next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world!" John i. 29.-The place of the Scripture which he read was this: "He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before the shearer, so opened he not his mouth." Acts viii. 32.-" Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation, received by tradition from your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot; who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you." 1 Peter i. 18-20. While Mr. Fairchild was reading these verses, the cart had come by the side of a wood, which was exceedingly shady and beautiful. Many tufts of primroses, violets, and wood-anemones, grew on the banks by the way-side; and as the wind blew gently over these flowers, it brought a most delightful smell. "What sound is that which I hear among the trees?" said Emily: "it is very sweet and soft." "That is the cooing of wood-pigeons, or doves," said Mr. Fairchild: "and look, Emily, there they are! they are sitting upon the branch of a tree; there are two of them." "Oh! I see them," said Emily: "O how soft and pretty they look! But, now the noise of the cart has frightened them; they have flown away." "The Holy Spirit," said Mr. Fairchild, "appeared at our Saviour's baptism in the shape of a dove; to signify, that those to whom the Holy Spirit comes are made holy and harmless, and innocent as doves. The Holy Spirit finds us hard and cruel, and fierce as bears and lions; but it makes us gentle and lovely as doves. Christ says to the soul which is converted, 'Behold, thou art fair, my love: behold, thou art fair; thou hast dove's eyes.'" Cant. i. 15. By this time the cart had passed through the wood, and they were come in sight of Mrs. Goodriche's white house, standing in a little garden under a hill. This was the house (as I before said) where Mrs. Howard lived, as much as fifty years ago. "Oh! mamma, mamma!" said Emily, "there is Mrs. Goodriche's house! and I shall see my dear Lucy and Henry in a very little time.” Just as Emily spoke, they saw Lucy and Henry step out of the house-door, and come running towards the cart. It would have pleased you to the heart had you seen how rejoiced these dear children were to meet each other. Mr. Fairchild lifted Henry and Lucy into the cart; and they cried for joy when they put their arms round their dear Emily's neck. "Oh, Emily, Emily!" said Henry, "if you had died, I never would have played again." "God be praised," said Mr. Fairchild; “our dear Emily has been spared us." When the cart came up to Mrs. Goodriche's gardengate, the good old lady came to receive Mr. and Mrs. Fairchild, and to kiss Emily; and Sukey peeped out of the kitchen window, not less pleased than her mistress to see Emily in good health. While Sukey was getting the dinner, Emily and her brother and sister went to play in the garden. Henry showed Emily some rabbits which Mrs. Goodriche had, and some young ducks, which had been hatched a few days before, with many other pretty things. When dinner was ready, Mrs. Fairchild called the children in; and they all sat down, full of joy, to eat a roast fowl and some boiled bacon, with a nice cold currant and raspberry pie. When Mr. Fairchild was saying grace, he said, "Indeed, indeed, I must thank God with all my heart and soul for his goodness to us. What blessings have we about us even in this world!" "And what blessings we may enjoy in the world to come, through our dear Saviour!" added Mrs. Goodriche. After dinner, Mr. and Mrs. Fairchild and Mrs. Goodriche, with the children, walked as far as the wood where Emily had seen the doves, to gather strawberries, which they mixed with some cream and sugar at night for their supper. Before bedtime, Mr. Fairchild prayed, and sang a hymn; the subject of his prayer was thanksgiving to God for all his goodness; and the hymn was in praise of the "Lamb without blemish and without spot." I shall copy both in this book for your use, altering only a few words. A Prayer in Praise of God. O Almighty and glorious Father, who made me and all the world; and Thou, dear Redeemer, who died for me; and Thou, O Holy Spirit, who art always willing to come into our wicked hearts, to cleanse them and make them white; accept the praises of a poor child. Where shall I begin to praise or to speak my thanks for all thy goodness! It was Thou, O Father, that madest me a little tender baby; and it is Thou who hast taken care of me to this hour. It is from Thee that I receive meat, and drink, and clothes; and that I have a house to live in, and a comfortable bed to lie down in. It is Thou, O Lord, that sendest thy angels to guard me from danger in the night season, and who makest the bright sun to rise upon me every day. But above all, I thank Thee for having sent thy beloved Son to die for me upon the cross. What man is there who would give his son to die for any friend? yet Thou, O Lord, gavest thy only Son to die for me, a sinful and miserable wretch, and one who by nature is the child of the devil, and at enmity with thee! O thou bleeding Lamb! how can I utter thy praises with these my sinful lips! O, Thou art all fair! Thou, in whom there is no spot! Thou, who art most lovely! I cannot praise thee now; but I desire to praise thee in heaven, where I shall be free from sin, and where I shall stand in thy presence, clothed in the garment of salvation, and clad with the robe of righteousness. There, in that blessed place, are millions and tens of millions of holy spirits, who have been washed from their sins by thy blood: there they behold thy beauty, and rejoice in thy presence. O blessed Lamb! make me one of the redeemed! draw my heart unto thee by the power of thy Holy Spirit, and fill my mouth with thy praises! Glory, glory, glory be unto God, and to the Lamb without spot; and to Thee, O Holy Spirit. Praised be the holy Three in One, now and for evermore. Amen. "Our Father," &c. &c. HYMN XV. Jesus my All to heaven is gone; The way the holy prophets went, This is the way I long have sought, The more I strove against its pow'r, Lo! glad I come; and Thou, bless'd Lamb, Then shall I tell to sinners round, And say, "Behold the way to God!" SECOND DAY AT MRS. GOODRICHE'S; WITH THE OLD STORY OF MRS. HOWARD. The Subject, Good Manners a Christian Virtue. THE next morning, after breakfast, when Mr. Fairchild had prayed and read a chapter with the family, he went out to take a walk. Then Mrs. Goodriche called the three children to her, and said, "Now, my dear children, I will tell you a story: come, sit round me upon these little stools, and hearken." The children were very much pleased when they heard Mrs. Goodriche say she would tell them a story; for Mrs. Goodriche could tell a great many pretty stories. THE STORY. "About fifty years ago," said Mrs. Goodriche, "a little old lady, named Mrs. Howard, lived in this house with her maid Betty. She had an old horse, called Crop, which grazed in that meadow, and carried Betty to market once a week. Mrs. Howard was one of the kindest and most good-natured old ladies in England: three or four times every year Betty had orders, when she went to market, to bring all manner of playthings and little books from the toy-shop. These playthings and pretty little books Mrs. Howard used to keep by her, till she saw any children whom she thought worthy of them but she never gave any playthings to children who did not obey their parents, or who were rude and ill-mannered; for she used to say, that God has commanded us to be 'kindly affectioned one to another, with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another:' Rom. xii. 10: 'on which account,' she would say, 'it is a great sin in the eyes of God for children to be rude and unmannerly.' All the children in the neighbourhood used from time to time to visit Mrs. Howard; and those who wished to be obliging never came away without some pretty plaything or book. "At that time there were in this country two families of the names of Cartwright and Bennet: the former much beloved by the neighbours, on account of their good qualities; the latter as much disliked for their bad ones. "Mr. Bennet was a rich farmer, and lived in a good old house, with every thing handsome and plentiful about him; but nobody cared to go near him, or to visit his wife, because their manners were so rough and disobliging; and their two children, Master Jacky and Miss Polly, were brought up only to please themselves, and to care for nobody else. But, on the contrary, Mr. and Mrs. Cartwright made their house so agreeable by their civil and courteous manners, that high and low, rich and poor, loved to go there: and Master Billy and Miss Patty Cartwright were spoken well of throughout the whole neighbourhood, for their pretty and modest behaviour. I need not tell you, for you will have found that out already," said Mrs. Goodriche, "that Mr. and Mrs. Bennet were people who had no fear of God about them; while Mr. and Mrs. Cartwright had, through the Divine mercy, been brought to the blessed knowledge and fear of their Creator. "It happened once upon a time, that Betty went to town, at the time of the midsummer fair, and brought some of the prettiest toys and books which had been seen in this country for a long time: among these, were a jointed doll with flaxen hair, and a History of the Bible, full of coloured pictures, exceedingly pretty. Soon after Betty brought these things home, Mrs. Howard said to her, 'Betty, you must make a cake and put some plums in it, and a large apple-pie, and some |