of his child has not been neglected; that while he has been anxious to fit him for a station in this life, he has not omitted to train him for the world to come. The pious Mrs. Elworthy was comforted by this thought. In conjunction with her dear partner, she had pressed upon the mind of her son the importance of the one thing needful. As soon as he could speak she taught him to utter a prayer, and by degrees, to repeat hymns and other compositions which were likely to be retained in his memory. He was taken to the house of God, and became the constant subject of prayer in the family; as he grew up, he was appointed to read sometimes the hymn, and at others the chapter that he might be initiated in the things of the kingdom of God. He was then desired to write his thoughts upon some text of scripture, and at length produced a sermon upon a given passage. By these means he acquired a knowledge of the word of life, but alas! it was knowledge that, being external, only puffed up, and although appearances were favourable, yet they were not to be depended upon. His removal from home was an event that was to prove his character, and it did prove it. When he first heard Freeman converse he was shocked. Hitherto he had been totally unaccustomed to profane oaths and lewd discourse. The con

versation he had listened to at home, was connected with heavenly things: but now, pleasure, excess, dissipation, were the favorite themes. He soon began to hear as a critic, found fault with the style or manner of the preacher, wanted to hear something new, and heaped up to himself teachers, having itching ears. His careless behaviour in the house of God was observable and became a subject of grief to many.

One thing that accelerated his declension from the right way was the inconsistent conduct of some that belonged to the place of wor ship that he attended, and they were members of the Church!! When the sermon was over they returned home, but not to meditate, not to converse upon the word of God; no, it was to notice some peculiar expression; it was to descant on the dress of some of the hearers; it was to complain of the length of the sermon, or, that there was nothing new in it. Visiters would sometimes arrive, and then scandal and defamation came forth. Report say they and we will report it; in a word, the unscriptural conduct of these pretended saints, these unhallowed, unworthy, partakers, of the Lord's supper, by disgusting the mind of Elworthy, lowered the importance of religion, and he thought less and less of its magnitude every day.

It has often been observed: "after the tra gedy comes a farce." Might not this be said frequently upon the Lord's day? When the truly tragic scenes have been depicted, the tragic scenes of our blessed Lord's agony, his incomparable sufferings in Gethsemane; the unparalleled indignity at the bar of Pilate which he endured, the mockings, the buffettings, the taunts, the reproaches, and, to crown all, the painful, shameful, lingering death of the Cross to which he submitted, the thrilling, heartrending cry in the hour of his greatest conflict and desertion; My God! My God! Why hast thou forsaken me? How many weep at the recital preparatory to the laugh which is to follow! Yes, they weep, but they are not such tears as angels weep; yes, they weep, but they are not the tears of the humble penitent; not the tears of the heart melted by love divine; they are the tears of the crocodile; they weep with the church that they may laugh with the world; they hear of the meekness, and mildness of the Son of God, that they may return home and indulge their rage, their anger, their slander, their evil-speaking! The tragedy is over--the comic scenes are introduced--the tragic dress is thrown off--the Pantomimic apparel is put on; thus they exhibit a striking illustration of the plain, but forcible saying which contains in it a severe cen

sure on the one hand, and wholesome instruction on the other, "Saints abroad, devils at home.'

It has been remarked already, that the conduct of Elworthy had affected the spirits of his fond parent. Her strength declined, her worldly comforts were withered; she had no husband to encourage her. In losing him, her best earthly friend was removed! To complain to others of her child, she could not, and therefore she bore her grief secretly. Yet she had a friend, into whose ear she could utter the plaintive tale and the mournful recital of her. woe. She had a friend whose advice she could freely ask and on whose assistance she could confidently rely. He was a tried, an approved friend; the same in adversity as in prosperity; the same in sickness as in health. This friend never slighted her, never refused his aid. He was the friend of her youth, the friend of advancing years, an Almighty, everlasting friend,-it was God.

Removed into the country, she now and then received a visit from her son, and she embraced these opportunities of speaking to him freely and affectionately upon the subject of religion. But he observed a sullen silence, nor could she draw the least favourable circumstance except a tear that now and then wandered from

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his eye, and which he endeavoured to repress. “All I can cleave to, said she to him, is the confidence I have in the truth, that you are in the hands of God; that you are, and have been, the subject of many earnest prayers; and that the sentiments which, in early life, were impressed upon your memory, cannot be altogether obliterated; conscience, my dear son, may be for a time stupified, but it will at length awake and speak in notes of thunder. Hear, O! hear its voice now. This is the day of salvation, this the golden opportunity, while life and breath and being last. Should I never address you more, remember that I have led you in the good and the right path. Strive then to enter in at the strait gate, for many will seek to enter in and shall not be able," she ceased, and Elworthy took his leave.

As he returned home, he revolved in his mind past events and present circumstances. At one moment he resolved to alter his conduct, to renounce his associates, and to have nothing further to do with Freeman; then he began to reflect on the reproaches he would receive, and the ridicule and scorn he would experience. He knew that excesses had already injured his health, and nearly exhausted his resources, and a text of Scripture darted into his mind and stood like an angel with a drawn sword before him, "what fruit hadst thou