloved Henrie: for the Marquis is your father, and you must obey him: but, oh! my heart aches when I think of the hard trials and temptations to which you will be exposed in the wicked world. With all the weakness of our depraved nature within, and all the snares and flatteries of the world without, how can we hope that such a child will be able to stand?’Yet I have confidence,' said Maria, wiping away her tears I have prayed for this boy, this my dear boy; I have prayed for him a thousand and a

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thousand times; and I know that he is given to us: this our child will not be lost; I know he will not: he will be able to do all things well, Christ strengthening him.'-'Oh, Maria!' said the Pastor Claude, 6 your faith puts me to shame: why should I doubt the goodness of God any more than you do?'

"In the mean time Henrie's grief was so great, that for some hours after the servant came he could not speak he looked round on his dear father and mother, as he always called Claude and Maria, and on their two boys, who were like brothers to him: he looked on the cottage where he had spent so many happy days; and the woods, and valleys, and mountains; saying, Beyond this he knew nothing; and he wished that he had been born Claude and Maria's child, and that he might be allowed to spend all his life, as Claude had done, in serving God in that delighful valley.

"Whilst Maria, with many tears, was preparing things for Henrie's journey, the Pastor took the opportunity of talking privately to him, and giving him some advice, which he hoped, with God's blessing, might be useful to him. He took the child by the hand; and, leading him into a solitary path above the cottage, where they could walk unseen and unheard, he there entered into discourse with him. And first he explained to him the dangerous situation into which he was about to enter: he told him, with as much tenderness as possible, what his father's and his mother's characters were; that they never knew the fear of God, and that they acted as most persons do who are rich and powerful, and are not influenced by Divine grace: and he pointed out unto him how he ought to behave to his parents, telling him, that by perseverance in well-doing, and setting before them a holy example, he might, perhaps, be a means, under God.

of turning them from their sinful courses to the way of everlasting life. The Pastor then reminded Henrie of the chief doctrines of his holy religion; those which from his earliest infancy he had endea voured to fix upon his mind: first, the exceeding depravity and vileness of man's heart by nature, and that no man can do well, in the smallest degree, without the assistance of the Holy Spirit ; and secondly, that no man is saved by any of his own works or deservings, but through faith in the merits of the dying Saviour. These, with many other things of like nature, the pious Claude besought Henrie always to have in remembrance, as he hoped to see his Redeemer in the land which is very far off; and he finished his discourse by giving Henrie a little Bible, in a small velvet bag, which he had received from his own father, and which he had been accustomed to carry in his pocket in all his visits to his poor people.In these days, through the mercy of God, Bibles are so common that every little boy and girl may have one: but this was not the case in former days: Bibles were very scarce, and very difficult to get; and this Henrie knew, and therefore he knew how to value this present he put it in his pocket, and prayed to God to give him grace to keep the words contained therein.

"It would only trouble you, were I to describe the sorrow of Claude's family, when, the next morning, Henrie, according to his father's orders, was dressed in a rich suit of clothes, and set upon a horse, which was to carry him from among the mountains to the Castle of Bellemont, where the Marquis's carriage waited for him. Henrie could not speak as the horses went down the valley; but his tears fell fast down his cheeks: every tree and every cottage which he passed, every pathway winding from the high road among the hills, reminded

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