A PAINFUL INTRUDER. 75 CHAPTER XVI. LITTLE was it contemplated that any who engag ed in the pleasures of the holiday, would be prevented from enjoying the fulfilment of their tutor's promise, from the painful causes which it will be our duty now to state; painful, and yet happy; mysterious, and yet all wise! No one will imagine that William and John had forfeited the promise by their misconduct, or that boys so habituated to do well could hastily be found doing, designedly, any thing ill; nor will our young readers conclude, that though their progress in knowledge was great, that therefore it would be well for their parents to think of removing them from school for some time. But there was an intruder that soon made it necessary. A few months after the country holiday, William was perceived to be the subject of a growing debility. Perspirations of a very unfavourable kind were frequently seen upon his face, which gradually assumed an hectic flush. From these 16 STAYING AT HOME AGAINST THE WILL. symptoms, it was thought advisable for him to unbend from his studies. He was therefore immediately prevented from going to school before breakfast. This was to William a sad deprivation. In this particular he was certainly very much unlike those who entreat their parents to write notes to excuse them for non-attendance; and of whom it may be justly said, from the unwillingness they manifested to rise, after being repeatedly called, "'Tis the voice of the sluggard, I hear him complain,— You have wak'd me too soon, From preventing his attendance before break fast, it soon became necessary to keep him at home entirely, his weakened frame being unable to support the fatigue of walking to and from school. This was to him one of his severest trials, and the language of regret was on this account often heard from his lips. But though he could not go to school to study, he was a very diligent student at home, and devoted the chief portion of his time in meditating on the contents of a number of sweet little tracts, such as, "The Dairyman's Daughter," written by that excellent gentleman, the Rev. Legh Richmond; "Henry and his Bearer," &c. but es, pecially the Bible. A FIT SUBJECT FOR HEAVEN. 77 77 The blessing of God on these meditations had already given his mind a strong tincture of habitual piety, and he was ever ready to converse on religious subjects. And as objects falling on the eye are impressed on it and reflected by it, so William, in the daily study of the scriptures, became more and more informed of their heavenly contents, had them both imprinted on his memory and his heart, and reflected their beauty to the admiration of all those who had the painful, but highly instructive, task of visiting him on his deathbed. "It is better," said the wise man, "to go to the house of mourning than to the house of feasting ;" and though William was so young, and the generality of those who attended him of an advanced age, yet every one who saw him, even advanced Christians, declared, that they had learned the most important lessons; and by their united testimonies, proved the truth of that declaration, "out of the mouths of babes and sucklings, thou hast perfected praise," and the propriety of that condescending saying of our Lord, "suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of heaven.” William was indeed a fit subject for the kingdom of heaven. The commandments of his King, the Lord Jesus Christ, be loved from his heart, on ac ** 78 A PARTICULAR FAVOURITE. count of their holy tendency, and he loved to obey them, because his Saviour had enjoined them, and had been pleased to express his approbation of all those who delighted in them. As illustrative of the bent of his mind, we would particularly request the attention of our young readers to those chapters in which he took so much delight, and of which he would give such explanations as astonished all around him. He entered into their full meaning, because he prayed with all his heart that God would give him the light of his holy Spirit, that he might mark, learn, and inwardly digest them. The eighth of Proverbs was a particular favourite, and will shew his anxiety for the possession of that best of knowledge that will outlive every other, where the wise man dwells so much on the nature of power, of riches, and the perpetuity of true wisdom. That his mind was exercised much about the Saviour, is discernable from his so frequently calling for the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah, in which the sufferings of Christ are so beautifully and strikingly predicted. On one occasion when his tutor visited him, and by his wish read this favourite chapter, he exclaimed, "O, Sir, what are my sufferings when contrasted with those of Jesus! Mine are but light, PARENTAL SOLICITUDE REWARDED. 79 and for a moment; his continued from the time he was laid in the manger, till he cried, 'It is finished,' on the cross. And besides, Sir, I have deserved ten thousand times more than I can possibly endure, but the slightest pain that Jesus suffered was cruel and undeserved." The attention that his pious parents had paid in his earliest years to furnish his memory with the truths of the Bible, and the power he had of retaining them, were sources of great satisfaction to them, and comfort to him when his sight became so weak that he was unable to read; and it fur nishes a striking instance of the reward of well dirested parental solicitude. William's mind was very deeply impressed with the depravity of the human heart, even in its best estate, and of the heinousness and danger of sin, On being asked by a gentleman, the Rev. Mr. D****t, whether he was convinced that he was a little sinner?. Though at the time very weak, and apparently scarcely able to speak, lying on the bed with his eyes closed; the question came to him like an electric shock; his eyelids immediately flew open, and fixing his dark sparkling eyes on the gentleman, with a look of surprise, "Little sinner do you ask, Sir? There are no little sinners ;" and here his voice sunk again. "I'm a great, very great sinner; and, without the sacrifice of |