ON THE SECOND COMMANDMENT.

"It is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve."

MATTHEW iv. 10.

FREDERICK.

Он, Anne! mamma says it is of no use to put on your bonnet and pelisse, for it is raining as hard as it can pour, and we must not go to Church.

ELLEN.

How sorry I am! Did mamma say we might not go, even if it leaves off presently? I think I shall sit at the window and watch the rain, and if it leaves off in twenty minutes, we may get to Church in time if we walk fast.

ANNE.

Instead of looking out of window and finding fault with the weather, I should advise

your fetching a book, that you may both improve and amuse yourself, and then you will not find the time hang heavy on your hands. Papa is going to read the Morning Service and a Sermon to us, as we cannot go to Church, and in the meanwhile you and Harriette can read, and Frederick will say his Catechism and the Commandments to me.

ELLEN.

How tiresome it is that it should rain !

ANNE.

Oh! Ellen, do not say that! Remember who it is that causeth the wind to blow and the rain to fall in due season. Rain has been much wanted for some time by the farmers, and you should think of the good it will do, and not complain merely because it confines you to the house. It is certainly proper for us to go to Church when we have an opportunity, but when we are prevented from doing so by any unforeseen accident, we should endeavour to improve ourselves at home in the same way as if we were there, by reading and meditating on God's Holy Word. Thus we may derive as much advantage as if we were at Church.

FREDERICK.

Now, Anne, shall I say the Ten Com

mandments to you?

Yes:

t

ANNE.

come and sit on this little stool. Now, be attentive, and think of what you are going to say. What is the first?

FREDERICK.

"Thou shalt have none other Gods but

me."

ANNE.

What is the second ?

FREDERICK.

"Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven image, nor the likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, or in the waters under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down to them nor wor, ship them; for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, and visit the sins of the fathers upon the children, unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me, but show mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments."

LYDIA.

Anne, when Frederick has done, I want to ask you some questions about that Commandment.

ANNE.

Very well. What is the third, Frederick? (Frederick repeats the rest of the Commandments.)

Do you know what coveting is, Frederick?

FREDERICK.

Yes it is wishing for what belongs to another, and we must not do that, because it would make us discontented with what we have already; and if we coveted anything very much indeed, it would lead us to stealing, and the Commandment says, "Thou shalt not steal."

ANNE.

Very well. Now, Lydia, what was it you wanted to ask?

LYDIA.

About the meaning of those words, “I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the sins of the fathers upon the children, unto

the third and fourth generation of those that hate me." I don't know whether it is right of me to say so, but I should not have thought God was ever jealous, and visited the sins of fathers upon their children, who might, perhaps, be harmless.

ANNE.

It is not to be denied that there is an apparent harshness in this declaration; but I think that I can explain its meaning to you so as to remove a great deal of the difficulty. In the first place, it is only for the sin of idolatry that God says he will visit the sins of the fathers upon the children. In the second place, the Jews, you know, were the chosen people of God, whom he had set apart to preserve the belief of his being the only living and true God; and if they had become idolaters, the worshippers of God would have become extinct, therefore it was particularly necessary that they should be kept from this sin. You understand this ?

LYDIA.

Yes-you say if the Jews had worshipped idols, the followers of God would have be