by the cords of love, and her heart had been so richly cultured by parental care, that religion fell on a soil favourable to its growth. Enthusiasm is by some allowed to display itself on all subjects but religion. They will start into rapture at any thing earthly which they think beautiful; exhibit, with glowing eloquence, their admiration of the poet, the painter, the sculptor; their hearts will swell and burst forth into gratitude to exalt some munificent earthly benefactor; and they will describe, in adoring strains, their powerful affection for some human object: but to the supreme fountain of love and beauty, whose sun warms and cheers us; who scatters around us the lavish gifts of his provi-. dence, "who makes all nature beauty to the eye, and music to the ear," who redeemeth our life from destruction, who crowneth us with loving kindness and tender mercies, who hath so loved us as to purchase for us salvation with his own blood-here we must pause, and check the rising transports of gratitude and praise, ere they reach the lips-each emotion "must be noiseless and still, like the dews of heaven"—our lives must be moral, for by that we earn heaven, by the right of justice, and why should we be grateful for what is only our due? To be moral, too, is no difficult task, as we are born without sin: to be sure, we do read of people who have been wicked, and our own observation of man kind informs us, that they sometimes behave amiss, for which we are rather at a loss to account, as no such propensities belong to human nature. Justina would have made but a poor proselyte of this sect, for in reading the history of her Lord, from his birth to his glorious ascension, it supplied her ardent mind with themes that filled her soul with love, and exalted it to rapture.She meditated until she felt her heart, like his disciples, burn within her. She wanted to tell man, woman, and child, of the love of Christ; she thought it ought to spread through the whole world; that it ought to sound from heart to heart, from tongue to tongue. Forgive, O ye enlightened, rational beings, forgive the youthful enthusiast. Her watchful parent, observing the tendency of her mind, unfolded to her the doctrines of the Bible. He showed to her from it, that Adam had transmitted to his posterity the depravity of his fallen nature; but that the salvation purchased by the Redeemer was freely offered to all-that by "His grace we are saved ;" and that, though our faith and love made us "zealous of good works," yet that "Resurrection and life, and entrance into the joy of the Lord," was the free gift of the son of God; "Come! every one that thirsteth, come ye to the -waters! buy ye wine and milk, without money and without price!" Justina's heart was by nature tender, and this assimilation to the character of her Saviour made it still more so. "She felt for all that lives"-the want and wretchedness daily exhibited in the streets made her heart ach, and she parted with her own vestments and food, until her father had to reprove and forbid her. The exhausted horse, under the lash of a merciless master, or the dog harassed and tortured by cruel boys, excited her pity, and frequently her tears. "Dear papa," said she, one day as he entered, “we know that our heavenly Father is merciful, why then does he permit so much misery and cruelty in the world?""The world, my dear child, is full of suffering, the consequence which the sin of Adam has entailed on the human race;-from wrath to come the son of God has redeemed us; but in this world we shall ever feel and labour under the dire inheritance of our first parents. "All men are not equally sinful, dear papa, or equally prone to sin, are they ?" "All, my child, must feel in their hearts, whether they acknowledge it or not, the seeds of sin, which education, by giving us good habits, or restraining grace, though perhaps we are not at the time conscious of it, frequently prevents from breaking out into open wickedness. For this purpose God has implanted conscience in our hearts, and the more we attend to its dictates, the less we yield to sin." "Do not all men believe in the depravity of human nature, Sir ?” "Some assert that they do not." "They do not read their Bibles then, or believe them." "They certainly do not believe thus far in them; for it is a truth most explicitly declared there; it is indeed the foundation of the whole plan of redemption, of which the Bible is the revelation." "But, dear papa, if they do not believe the Bible, they might know the depravity of human nature without it, if they only read history, or even the newspapers, or only looked out of the windows." "I don't know, my dear girl, of a single argument they can advance in favour of their doctrine; but they do not rely so much on the power of their arguments in favour of their own creed, as on their bitterness against ours, and that, too, without appearing to know any thing about it-at least all their objections are founded in such misrepresentation, that it is a pretty plain proof, that their grounds for opposing us, are very poor indeed." "What do they say, papa ""To whom are you indebted “To for salvation, my child -" "To the atonement of my Saviour, to his perfect obedience."-"You believe salvation to be his own free gift to you:"-" Certainly, dear papa." "Have you no merit of your own to plead ?" "Merit of my own! Oh! dear papa, you know I have none." "But if you live long enough, do all the good, and as little evil as you can, what then?" "If i ever reach Heaven, it must be by my dear Saviour, you know the Bible says "he is the way," and that "there is no other name, under heaven given among men, whereby ye may be saved." "Well, then, my child, you have nothing farther to do, have you?" 6 Further to do, dear papa! why must I not live to my Lord? has he not said, If ye love me, keep my commandments.' Must I not prove my faith and my love, by obeying him in all things, and devoting my life to his service?" "Yes, my child, you must, you are no true Christian if you do not—but because we believe with the apostle that we are saved by grace,' our adversaries insist that the works which we hold as the indispensable evidence of our faith, we discard as altogether useless." "But they know better, do they not, dear papa ?" They must be very ignorant if they do not, for we have explained it thousands of times, yet still do they return to the same charge in their own uncandid way of stating it. But be not distressed my love; to be calumniated ever was, and ever will be, part of the heritage of the disciples of Jesus on carth. They must all be in some degrec, "Patient to bear their Master's mournful lot 66 "Of course, dear papa, they must be very full of good works themselves, and not waste a single moment of their lives, for |