THE PIOUS CHURCHMAN'S SUNDAY. DIALOGUE BETWEEN FARMER GOODMAN, AND HIS LABOURER THOMAS FAITHFUL.

AFTER what passed between Farmer Goodman and Thomas Faithful, and which was related in the last paper, it will be readily believed that Thomas paid more attention than common to the Church service. And his having a prayer-book to use, prevented his mind from wandering over his worldly business, his horses, his cattle, his plough, and his sheep; and it kept him thinking about what was going on. And he found (what all will find if they have prayer-books, and use them in a right spirit) that there was a wonderful deal more in the Church prayers than most people think; that there was every thing he wanted mentioned there. And having been so much pleased and benefitted by assembling in the great congregation, he took care not to be behind his time in coming to Mr. Goodman, to have the fresh conversation which was agreed upon. Accordingly the Farmer and his family had not been sat after dinner more than twenty minutes, and Mr. Goodman had only just finished telling them of the talk he had had with Thomas Faithful, when they were informed that the latter waited at the door to see his master.

"I will come to him directly, tell him," was Mr. Goodman's reply. I promised, said the Farmer, to have a little further conversation with Thomas about the Sunday; and I suppose

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he is come for that purpose. I told him I should be at liberty after dinner, and would see him then if he chose to come. Thomas, (said Farmer Goodman, when he reached the door,) come this way: we will go into the orchard to the shady walk there; the sun is hot, and it will be cooler." The fruit-trees were now in full blossom, and they filled the air with a delightful fragrance.

Thomas. Aye, Master, how beautiful them trees does look just now, and how sweet they smell.

Farmer. Yes, Thomas; there are some precious relics of Paradise. Notwithstanding the sad confusion that sin has made in the world, God is exceedingly good to us, though we are unthankful and wicked. As King Solomon wrote, "Lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone, the flowers appear on the earth, the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land."-Song of Sol. ii. 11. 12. Indeed, the Almighty seems, according to the prayer in the Litany, "to be giving us the kindly fruits of the earth, so as in due time we may enjoy them."

Thomas. Aye, yes; he does, for sure. I've been thinking since I came from church this morning that there's scarce any thing that we want, whether spiritual or temporal, as isn't prayed for in the Church prayers, and I'm only sorry that there's no sarvice this afternoon. I've got so much good this morning that it sha'nt be a little matter as shall keep me from church when there is prayers; I mean to try if I can't be as fierce of going to church as Judge Hale was.

Farmer. Well, Thomas, I commend you very much for being so desirous of going to church; but as unfortunately we can only have service here once a day, since Mr. Peacemaker goes to Eyedale to preach one part of the day, I'll put you into a way of making up for the want; and I shall show you how always to spend your Sunday evenings, for then we never have any service.

Thomas. Well, master, how do you do? for I'm sure I don't know how to get my time on right. I've spent many an hour talking in the town gate, because there's been no church.

Farmer. Well, Thomas, I get my family together at the time the church would begin if there was church, and they all come into the parlour, the men, and the maids, and the children; and I make them bring their prayer-books, and I read the Psalms and the two lessons, one out of the Old, and another out of the New Testament, just the same as would have been read in the church. And then afterwards I go to

prayer, and I can tell you I use the Church prayers; for I feel there are none like them. And I begin with the general confession of our sins, and then the Lord's prayer, and then the collect for the day, and the second collect, and the third collect, and the prayers right away to the end, the same as we hear them at church: and after this is done we sing a hymn, and then I read a short sermon: and so we conclude our family worship.

Thomas. Aye, well, said Thomas, I never heard nought like that before; its fair wonderful, but I'm afraid us poor folks couldn't manage all that.

Farmer Why no, Thomas, I don't suppose you would perhaps be able to manage it all at once, but then you might try and get on by little and little; and if you were to read at first only the Psalms, and a few of the Church and a prayers, short piece out of the books which you get lent from Mr. Peace-maker, this would be better than nothing. And then you would get to read a bit more and a bit more, till at last you would manage all that we do. You know we must all have a larning; and then when you get tired of reading, your mistress might read a bit, or one of your children that is a good scholar, and now see that you try it this afternoon, and I'm sure you'll get on after a while.

Thomas. I will, master; and I think we can contrive and read part this afternoon; and if we can't do all that we would, we must do all we can. But, master, there's a many in the town as neglects to go to prayers; and they say they can read and think good thoughts at home, and so then they pretend they're only doing the same as you do when there is no sarvice.

Farmer. Well, Thomas, I'm very suspicious that those persons that won't go to Church don't read and think good thoughts at home. If God tells us "not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is," (Heb. x. 25.), we may depend upon it He'll be very angry with us for not going to church; and when we're committing a sinful thing against Him, we can't expect that He'll bless us for doing so. But if I haven't no opportunity to go to church more than once a day, and rather than I should spend my time badly, if I read to my family and pray with them, I can believe that God will bless us; because it says in the Bible, "Where two or three are met together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." And I wonder what those sort of folks think about David, when he could not get to the house of God, and cried out, "As the hart panteth after the water-brooks, so longeth my soul for Thee, O God. My soul

is athirst for God, yea even for the living God: when shall I come to appear before God?" (Ps. xlii. 1, 2.)

Thomas. Aye, dear, no; that's enough to make one think that a man cannot be in earnest about religion, if he isn't in earnest about going to the house of God.

Farmer. It's enough for me; and whenever I see any thing plain down in the Scriptures, I make myself sure it's right; and I never care for a score shuffling excuses that people make to slip it. We're only very poor creatures if we compare ourselves to the things which God has made; and therefore we needn't wonder if we can't quite understand every thing that the Almighty tells us. "How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out." (Rom. xi. 33.)

"When heaven, thy beauteous work on high,

Employs my wondering sight;

The moon that nightly rules the sky,
With stars of feebler light.

"What's man, I say, that, Lord, thou lov'st,

To keep him in thy mind;

Or what his offspring, that thou prov'st
To them so wondrous kind."

Eighth Psalm, New Version.

Thomas. Well, master, that did sound uncommon sweet when the children was singing of it this morning; but, master, you've got to tell me how to spend Sunday night, and then I shall know all about keeping holy the sabbath-day very cleverly.

Farmer. Well, a while after tea-time, when the maids have got their milking done, and the lads have given the cattle their foddering, we all assemble again in the parlourthis is generally about seven o'clock-and I ask the youngest boys and my own children a part of the catechism, and I explain to them any thing that they don't understand. And after we have done this for a short time, I begin and mention some few of the chief things that we had told us in Mr. Peace-maker's sermon, and in that that I read; and I try to, show what particular points in our behaviour ought to be mended by what we have heard, and how we ought to pray for God's Holy Spirit (without whom, as the prayer-book tells us, nothing is strong, nothing is holy) to help us to put into practice what we learn.

Thomas. O deary, deary me; I've heard many a fine sarmint in my life, but I never thought of thinking of it after church was over.

Farmer. Well, but, Thomas, that sort of hearing sermons is all of no use. Doesn't Mr. Peace-maker pray after he's

finished his sermon, "that the words which we have now heard with our outward ears may, through God's grace, (not go in at one ear and out at the other) but be engrafted (like as an apple tree on a crab stock, for we're all of us crab stocks until we be changed), may be engrafted inwardly in each of our hearts, that they may bring forth in us the fruits of good living, to the praise of God's holy name, through Christ our Lord." And, accordingly, I always like to sit still for about half an hour after we've got our tea, and think where the sermon convinced me of sin, that I may amend my life. And I don't read another sermon at night, but a short account of some particularly religious man, and then we learn by example; and that's very great encouragement.

Thomas. Well, master, I'm sure I return you many thanks for telling me all this.

Farmer. You're very welcome; and I've only one more thing to say: remember this is the Lord's day. St. John in the Revelation says "I was in the spirit on the Lord's day." (i. 10.) And as it is called so after our blessed Saviour, who died for our sins, let us never miss keeping it holy.

As nobody can write better on "Great Tom" (the great bell) than the poet Southey, under his fictitious character of a Spaniard, we select his amusing account of his visit to the mighty Tom. "We ascended," says he, one of the other towers afterwards to see Great Tom, the largest bell in England. At first it disappointed me, but the disappoinment