Charles was silent, he had never before thought seriously upon the subject, and he did not know what to say.

"My dear boy," continued Mr. Harvey, "believe me it is of no use to read and study your Bible, unless you try to practise what it teaches; it will do you no good regularly to attend Sunday school, and to listen to what is taught you there, if, as soon as you get. home, you wilfully disobey your mother, or treat your sister or playfellow with unkindness. I was pleased, last Sunday, as you know, with your ready answers to my questions, but I was much disappointed afterwards to find that the instructions you received at school had had no effect in making you a better boy at home." "I'm sure that I'm very sorry now," said Charles, "that I disobeyed mother so.”

"That I'm sure you are, but there is one more thing I want to say to you; you said you thought of asking Mary not to tell your mother that you had taken her down that path-way; now I think you are hardly aware how very wrong such conduct would have been, bad for your sister, bad for yourself; think, you would have given your sister a lesson in deceit, or at least in concealment, which would probably have ended in deceit, and would have brought upon yourself the guilt of persuading her to do that out of love for you, which would have gone against her conscience; how common it is to hear children in the streets saying to those who are younger than themselves, Now don't tell mother this," or "Mind you don't let out to mother where we've been," and yet I know of few things that make me more sad; for here are children beginning already to set a bad example to others, and perhaps doing their younger brothers and sisters an injury which will last them through life. Ah! I fear that we none of us, though we call ourselves Christians, and profess to be followers of One great Example, think half enough of the effect which our examples may have upon the minds of others."

Charles's eyes were filling fast with tears, and he now felt grieved for his disobedience, not merely because it had been the occasion of his sister's accident, but because it was wrong in itself; Mr. Harvey perceived he had made the desired impression, and laying his hand on the boy's shoulder, he said earnestly but encouragingly, "You will remember what I have said, will you not Charles ? and remember too the words of Him who said, Whoso heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them, is like unto a man who built a house, and digged deep, and laid his foundations upon a rock.' Build your house upon this rock, and then when the floods come or in other words, when you are tempted to forget your duty--you will be able to resist temptation, and will not fall!”

Charles never forgot the impression which his sister's accident, and Mr. Harvey's words, made upon his mind.

Not long after this, his mother procured for him a situation as shop-boy in the town, which obliged him to give up week-day school, but he continued to attend the Sunday school some time longer; and when he outgrew this mode of instruction, he obtained admission to a very excellent evening school, which met twice a week, and which was under the superintendence of his much respected minister.

He is now the delight of his mother's heart, and the pride of his amiable sister Mary; but, what is better still, he enjoys the approval of conscience, for he knows that it is his sincere, though imperfect endeavour, to show by his practice the benefit he has derived from having once been a Sunday scholar.

CHILDREN'S WORK.

The least flower with a brimming cup may stand,
And share its dew-drop with another near.

ELIZABETH BARRET BROWNING.

IN going through life, my young friends, you will exercise a good or bad influence. Many of your fellow-creatures will be made worse or better characters, and will be rendered happier or more unhappy by your conduct. Your responsibilities are very great, however narrow your sphere of action may be. These responsibilities are incurred by you as soon as your minds have power to comprehend the meaning of the word duty. It is to you, the rising generation, that we look forward for good men and women, who will do justice to their superior advantages in education. You are of much importance in the world; important as members of families; as members of society; and, above all, as children of God. You must, therefore, as well as your elders, be guided by sound principles of conduct. You are of equal value as immortal beings; the same Heavenly Father watches over you, marks all your actions, listens to your prayers, lays light burdens on you suited to your strength, favours you with prosperity, supports you in suffering and trials, and enables you in the hour of temptation to gain the victory. If these considerations lead you to be vain and presumptuous-if they elate you and give you unbecoming self-dependence-if they do not, on the contrary, induce a feeling of humility and gratitude to Him who thus condescends in his loving kindness to interest himself in your welfare-then you are not of the class of children of whom it was said "Of such is the kingdom of God."

Now, to show yourselves grateful for this unmerited goodness, you must do every thing in your power to testify the love of children to Him. You must not for one moment indulge in the thought, that because you are only little children you have no duties to fulfil beyond that of obedience to your parents and teachers. God made Samuel his especial messenger to the aged priest, and prompted the little Israelitish maiden to suggest to the Syrian ruler, to seek the prophet of her native country that he might be cured of his malady. He demands no less of you. He does not call upon you to neglect home duties for imaginary ones abroad, but he does call upon you to turn all your means of doing good to account. You must strive to bear in mind, that while you are in this world you must be "about your Father's business."

A few instances of children's exercising a blessed influence, may prove to you what the young with faithful and loving hearts can accomplish. If you act in a similar manner, animated by love to your Heavenly Father, you will find that the bread you "cast upon the waters" is an acceptable offering to Him, and that it will return to you in some form or other, though not always at the time or in the manner that you may hope to receive it.

In a small village near Belfast, in Ireland, some seven years since, lived a farm labourer, or rather a small farmer, for he had about forty acres of his own," a power of acres," as he called themthough a large proportion of them were barren and unproductive. He was industrious and thrifty, and though he had to earn his daily bread by the sweat of his brow, he considered himself a fortunate man compared with his neighbours. But he was not grateful to God for his prosperity, and the cares of the world not only made him neglectful of his religious duties, but rendered him even in old age utterly heedless of the future life to which he was hastening. When about seventy-five years old, he was confined to his bed by a sickness which was considerably aggravated by his irritability and impatience. In bitterness of spirit he lay moaning and restless, pining for a breath of the mountain air which had hitherto imparted such vigour to his robust frame. He did not look upwards, and therefore did not see the merciful hand which guided the rod. In the nearest cabin, which was half a mile distant, lived a child who heard with emotion of the sufferings of poor Murray, and of the wearisomeness of the long tedious hours through which he was compelled to watch. Could she do nothing for him? Yes! she had just had a new book given her as a prize; it was a great treasure truly, but what of that? it would pass his time pleasantly perhaps. The kind thought was seconded by the action, and she hastened to

offer it as a loan. The book was of a religious character; and as the sick man read it in the solitude of his chamber, his mind was gradually awakened to the transgressions and neglects of his past life; he became anxious to obtain religious instruction from a neighbouring minister, and began to value his hitherto disregarded Bible; the illness which had fretted now chastened him, and he arose from his bed a changed man. He blessed the day when the kind promptings of the little girl's heart had brought her to his bed-side, and when his last summons arrived he received it with submission, sustained by the glorious and well-founded hope of immortality.

In the first printed leaf of your bibles and testaments, at the foot of the page, you will probably see that it is published by the British and Foreign Bible Society. This society, desirous of encouraging even the very poor to buy the best of books, sell it at a very cheap rate. A child was the means of first bringing the blessing of cheap bibles into the world, and I will tell how what to many would appear a trifling incident, led to this great result. One day in the year 1802, a Welsh minister, by the name of Thomas Charles, was walking in the streets of Bala, a town in Merionethshire, when he met a little girl whom he recognized as a member of his congregation. He stopt to speak to her, and among other things asked her if she could repeat the text of the last sermon she had heard. She hesitated-looked earnestly at him with quivering lip, and then burst into tears. At last she said, that the weather had been so bad she could not read the bible. This strange reply excited the minister's curiosity. She was a Welsh girl, and could not read, perhaps could not speak English, and as none of her friends at Bala had a copy of a Welsh bible, it was her custom to go over the hills for several miles once a week to a place where she could obtain one, and where she learned the text and read the chapter from which it had been taken on the previous Sunday.

This circumstance induced Mr. Charles at once to make an effort to obtain Welsh bibles at a cheap price; and, at a religious meeting held that same year, he urged the committee to render some assistance in forming a society for printing the bible in a cheap form in Wales. "If it could be done in Wales," said a friend, "why not for the whole world?" Meetings were held; subscriptions raised, and in less than two years the association was formed, which began and carried on the work so vigorously, that though only half a century has elapsed, twenty-two millions of cheap bibles have been circulated. I do not know the name of the little girl who thus gave evidence of her desire "to seek the Lord betimes."

Happily Mr. Charles had a portion of his spirit who suffered little children to come unto him; and was not like the unwise apostles who said, "why trouble you the master?”

The uncultivated tracts of the western states of America, not occupied by forest-trees, which, with their rich drapery of creeping plants rise to a stupendous height, are covered with a long, coarse grass. By the indefatigable industry of the settlers, in draining off the superabundant waters, some of this untractable land is ploughed and sown with corn, while other parts called the barrens, are with much difficulty converted into good feeding land for the larger species of cattle.

In the state of Illinois, of which a very large proportion is used for pasturage, many thousand children issue from the towns, villages, hamlets, and still smaller settlements, every morning and evening, to fetch home the kine for milking, It was on the evening of the 9th of August, 1853, that a young Norwegian lad, thirteen years of age, by name Kneed Iverson, left Chicago, the chief town of Illinois, in quest of his cow. He was a good boy; a constant attendant at a Sunday School, deeply attached to his bible, and unaffectedly desirous of living up to its requirements. He little thought as, with a buoyant heart and active step, he left his home, how severely the sincerity of his principles would be tested!

While on his search, he approached a stream of water, on the banks of which some boys, who had often rendered themselves obnoxious to other children by their vicious habits and overbearing dispositions, were standing. They no sooner caught a glimpse of Kneed than they thought it a favourable opportunity for indulging their ungenerous propensities. They tried to induce him to go to the orchard of Mr. Ellston, a gentleman who resided in the neighbourhood, and steal some apples. He refused. They threatened to compel him, but he was unmoved. They told him that they would duck him, if he would not obey; but he still refused to do so, though terrified by their violence. The threat was put into execution, and he was thrown into the water; he rose to the surface, but was unshaken in his determination; he might suffer, but he would not sin. Amid his screams and struggles, the inhuman tempters forced the defenceless boy down again into the water, and held him there until he had ceased to breathe. A little companion, a German, who, in terror had witnessed the scene, ran to summon Kneed's parents. They hastened to the spot, and found the body of their child: but his soul had fled to receive the promised blessing of the pure in heart."

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I hope soon to address you again, and to give more illustrations