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mama, had we the management of these things, I should have been one of the first and best dressed girls in the school, and you would never have been raised from that long sad illness."

What could I answer to all this? I was dumb, and ready to lay my mouth in the dust.

It was spring again before the illness of my child had arrived at such a formidable height as to compel her to take to her bed; and during that period I had some short intervals of hope.

Three days before her death the two amiable daughters of her former instructress came to the hall, and hearing of my beloved child's state, came to my cottage; and from that period she was attended by one of these sweet sisters, till her redeemed soul departed to be with Christ.

She died on a Sunday evening; and in the morning of that day seemed scarcely sensible of what she said. Whether it was that the disease had weakened her judgment and excited her imagination, or that certain views of another world were vouchsafed to her soul, on the wing as it was for flight, temporal and eternal things were so mingled in her fancy, that she had no power to express her ideas of either in a distinct

manner.

Her window was open, and she caught the sound of the village-bells no doubt, for she said, "Sunday is itthe day of our Lord? It will be my day of deliverance, -the beginning of a new life, a new state of being.' She then looked up at one of the young ladies, and said, "Fetch me some flowers, dear lady, and prepare my bed: I shall rest sweetly." On the lady not moving, she seemed rather impatient, and repeated, “ Pray fetch me some flowers, and prepare my resting-place."

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"Let us indulge her," said the young lady to an old woman from the village who was in the room; but, while the old woman was absent, she dropped her eyelids and seemed to sleep. The flowers were presented to her when she opened her eyes, and she smiled, and looked pleased.

"The rose of Sharon," she said, "and the lily of the valley; the lily is broken, indeed, but it will revive again. Scatter the flowers on my bed: but no," she added, "not on this bed, but on the other bed, for this is not my resting-place; the flowers of paradise will languish here."

During the day my sweet child said many things, though not in so connected a way as the above, but all indicative of an enlightened mind, taught by the Spirit of God, and of a state of childlike and entire confidence in her blessed Saviour. About mid-day she expressly called for me, and desired to have her head raised and laid on my bosom, and in this posture she breathed her last, leaving me with one only feeling, and that was a longing desire for the blessed period when we shall be united again in Christ.

The flowers she had caused to be gathered were laid in her coffin, and the young ladies, who arranged them with their own hands, shed many tears while thus engaged. True, indeed, are the descriptions which the Scriptures give us of the frailty of man, yet how often we read them without feeling their truth! "Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble. He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down; he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not." Job xiv. 1, 2.

In the village church-yard, the dear young ladies whom I mentioned have erected a tomb, beneath a weeping-willow, on which they have inscribed the name of MARY Anne.

Time has softened the acuteness of my sorrow, and I am now able to think less of the past and more of the future. And whereas I find my Saviour ever mingled in my views of futurity, and ever presenting himself to my soul under his various characters of father, brother, husband, and friend; there will be no doubt remaining in the mind of my believing reader, that though bereaved I am not destitute,-though poor, I have more than I want, though under tribulation, I am full of joy.

And now, my youthful reader, if the character of my lovely Mary Anne has proved admirable in your sight, let me beg you earnestly to seek that divine influence by which alone your heart can be changed,-apply by faith to the blood of Christ, which alone can pardon your sins and sanctify your affections; and then, whatever your situation in life, or whatever disappointments you may experience, the consolations of the Holy Spirit and the charms of piety will be added to the external graces and embellishments of youth.

THE END OF MARY ANNE.

THE

IRON CAGE.

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THE IRON CAGE.

CHAPTER I.

About the children in our own country.

THERE are many reasons for which we who live in this happy land have cause to be thankful, and to say what a privilege it is to have been born where the Bible is open to all, where the word of God is read in every place of worship, where the wants of the poor are bountifully provided for, and where we enjoy fruitful seasons and a charming climate, being neither parched with heat and torn up by hurricanes, as in the burning regions of the south, nor frozen with ever-during cold, as in the dwellings of the north; as it is written (Job xxxvii. 9), "Out of the south cometh the whirlwind, and cold out of the north."

We have also reason to thank God, because in this favoured country there are very many of the excellent of the earth, and there is scarcely a little village in our whole land in which some who worship God in spirit and in truth may not be found-persons who, having been made acquainted with their Saviour through the power of the Holy Spirit, are striving to be like him, and to lay themselves out for the advancement of the glory of God and his kingdom on earth. These are all causes of thankfulness, and ought to make us grateful towards God. But I am sorry to say that too many of the people of this country, instead of being humbly thankful for the blessings which they enjoy, are filled with pride and self-exaltation on their account; and instead of meekly thanking God for his goodness to them, despise the more ignorant inhabitants of other countries, not considering that if they differ at all from them, it is God alone who has made them to differ.

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