then used, were such as first gave him (under the divine blessing) any right idea of the true nature of religion.

When the lady of the manor had concluded the affecting history of Louisa Harley, she took occasion to point out the lesson which was to be drawn from it, namely, that we should carefully beware of allowing ourselves to rest in the exterior forms of religion, without endeavouring to obtain the spirit and substance thereof. "At the same time,” said she, “we should not neglect the ordinances; because since it is appointed of God that we should seek the divine blessing through the use of certain means, we have a right to expect them through those means rather than through any other channel. In this respect, we ought to take warning and example from the history of Naaman the Syrian, who, after having been directed by the prophet to wash in Jordan and be clean, exclaimed in anger-Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned, and went away in a rage. And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean? Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean. (2 Kings v. 12—14.) In like manner, as the Lord directed Naaman to seek health in the waters of Jordan, so he directs us to seek salvation in the use of certain appointed means. To neglect therefore these means, becomes an act of unbelief and disobedience; and they who act thus, have as little reason to expect the divine blessing as the contrary description of persons, who, like Louisa Harley, make a merit of observing the means of grace, without looking beyond the form and exterior of religion. Let us then, my young people," continued the lady of the manor, "finish this evening's conference by earnestly praying that the Almighty will enable us to fulfil all our religious duties, and especially that which is now before us, not only as mere formalists, but in such a manner as may approve us in His

sight who seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart." (1 Sam. xvi. 7.).

Prayer of the Lady of the Manor for Sincerity.

"O ALMIGHTY and heavenly Father, we, who now approach the footstool of thy throne, know that thou art the Searcher of all hearts, and that thou understandest all the imaginations of the mind. We know, also, the tendency of our nature to satisfy our consciences with the mere semblance of that which is right, and that we are continually inclined to draw nigh unto Thee with our mouth, and to do thee honour with our lips, while our hearts are carried far from thee; our fear of thee being only such as is taught by the precepts of men.

"O cleanse and purify the thoughts of our hearts, by that which alone can cleanse them, even by the inspiration of thy Holy Spirit, through which only the love of God is shed abroad in the heart, and the heart of stone converted into an heart of flesh. O grant, that our service may not be the eye-service of men-pleasers; but may we engage in it with fear and trembling, and in singleness of heart, as the servants of that dear Saviour who shed his blood for us upon the cross.

"And O heavenly Father, assist us to lament and bewail, in bitterness of heart, and deep contrition of soul, the many hypocritical and formal services which we have already presumed to offer thee. How often, how very often, have we profaned thy holy temple, and the courts of thine house, by our irreverent behaviour, our wandering affections, and our shameful disregard of thy most blessed and all-glorious name! How often have we knelt before thee at the season of morning and evening devotions, while our thoughts were occupied upon temporal concerns, and greedily going after vanity! How often have we used the words of God as mere formalists, and solely to establish our characters with men! And finally, how often, how very often, have we condemned others for these things, when we ought rather to have stood selfcondemned, and without excuse before God, for our own exceeding sinfulness and the hypocrisy of our heart.

"And now, even now, O Lord, while we are confess

ing our coldness and hypocrisy before thee, even now we have reason to lament and deplore the deadness of our best affections, and the wanderings of our thoughts. O Lord, have mercy, have mercy upon us! Our very prayers are polluted with sin, and our tears of repentance have need to be washed in a purer stream. But there is one who ever intercedeth for us, even Christ, our brother in the flesh-that dear Saviour, who, when he bad suffered the punishment due to our sin, ascended into heaven, where he ever liveth to offer up his pure and prevailing prayer on our account. We will therefore lie at the foot of thy cross, O blessed Jesus, cast down and self-condemned, yet not without hope, knowing that our Redeemer is mighty, and that he will plead our cause. Although we are utterly vile, yet will we not despair; though our prayers have hitherto been the prayers of hypocrites, and our best works but filthy rags, yet will we greatly rejoice in the Lord, and our soul shall be joyful in our God; for he will clothe us with the garments of salvation, and cover us with the robe of righteousness, even as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with jewels. "Now to God the Father," &c.

When the lady of the manor had concluded her prayer, she dismissed the young people, expressing her hope that they might speedily meet again.

CHAPTER IV.

Q. What is your Name?

A.

Q. Who gave you this Name?

A. My Godfathers and Godmothers in my Baptism, wherein I was made a Member of Christ, a Child of God, and an Inheritor of the Kingdom of Heaven.

THE candidates for confirmation being again gathered round the lady of the manor, she opened the conversation in the following manner.

My dear young people, as the Catechism of the Church of England is appointed by our Church to be committed to memory before confirmation, I think it may not be amiss to make this form of words the basis of our examination. I shall thus be led on to take the several doctrines of our holy religion into consideration each in its proper place; and by having this well known form of words to recur to, you will be better enabled, in after life, to bring to your recollection our several conversations in their due order. But, before I attempt to enter upon an explanation of the Catechism of our Church, I think it right to say, that I do not consider it as a composition altogether faultless. I am, as I before said, a member of the Church of England, strongly attached to its liturgy, and pleased with many of its forms; to which may be added, that I look upon its doctrines, in all essential points, as being perfectly conformable to Scripture. But, inasmuch as nothing human is infallible, there are, in my opinion, some smaller matters in the constitution of our Church, which perhaps might be amended: although, as the flaws in a beautiful piece of workmanship are often suffered to remain through the

fear of injuring the whole in attempting to improve a part, it has been judged most prudent by many excellent members of our Church, to leave these lesser matters as they are, rather than, by attempting a reform, to endanger the whole fabric. The Church of England, however, notwithstanding the few spots which appear in its brilliant disk, must needs be considered as a luminary of distinguished lustre; and the time I hope is coming, when those clouds of darkness, ignorance, and partyspirit, which have overshadowed, for some years past, our whole horizon, will be completely dissipated by the bright blaze of its glory.

"The opening of our Church Catechism," continued the lady of the manor, "is perhaps one of the most obscure passages which has crept into our prayer-book, as hath been acknowledged by some of our most respectable divines. Whatever the opinions of its compilers may have been, this passage is so worded as to mislead its readers, and that upon a point of vital importance, namely, the subject of regeneration: because, though baptism is the outward and visible sign of the new birth, yet it is not necessarily connected with it-insomuch that many are baptized, who are not regenerated; while many, we trust, are regenerated, who have never received its outward sign and visible seal. But," proceeded the lady of the manor, 66 as I shall have occasion to speak more largely upon this subject in its proper place, I shall leave it at this time for matters more suited to the present state of your acquaintance with divine things."

Having premised thus much, the lady of the manor addressed herself to the youngest in the room, and said, 666 What is your name

The young lady answered, "Sophia."

"You

Here the lady of the manor made this remark :observe, my young people, that, in the reply to this question, What is your name?' the Christian name only is mentioned. The giving of a name in baptism has nothing to do with religion: it is merely a custom, and, in my opinion, an unexceptionable one, though, I believe, not approved by some denominations of Christians. have, however, upon record, an instance in which this custom was turned to a good purpose; and, as the little

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