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Mr. Elmer. Robert I think can tell what

that portion is.

Robert. Yes, sir, I learned it in the twenty-first chapter of Revelations. "They shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone."

Philip. But boys seldom get drunk, or drink any thing stronger than beer.

Mr. Elmer. I advise you all to take care of drinking beer, which boys think so innocent, for it almost always leads to the love. of stronger drink.

Philip. But if they never should love any thing stronger, is there any harm in drinking a little beer?

Mr. Elmer. Yes, they will meet evil company in beer shops; and we are taught by the word of God, not to allow ourselves to enter where we know we shall be tempted to sin; we must "avoid the haunts of the wicked; pass by them and turn away."

Philip. But, you know, beer is sold at tables, which are at the corners of the streets, so a boy may buy it without going into a beer shop.

Mr. Elmer. Why should they not be satisfied with the good water, which is so plenty, and so healthy?

Philip. Because beer tastes so much better.

Mr. Elmer. That is exactly the reason that a lover of whiskey or brandy gives for drinking them, instead of water. Boys pay for the beer they drink, I suppose?

Philip. Only a cent or two.

Mr. Elmer. And where do such boys as drink beer from the tables in the street, get cents?

Philip. If their fathers are ever so poor, they can sometimes give them a cent or two; and then they can make more by pitch-penny and toss-up.

Mr. Elmer. And is there no harm in a boy using the cents which his parents have worked hard for, to buy beer? If he saved these cents, they might, in time, be a little stock for him to do something useful with.

Philip. Of what use would saving a few cents be?

Mr. Elmer. Count two cents saved in a week, how many would that be in a year? Philip. I have not learned to count much; George, can you tell?

George. There are fifty-two weeks in a year, twice that, you know, would be one hundred and four; a hundred cents make a dollar; so that would be a dollar and four cents in a year.

Mr. Elmer. In this plentiful land a dollar will purchase many useful things. Did you ever own one, Philip?

Philip. No, but I often have cents.

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Mr. Elmer. If you had saved them instead of spending them in a useless, or worse than useless way, you might have had several dollars, and bought with them a decent suit of clothes, the want of which, you say, has prevented your going to Sunday school, or attending a place of worship.

Philip. I never thought of that.

Mr. Elmer. What kind of an excuse will that be to offer to your Creator, who commands you to worship him; and seek to know

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his will, by gaining a knowledge of the scriptures, which are able to make you wise unto salvation."

Frank. What did you mean, Philip, by pitch-penny and toss-up, that you said would gain more cents?

Philip. Did you never hear of them before? I remember now, you said that you live in the country.

Mr. Elmer. It is the way in which boys gamble.

Philip. It is not gaming, it is only a play. Mr. Elmer. Would boys love it so much if they did not win from each other?

Philip. There would be no fun in it without expecting to win.

Mr. Elmer. Then the fun of pitch-penny, and toss-up, is what makes them gambling; a desire to have what belongs to another, without giving any thing in return for it.

George. There is a law against all kinds of gaming, and a fine for breaking it; and if the one who games cannot pay the fine, he may be put into the work-house.

Philip. Well, I would bet a dollar against a quarter, that hundreds of people game and do not get into the work-house for it.

Mr. Elmer. George, perhaps, can tell you that there is a law against betting too.

Philip. If there is, many a one will bet on the election to-day.

George. They can be fined for it

Mr. Elmer. Remember, Philip, though we may possibly escape punishment for disregarding the laws of man, we cannot escape that which God has appointed for a disregard of his laws. Awful, indeed, is the sentence which Jesus Christ said is to be passed upon them: These shall go away into everlasting punishment."

Philip. Is there any thing in God's law against gaming?

Mr. Elmer. Have you ever learned the ten commandments?

Philip. I have read them, but do not remember them all.

Mr. Elmer. Robert, tell Philip what the tenth is.

Robert. "Thou shalt not covet."

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