your parents or master set you a lesson to learn by yourself, and, while they are out of the room, other children persuade you to play, can you resolutely say, no? When

from home, can you refuse wine, or fruit, or cake, or any other indulgence, when you know that it is your parents' desire that you should not have these things? Can you refuse to read a book or join in discourse disapprov ed of by your parents, when other children are persuading you to it and ridiculing you for refusing? Can you stand alone, and say that a thing is right to be done, and persist in doing it, when the multitude around you are following evil? Now ask yourselves truly, and I fear you will find that you are ready to be good with the good, but that with the naughty you are naughty; and that not merely because you like to be naughty for children who have been kept from outward sin on many occasions, had rather not commit sin, but they are naughty often with the naughty, because they do not like to be laughed at, because they do not like to stand ill with the world, to be sin. gular, and in some cases because they are

afraid of being beaten or otherwise used ill by wicked children. And why is this? Because you love the praise of men more than the praise of God; because you love self and your own ease more than the will of God. But deceive not yourselves: if you seek your reward from man and not from God, take your reward and enjoy it, but it is all you

shall have.

In a few years the men, the women, the children whom you have sought to please by being unfaithful to your God, shall die; they shall return, dust to dust, earth to earth, ashes to ashes. You may perhaps walk in the church-yard, and you may be able to "Under these little hillocks lie many say, children whom I sought to please while they lived, by disobeying my God; I gained my reward by pleasing them, and now is my reward perished with them." While the faithful child, who obeyed God in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, who did his Father's will, not regarding the laughter and threats, or even the stripes of sinful children, may joyfully look "If in this life only we had hope in Christ, we should

and up

say,

of all men be most miserable: but now is Christ risen from the dead, and therefore our labour shall not be in vain in the Lord."

Now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation. Consider now, my beloved children, will you choose your portion with the faithful or the unfaithful? Now is your heavenly Father ready to forgive your past wanderings, to wash away your sins in the precious blood of Christ; now is he ready to give you his holy Spirit to strengthen you for the fight, and even for the victory. Remember you cannot fight in your own strength; for what is it that overcometh the world? is it not our faith? Take then the shield of faith, and the fiery darts of the enemy shall not have power to do you any real harm, and in a little while your warfare shall be accom. plished.

Perhaps you may be called home while yet an infant warrior, and may be early numbered with the saints in glory everlasting. But if your warfare should last even to old age, you will still be strengthened for the battle; and as you go forward on your way, your path shall be as the shining light which shin

eth more and more unto the perfect day, till at last you shall enter into your Master's joy, and sit down at his right hand for evermore; while the unfaithful and impenitent child shall have his candle put out in everlasting darkness.

ADDRESS IX.

"Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you."-Matt. v. 11, 12.

I TRIED lately to shew you, that those children who are faithful in doing their duty, must expect to meet with persecution: and this is a new and hard lesson for children to learn who know little of their own hearts, and still less of the world, and who have been used to be smiled upon by pious and tender parents in proportion to their real good behaviour. But I have yet a harder lesson than this to teach you.-The wicked world persecutes not only the children who are faithful in doing their duty to their fellow-creatures; but, what is still worse, it will often persecute them more for loving God, and being faithful to their Saviour-for honouring that sacred name in which they ought to glory