of the sun at noon-day. Though the bodies of the wicked will be raised more spiritual than they were upon earth, yet that will only make them capable of the more exquisite torments. They would be glad, at that time, if every member were a dead member, that it might not feel the punishment inflicted on it; or if the whole body, as a rotten carcase, might lie undisturbed in the dust. As a still more degrading privation, the ungodly will want that moral perfection which the blessed enjoy, viz. that holy frame of mind, that cheerful readiness to do the will of God, and that perfect rectitude of soul, which do especially characterize their high and holy state. Instead of these, the unregenerate will manifest that perverseness of will, that loathing of good, that love to evil, and that violence of passion, which possessed and actuated them upon earth. It is true, their understandings will be much cleared, by the absence of former temptations, and their experience of the vanity of former delusions: but they will still exhibit the very same dispositions, which once hurried them on to work all iniquity with greediness. In a word, there will be a greater difference between these miserable wretches and a glorified saint, than there is between a loathsome mass of corruption upon earth and the sun shining in the firmament. Moreover, the impenitent will have no comfortable relation to God, nor any communion with him. As they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, but said unto him, Depart from us, for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways; so God will abhor to retain them in his household. Little does the world know what a loss that soul hath, who loses God. What a dungeon now would the earth be, if deprived of the sun! what a loathsome carrion would the body become, if separated from the soul! Yet, all these are nothing to the loss of God! As the enjoyment of God is the heaven of the saints, so the loss of God is the hell of the ungodly.'"

Or

The lady then turned to another part of the book, and read these words :

"The principal author of hell-torments is God himself. As it was no less than God whom the sinner had offended, so it is no less than God who will punish him for his offences. He hath prepared those torments for

his enemies. His continued anger will still be there devouring them. The breath of his indignation will kindle their flames. His wrath will be an intolerable burden

to their souls.

If it were but a creature they had to do with, they might better bear it. Woe to him that falls under the strokes of the Almighty! It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God!"

The lady of the manor having read these extracts from the Saint's Rest, closed the book, and asked the young ladies if they were willing to join with her in prayer—a proposal with which they all most cheerfully complied.

Her prayer was very simple; but, as it was particularly adapted to the state of such young persons as are brought by divine grace to see the necessity of renouncing the present world, and entering upon a new course of life, I shall insert it in this place.

The Prayer of the Lady of the Manor in Behalf of her Young Companions, that it would please God to give them serious Thoughts of Religion.

"O THOU High and Mighty One, who inhabitest eternity, I do not presume to approach thy presence, trusting in my own merits, or believing myself to be other than one of the most vile and miserable of sinners. But I come unto thee in the name, and through the merits, of that blessed Saviour who gave up his life for the redemption of mankind. Trusting in him, as a Mediator at once willing and able to interfere in my behalf, and ever ready to present my petitions before the throne of the Almighty, I beseech thee, O my God, to have mercy upon these young persons here assembled before thee. As Job interceded for his children, lest they should have sinned, (Job i. 5.) so now do I presume to supplicate for these, my young friends, that holy fear of the Lord which is the beginning of wisdom, and that true repentance which is unto life. Impart to them, O Lord, I earnestly pray thee, a deep sense of the importance of eternal things, and the emptiness of all earthly concerns. Make them to know, that thy day will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat; when the earth also, and the works that are therein,

'

shall be burned up: and influence them to that holy conversation and godliness which may prepare them for be ing found of thee in peace at that awful period. (2 Pet. iii. 10, 11, 14.) ́

-

"These are no longer in that state of infancy, wherein it could be justly said of them, By reason of their tender age they cannot perform the promises made for them in their baptism. Should they now be surprised by death, they must stand accountable to thee, O Lord, for the things done in the body; and, if they have not been chosen out from the world, if they have remained strangers to the holy nature and life of thy people, if they have not received that holiness without which no man shall see the Lord, (Heb. xii. 14,) if they have not been born again we know that they cannot enter the kingdom of God. Hearken, therefore, O Lord, unto my prayer, and listen to my humble supplications. Have mercy on this little company, for whom thy Son died: take from them that sinful levity and sensuality of heart, by which all unregenerate persons are separated from thee; and give them strong and lasting impressions of the danger of offending thee. May the work which they are now about to undertake, even the renewal of their baptismal vow, be executed, not only according to the prescribed form, but in spirit and in truth: for thou art not a God dwelling in temples made with hands; neither art thou to be worshipped with men's hands, as though thou couldst need any thing; (Acts xvii. 24, 25,) but thou requirest the service of the heart. Assist, therefore, O Lord, and constrain these young persons to give thee their hearts. Draw them, and they will run after thee. Bring them into thy courts, and they will be glad and rejoice in thee. (Canticles i. 4.) But, Lord, we know that of themselves they cannot come; nay, they cannot so much as wish to come. They are by nature as the dry bones of those who are slain with the sword. Send therefore thy Holy Spirit to breathe upon these slain, that they may live. (Ezek. xxxvii. 9.) Let thy mercy, O Lord, be magnified upon them, and make them partakers of thy great salvation. Now to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, be all honour and glory, world without end. Amen.

"Our Father," &c.

The lady of the manor having finished her address to the Almighty, informed the young people, that she now judged it time for them to depart to their respective homes. She also exhorted them to be earnest in studying their Bibles, seeking God in prayer, and avoiding worldly pleasures; adding, that she hoped they should meet again, with the Lord's permission, on the next appointed day: after which, they took their leave, all of them being much pleased with the manner in which they had spent their evening, and some of them, through the divine influence, considerably impressed by certain parts of the conversation which had taken place.

CHAPTER III.

CONTAINING A BRIEF VIEW OF THE LEADING DOCTRINES

OF THE

CHRISTIAN RELIGION, AND A CAUTION AGAINST MISTAKING THE OUTWARD FORM OF RELIGION FOR THE INWARD AND SPIRITUAL GRACE.

WHEN the young party met again at the manor-house, they appeared with more cheerful countenances, and with considerably less embarrassment, than on the former occasion. Two of the young party informed the lady of the manor, that they had been studying Baxter's Saint's Rest since their last meeting. Others said, that they had been engaged in reading their Bibles. And Miss Sophia added, that she had found out the most delightful place that could be imagined, wherein to sing hymns, and read the Bible, without interruption. "It is, Madam," said this amiable little girl," the corner of a coppice near my papa's garden, in which I am allowed to walk by myself; and there is a brook which runs murmuring among the trees, and many bees are there."

The lady of the manor smiled with pleasure on the young lady, as she described, with youthful animation, the sweet place of retirement which she had chosen for the indulgence of her meditations; remarking, that she hoped the time would come, when every thicket and every forest, every mountain and every fruitful field, would resound with the praises of the Lord. "For his glory," proceeded the lady of the manor, "shall cover the heavens, and the earth shall be full of his praise." (Hab iii. 3.)

Thus cheerfully did the party continue to converse, till the tea-equipage was removed; immediately after which, the lady of the manor, taking down the Book of Prayers