-Hitherto I have found that the instructions which I received were true and solid: observation and experience have proved this to my mind. While I am thankful for all that has been said to me, I am especially thankful for the grace which has enabled me to profit by it.

Thus God has wrought in me: thus far He has brought me.

"Am I proud? No, my God, my Saviour; I am a sinner in a sinful world--but, I trust, a sinner who is a partaker of mercy and grace unto salvation. I adore and bless and thank Thee: but I cannot be proud.

"Am I unhappy? No: I have renounced the pleasures and follies of the world; they are not to my taste. But in the fear and love of God: in faith in Christ and in following Him; in having, as I hope, the kingdom of God within me; in having the kingdom of glory before me; in cultivating the virtues and performing the duties incul, cated by the gospel; in striving to live in all things more and more conformably to my high calling; I have happiness-delight, satisfaction, and peace,

"The world is all before me. I know not what a day may bring forth: but I know that God is good and faithful; that He will never forsake those who truly seek Him and humbly walk before Him; and therefore I commit myself, without any anxiety about my allotment, to His providence and grace. Am I now to boast; now to be indolent;

Far be

It now

now to think that the victory is won? every thing of this sort from my breast. remains for me to be a tree of righteousness, producing good and much fruit-a labourer in the vineyard, bearing the burden and heat of the day -a soldier of Christ, fighting the good fighta faithful steward of the talents committed to my care. For all this divine grace is sufficient. In this is my confidence and my joy. If I be in Christ and Christ in me, and if I abide in Him, as a branch in the vine, I shall grow, and flourish, and abound in all excellence more and more, and persevere-exhibiting, to the comfort of my own soul, to the benefit of others, to the honour of the gospel, and to the glory of God, a "patient continuance in well doing." What I have now to do is-"to live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."

prehends every thing.

This com

No: the

"Would I now return to the world? world has nothing that can satisfy my soul. I enjoy the bounties of God in His providence. I see magnificence and beauty around me in the works of creation. I can relish all that is ingenious in art and accomplished in taste. But these are not Jehovah. Tell me not of wealth, honour, and transient delights: for the conviction of my enlightened understanding is that he only is rich, and honourable, and happy, who knows and loves that God and Saviour whom he professes to adore,

and by whose name he is called; who keeps the visible world beneath his feet, and is looking with the eye of hope to an inheritance in the invisible world, that is “incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away."

"O let my heart overflow with gratitude for the mercy and grace with which God has visited me: and let it be my unceasing desire, prayer, endeavour, and aim, to glorify God by a holy and useful life; that when my pilgrimage is ended upon earth, I may be admitted into the mansions of eternal blessedness."

If any one of you, my young readers, can express himself to this effect, he has reason indeed to rejoice: for he possesses a treasure compared with which the wealth of the material universe is absolutely nothing. Having been brought from the darkness and death of a nominal profession of the gospel, to the light and life of a scriptural acknowledgment of it, living in the right use of the means of grace, and walking with humility and circumspection in the path of righteousness, he will go from strength to strength, and his soul will brighten by the purifying influences of the Almighty Sanctifier, and be prepared in this preliminary state of existence for the enjoyment of perfection through eternity. Finally, therefore, "Beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, Keep yourselves

in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life."-"Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, To' the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever." Amen.

THE COLLECT.

'Almighty and everliving God, who makest us both to will and to do those things that be good and acceptable unto Thy divine Majesty; let Thy fatherly hand, we beseech Thee, ever be over us: let thy Holy Spirit ever be with us; and so lead us in the knowledge and obedience of Thy Word, that in the end we may obtain everlasting life; through our Lord Jesus Christ, who with Thee and the Holy Ghost liveth and reigneth, ever one God, world without end." Amen.

THE PRAYER.

O Gracious God, the Giver of all good, look in mercy upon all young persons, and grant them grace to remember their Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier in the days of their youth. Bless them with Thy converting power, that they may be thoughtful and serious, and may enter upon that path in which only they will find satisfaction and peace through the whole of their earthly pilgrimage. Suffer them not to listen to the ignorant and

the vain, or to follow their own devices and desires: but so enlighten and renew them, that they may be children of the light, and find themselves blessed in Thee and in Thy service both here and evermore. Grant, O Lord, that those who have been led under the influence of Thy grace, to make the wise choice, may be preserved by Thy mighty power, and be enabled to persevere unto the end. Endow them with wisdom, grace, and strength, that they, in their day and generation, may be true followers of Christ, adorning the doctrine which they profess, enjoying its pure consolations, and being, through Thy blessing upon them, instruments of good to many. In the season of danger, be Thou their Refuge: in days of suffering, be Thou their Comforter: in all their difficulties, be Thou their Guide. May they walk before Thee with a perfect heart; and be Thou their shield and their exceeding great reward. Be merciful, O Lord, to all mankind: and grant that the word of and mercy of salvation and life, may be effectually known among all nations. Let true piety prevail more and more among those who are called Christians. Fulfil Thy gracious promises, and hasten the period when all shall know Thee, from the least to the greatest. Be pleased, of Thine abundant goodness, to prosper the works of those who endeavour to diffuse the knowledge of the Gospel in the world: let them not labour in vain, or spend their strength for nought. Thus,

grace,