Ment. Thanksgiving is the grateful sense. we express for any favour or benefit received;. which is testified by acknowledging, in the most public and solemn manner, the obligations we owe to our benefactors. Those which we receive at the hand of God bear no degree, of comparison with any that can be derived from a prince or ruler of the earth; yet if any temporal advantage requires our making a suitable return to the person who bestowed the gift, what tribute can we pay to the Giver of all spiritual gifts? He requires no oblations, but what should voluntarily proceed from a good heart; such as an uniform obedience to his holy laws, and faith in his promises. We should be zealous in the discharge of this part of our duty. There requires no other incitement to make us so, but a just estimate of the invaluable blessings of our creation, preservation, and redemption; a due sense of which will inspire us to enter into his courts with joy, and sing praises unte his holy name.

Lady M. My dear Mentoria, you have given me such a clear idea of my religious duty, I cannot possibly ever neglect the performance of it. I remember you once promised to explain some of the parables to me;

if it be agreeable, I shall now attend to you with pleasure.

Ment. To proceed in due order, I must begin by informing you of the nature of Parables, and why our blessed Saviour chose this mode of instruction to enlighten the minds of his disciples, in preference to any other. A parable is a figurative composition; and when it is not spoken by an inspired person, nor found in holy writ, it bears a near resemblance to apologue or fable; as the conviction both produce arises from the moral inferences drawn from them; which by the indirect application they make to the heart, have induced many persons of inflexible dispositions to yield evidence against themselves. This undoubtedly was the cause of our Saviour's delivering his instructions in parables, as they not only engaged the attention, but surmounted the cavils and obstinacy of the Jews, which could have been effected by no other means, If he meant to convince a sinner of the heinousness of his offence, and to lead him into the right path, by the light of the gospel, he represented in such glaring colours the particular instance in which he erred, that the deep sense the offender had of his own guilt, obliged him instantly to forsake it, or he remained

mained self-condemned.

As there appeared

nothing personal in the attack, he might at first be enraged against the perpetrators of the very crimes he was guilty of himself; a remarkable instance of which we find in David, when Nathan, was sent to reprove him for killing Uriah, that he might marry his wife Bathsheba.

Lady L. That is one of the stories I am particularly fond of; so I hope you will explain it first.

Lady M. Lady Louisa, I approve your choice so much, that, if you had not made the request, I should have done it myself.

Ment. I will comply with your request, though it, in some measure, obliges me to go in a different tract from what I intended; as I proposed selecting one of our Saviour's parables, as best suited to inform you of the nature of his ministry: notwithstanding which, that delivered by the prophet Nathan (as he was an inspired writer) deserves your praise and attention.

Lady L. Pray, Mentoria, what is a Prophet?

Ment. A Prophet was a person of exemplary conduct and holiness of life, inspired by

God with the wisdom and ability of foretelling events.

Lord G. Are there any Prophets now? I think I know nobody who can say what will happen.

Ment. It is not now necessary there should be any prophets, as God by those, and other means, has so clearly revealed his will, that even the most ignorant do not so much err from not knowing their duty, as because they have not resolution to practise it. In the early ages of the world, and before Christianity was so firmly established, prophecies and miracles were indispensably necessary to remove the errors of the Pagans and the obstinacy of the Jews. As every circumstance they foretold agreed in unity of time and place, and came to pass exactly as they were predicted, there could be no doubt of their divine origin, as such wonderful things could not be effected or produced by any human means.

Lady M. What are the Pagans, my good Mentoria?

Ment. The Pagans are those people whom you have perhaps heard or read of by the name of Heathens, who worshipped idols: which consisted of men, birds, and beasts. I

shall

shall say but little on this subject, as you will find it clearly expressed in the Pantheon.

Lord G. I hope you will now begin the Parable, as I am very fond of allegorical writings.

Ment. I shall first recite the Parable, explain each particular branch of it, and then endeavour to find how we can apply it to ourselves.

THE PARABLE.

"And the Lord sent Nathan to David; and he came and said unto him, There were two men in one city; the one rich and the other poor. The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds; but the poor man had nothing save one little ewe-lamb, which he had bought and nourished up; and it grew together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and was unto him as a daughter. And there came a traveller unto the rich man; and he spared to take one of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him; but took the poor man's lamb and dressed it for the man that was come unto him. And David's anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As