Imatges de pàgina
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A Prayer for Assistance to keep God's
Commandments.

O Almighty Father, who seest the hearts of all men, and their great corruption; thou knowest we are not able of ourselves to keep thy commandinents; no, nor even so much as to wish to keep them, unless thou, O Lord, puttest that wish into our hearts. Hear the cry of a sinful child. We cannot count the number of times which we have broken thy commandments not a day passes in which we do not offend thee again and again. But, O Thou, who sentest thy dear Son to save poor sinners from hell! have mercy upon me, a poor wicked child; forgive my past wicked life, for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ, who for my sake took upon him the body of a man, and became my brother in the flesh, that he might keep all thy commandments, which no man but himself was ever able to do. Oh, then for this my dear Brother's sake, pardon my sins, Almighty Father, and for his dear sake send thy Holy Spirit into my heart, to cleanse my wicked heart, and to write thy laws upon it, that I may henceforth keep thy commandments, and lead a holy life. Hear the prayers of a poor sinful child, for thy dear Son's sake, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

HYMN VI.

LORD, I am vile, conceiv'd in sin,
And born unholy and unclean;
Sprung from the man whose guilty fall
Corrupts his race, and taints us all.

Soon as we draw our infant breath,
The seeds of sin grow up for death!
The law demands a perfect heart ;
But we're defiled in every part.

Great God, create my heart anew,
And form my spirit pure and true;

O make me wise betimes to spy
My danger and my remedy.

Behold, I fall before thy face;
My only refuge is thy Grace:
No outward forms can make me clean:
The leprosy lies deep within.

No bleeding bird, nor bleeding beast,
Nor hyssop branch, nor sprinkling priest,
Nor running brook, nor flood, nor sea,
Can wash the dismal stain away.

Jesus, my God, thy blood alone
Hath power sufficient to atone ;
Thy blood can make me white as snow :
No Jewish types can cleanse me so.

ON ENVY.

"WHO can go with me to the village this morning," said Mr. Fairchild one winter's day, "to carry this basket of little books to the school?"

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Lucy cannot go," said Mrs. Fairchild, "because her feet are very sore with chilblains, and Henry has a bad cold; but Emily can go."

"Make haste, Emily," said Mr. Fairchild, "and put on your thick shoes and warm coat; for it is very cold."

As soon as Emily was ready, she set off with her papa. It was a very cold day, and the ground was quite hard with the frost. Mr. Fairchild walked first, and Emily came after him with the little basket. They gave the basket to the schoolmaster, and returned. As they were coming back, Emily saw something bright upon the ground; and when she stooped to pick it up, she saw that it was a ring set round with little white shining stones.

"Oh! papa! papa!" she said, “ see what I have found! What a beautiful ring.'

وو

When Mr. Fairchild looked at it, he was quite surprised. "Why, my dear," said he, "I think that this is Lady Noble's diamond ring; how came

it to be lying in this place?" Whilst they were looking at the ring, they heard the sound of a carriage:—it was Sir Charles Noble's, and Lady Noble was in it. "Oh! Mr. Fairchild," she called out of the window of the carriage, "I am in great trouble : I have lost my diamond ring, and it is of very great value. I went to the village this morning in the carriage and as I came back, pulled off my glove, to get sixpence out of my purse to give to a poor man, somewhere in this lane, and I suppose that my ring dropped off at the time. I don't know what I shall do; Sir Charles will be sadly vexed."

"Make yourself quite happy, madam," said Mr. Fairchild," here is your ring; Emily just this moment picked it up.'

وو

Lady Noble was exceedingly glad when she received back her ring; she thanked Emily twenty times, and said "I think I have something in the carriage which you will like very much, Miss Emily : it is just come from London, and was intended for my daughter Augusta; but I will send for another for her." So saying, she presented Emily with a new doll packed up in paper, and with it a little trunk, with a lock and key, full of clothes for the doll. Emily was so delighted that she almost forgot to thank Lady Noble; but Mr. Fairchild, who was not quite so much overjoyed as his daughter, remembered to return thanks for this pretty present.

So Lady Noble put the ring on her finger, and ordered the coachman to drive home.

"Oh! papa! papa!" said Emily, "how beautiful this doll is! I have just torn the paper a bit, and I can see its face; it has blue eyes and red lips, and hair like Henry's. O how beautiful! Please, papa, to carry the box for me; I cannot carry both the box and the doll. O this beautiful doll! this lovely doll!" So she went on talking till they reached home then she ran before her papa to her mamma

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and sister and brother, and taking the paper off the doll, cried out, "How beautiful! O what pretty hands! what nice feet! what blue eyes! How lovely, how beautiful!" Her mamma asked her several times where she had got this pretty doll, but Emily was too busy to answer her. When Mr. Fairchild came in with the trunk of clothes, he told all the story, how that Lady Noble had given Emily the doll for finding her diamond ring.

When Emily had unpacked the doll, she opened the box, which was full of as pretty doll's things as

ever you saw.

Whilst Emily was examining all these things, Henry stood by, admiring them and turning them about; but Lucy, after having once looked at the doll without touching it, went to a corner of the room, and sat down in her little chair without speaking a word. "Come Lucy," said Emily, "help me to dress my doll."

"Can't you dress it yourself?" answered Lucy, taking up a little book, and pretending to read.

"Come, Lucy," said Henry, "you never saw so beautiful a doll before."

"Don't tease me, Henry," said Lucy; "don't you see I am reading?”

"Put up your book now, Lucy," said Emily, "and come and help me to dress this sweet little doll; I will be its mamma, and you shall be its nurse, and it shall sleep between us in our bed."

"I don't want dolls in my bed," said Lucy ; "don't tease me, Emily."

"Then Henry shall be its nurse," said Emily. "Come, Henry; we will go into our play-room, and put this pretty doll to sleep. Will not you come, Lucy? Pray do come: we want you very much." "Do let me alone," answered Lucy: "I want to read."

So Henry and Emily went to play, and Lucy sat

still in the corner of the parlour. After a few minutes, her mamma, who was at work by the fire, looked at her, and saw that she was crying: the tears ran down her cheeks and fell upon her book. Then Mrs. Fairchild called Lucy to her, and said, "My dear child, you are crying: can you tell me what makes you unhappy."

"Nothing, mamma," answered Lucy, "I am not unhappy."

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People do not cry when they are pleased and happy, my dear," said Mrs. Fairchild.

Lucy stood silent.

"I am your mamma, my dear," said Mrs. Fairchild, and I love you very much: if anything vexes you, whom should you tell it to but to your own mamma?" Then Mrs. Fairchild kissed her, and put her arms round her.

Lucy began to cry more : "Oh! mamma, mamma, dear mamma!" she said, "I don't know what vexes me, or why I have been crying."

"Are you speaking the truth?" said Mrs. Fairchild; "do not hide anything from me. I love you, my child; notwithstanding which, I know that you have a wicked heart, and that your wicked heart will often make you unhappy when there is nothing else to make you so. Whilst you are a little child, you must tell your sins to me; and I will show you the way by which only you may hope to overcome them; when you are bigger, and I and your papa are removed from you, then you must tell all your sins to God. Is there anything in your wicked heart, my dear child, do you think, which makes you unhappy now?"

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Indeed, mamma," said Lucy, "I think there is. I am sorry that Emily has got that pretty doll. Pray do not hate me for it, mamma; I know it is wicked in me to be sorry that Emily is happy; but I feel that I cannot help it."

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