above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" Jer. xvii. 9. "Oh, I am a wicked child!" she said to herself: "I am a wicked girl! Who can save me from my own wicked heart? But I will write down all I have thought this morning, and show it to my mamma."

You will, perhaps, like to know what Lucy wrote; I therefore will copy it here: and, perhaps, when you are able to write, you will get your friends to give you a blank book, and a pen and ink, that you also may keep an account of the sins of your heart, in order, with the Divine blessing, to keep you from being proud; "For God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time." 1 Pet. v. 5, 6.

LUCY FAIRCHILD'S JOURNAL

WRITTEN WHEN SHE WAS NINE YEARS AND A HALF OLD..

"When I awoke this morning, mamma called me to make my bed; and I felt cross, and wished I was like Miss Augusta Noble, and had servants to wait upon me; and that Lady Noble was my mamma, and not my own dear mamma.

"Mamma gave Emily a bit of muslin, and some pink riband; and I was envious, and hated Emily a little while, though I knew it was wicked.

"When papa gave Henry the strawberry, I was angry again; and then I thought of Mrs. Giles, who loves one of her little girls, and hates the other. I thought that my papa and mamma were like Mrs. Giles, and that they loved Henry and Emily more than me.

"When papa was reading and praying I wanted to be at play; and was tired of the Bible, and did not wish to hear it.

"And then I thought a very bad thought indeed! When Mrs. Barker came, I despised her for not being pretty, though I knew that God had made her such as she is, and that he could make me like her in one moment."

As soon as Lucy had finished writing these last words, she heard her mamma come up stairs and go into her room she immediately ran to her; and showing her the book, "Oh, mamma, mamma!" she said, “you can

not think what a wicked heart I have got! Here is my journal: I am ashamed to show it to you: pray do not hate me for what is written in that book."

Mrs. Fairchild took the book; and when she had read what was written, "My dear child," she said, "I thank God, who has by his Holy Spirit helped you to know a little of the wickedness of your heart. Your heart, my dear, is no worse, and no better, than the hearts of all human creatures; for there is none good, no not one.' 'As in water face answereth to face, so the heart of man to man.' Prov. xxvii. 19. And yet, as I told you before, there are many people who live to a very old age without knowing that their hearts are wicked; they think themselves very good, and that they shall go to heaven as a reward of their goodness. They do not see the need of a Saviour, and therefore never apply to him for help; thus they live and die in unbelief. But happy are those, my dear Lucy, who are brought to the knowledge of their own sinful nature before their death."

Then Mrs. Fairchild gave the book back to Lucy, and told her to continue every day to keep an account of what passed in her heart, that she might learn more and more to know and hate her own sinful nature. After this, Mrs. Fairchild and Lucy knelt down, and confessed before God the exceeding vileness of their hearts, as follows:

Confession of the exceeding Vileness of our Hearts.

O Almighty Father! my heart is so exceedingly wicked, so vile, and full of sin, that even when I appear to people about me to be tolerably good, even then I am sinning. So great is the power of sin over me, that even when I am praying, or reading the Bible, or hearing other people read the Bible, even then I sin. When I speak, I sin; w en I am silent, I sin. I find, O Lord, that I cannot cease from sin, not even for one moment. Even my dreams upon my bed often show the vileness of my heart. O Lord, what shall I do? where shall I fly how can I be saved from my sins? In me there is no help! I can do nothing for myself! I must depend entirely on thee for mercy, O heavenly Father! Oh, pardon me for my Saviour's sake; and for his sake may God the Spirit renew and sanctify my vile heart, and prepare me for that glory which has been procured for the saints by the death and merits of my blessed Re

deemer. For that dear Redeemer's sake, O Lord, hear my prayer; and grant that I may be washed from my sins by the blood of Christ, and clothed in garments made white with the same.

"Our Father," &c. &c.

STORY ON AMBITION, OR THE WISH TO BE GREAT.

TWICE every year, Sir Charles and Lady Noble used to invite Mr. and Mrs. Fairchild, and their children, to spend a day with them at their house. Mr. and Mrs. Fairchild did not much like to go, because Sir Charles and his lady were very proud, and their children were

not brought up in the fear of God; yet, as the visit hap pened only twice in a year, Mr. Fairchild thought it better to go than to have a quarrel with his neighbour. Mrs. Fairchild always had two plain muslin frocks, with white mittens, and neat black shoes, for Lucy and Emily to wear when she went to see Lady Noble. As Mr. Fairchild's house was as much as two miles distant from Sir Charles Noble's, Sir Charles always used to send his carriage for them, and to bring them back again at night.

One morning, just at breakfast-time, Mr. Fairchild came into the parlour, saying to Mrs. Fairchild, “Here, my dear, is a note from Sir Charles Noble, inviting us and the children to spend the day to-morrow, with him."

"Well, my dear," said Mrs. Fairchild, "as Sir Charles Noble has been so kind as to ask us, we must not offend him by refusing to go."

The next morning Mr. Fairchild desired his wife and children to be ready at twelve o'clock, which was the time fixed for the coach to be at Mr. Fairchild's door. Accordingly, soon after eleven Mrs. Fairchild dressed Lucy and Emily, and made them sit quietly down till the carriage came. As Lucy and Emily sat in the corner of the room, Lucy looked at Emily, and said, “Sister, how pretty you look!" "And how neat you look, Lucy!" said Emily: "these frocks are very pretty, and make us look very well."

"My dear little girls," said Mrs. Fairchild, who overheard what they said to each other," do not be conceited because you have your best frocks on. You now think well of yourselves, because you fancy you are well dressed; by-and-by, when you get to Lady Noble's, you will find Miss Augusta much finer dressed than yourselves; then you will be out of humour with yourselves for as little reason as you now are pleased. Do you remember the verses I made you learn, Lucy, concerning one who cometh into the assembly of Christians in fine clothes?"

Lucy. Mamma, I remember; they are these: 'My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; and ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here,

in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool; are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts?' James ii. 1-4.

By the time Lucy had repeated these verses, Henry came in his Sunday coat, to tell his mamma that Sir Charles Noble's carriage was come. Mrs. Fairchild was quite ready; and Lucy and Emily were in such a hurry that Emily had nearly tumbled down stairs over her sister, and Lucy was upon the point of slipping down on the step of the hall door; however, they all got into the coach without any accident, and the coachman drove away; and that so rapidly, that they soon came in sight of Sir Charles Noble's house.

As it is not likely that you ever saw Sir Charles Noble's house, I will give you some account of it. It is a very large house, built of smooth white stone; it stands in a fine park, or green lawn, scattered over with tall trees and shrubs; but there were no leaves on the trees at the time I am speaking of, because it was winter.

When the carriage drove up to the hall door, a smart footman came out, opened the carriage door, and showed Mr. and Mrs. Fairchild through a great many rooms, into a grand parlour, where Lady Noble was sitting upon a sofa, by a large fire, with several other ladies, all of whom were handsomely dressed. Now, as I told you before, Lady Noble was a proud woman; so she did not take much notice of Mrs. Fairchild when she came in, although she ordered the servant to set a chair for r her. Miss Augusta Noble was seated on the sofa by her mamma, playing with a very beautiful wax doll; and her two brothers, William and Edward, were standing by her; but they never came forward to Mrs. Fairchild's children, to say that they were glad to see them, or to show them any kind of civility. If children knew how disagreeable they make themselves when they are rude and ill-behaved, surely they would never be so, but would strive to be civil and courteous to every one, according to the words of the Bible, "Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another." Rom. xii. 10.

Soon after Mrs. Fairchild was seated, a servant came to say that Miss Noble's and Master William's and Master Edward's dinners were ready. "Go, Augusta," said Lady Noble," to your dinner, and take Master and the