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Hymn from Dr. Watts.

55.

Q. What do you begin by acknowledging God to be ?

A. "Lord of the heavens, and earth, and seas."
Q. Prove this from Scripture.

A. 1 Chron. xxix. 11. 66 Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the victory, and the majesty for all that is in the heaven, and in the earth, is thine; thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all."

Q. What do you fear?

A. God's wrath.

Q. What do you ask?
A. His love.

Q. And what do you offer unto him?
A. Praise.

II.

Q. What will the law of God teach us?
A. All that we must do to please him.

Q. How are God's commandments here described?
A. As "holy, just, and true."

Q. Prove this from Scripture.

A. Rom. vii. 12. "Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandments holy, and just, and good."

III.

Q. And when you find that you have often broken this holy law of God, whence alone can you draw comfort?

A. From the Gospel.

Q. Who are those whom we are told, in the absolution in the Church-service, God will pardon and absolve?

A. "All them that truly repent, and unfeignedly believe his holy Gospel."

Q. When can we be said truly to repent ? A. When we are heartily sorry for our sins, and forsake them.

Q. Prove that, if we do this, we shall find mercy. A. Rom. xxviii. 13. He that confesseth and forsaketh his sins, shall find mercy."

IV.

Q. Do you know any thing of the hour of your death? 4. No.

V.

Q. What should you then resolve to do?
A." Improve the hours I have."

Q. When will it be too late to repent and seek for pardon?

A. In the grave.

Q. Prove this from Scripture.

A. Eccles. ix. 10. "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might: for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.' (From Dr. Watts's Hymns for Children, with Questions and Answers.)

HINTS TO MOTHERS.

To the Editor of the Cottager's Monthly Visitor.
SIR,

WHEN SO much is now done, in almost every place, for the education of the poor, it is of great consequence that the children should be attended to at home as well as at school. Perhaps a few words of advice, through the medium of your pages, may be of use to those who read them. It is chiefly to the mothers that I would address them,as they have generally the greatest share in the management of the children. Nothing is more common than to see them undoing all the good their children learn at school, by spoiling them when they are at home. They will try to get them all the things they cry for. This kind of indulgence is, probably, shown in general from a feeling of fondness and affection. But it is a false affection, and in reality a great unkindness. If children get what they cry for, they will of course cry again, and thus become troubles to themselves and to all about them. Then these very parents will at last punish them with a degree of

Hints to Mothers.

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anger and severity which they ought never to have felt and for faults which their own indulgence has encouraged.

A poor woman, speaking to me the other day of one of her sons, then sixteen, not being able to read, though she had lived within ten minutes walk of a Sunday school, said, "The truth is, Ma'am, he did. not like to get up time enough to go to school; and sometimes I used to coax him, and sometimes I used to drive him to go, till I made myself so angry that the Sunday did me no good, and all would not do." And she truly added, " And if he would not mind me when he was little, I am sure he won't now he is big." Another gave as a reason for not attending the Sacrament, "I have a great many little children, and I am always obliged to be so angry with them that I am never fit to go." These are two of the most indulgent, and think themselves the most affectionate of parents. But they would show themselves much more truly attached to their children if they required them at first to obey. What can be more ruinous than first to lead children wrong, by consulting their humours, and then giving way to passion in correcting them? Surely it is sinful, as well as unkind, in a Christian parent to allow his children to give way to appetites. and inclinations when young, which it ought to be the business of their lives to subdue, and which, even with all their prayers and endeavours, they will find it difficult enough in after life to keep under. Do parents forget that the passionate child, unless corrected, will be a passionate and unhappy man? that a greedy one will be in danger of selfishness, thinking chiefly of the indulgence of the body? and that those who are rebellious against their parents when young are in the greatest danger of being so against God, their Almighty Parent, when the troubles of life shall come upon them Let mothers always act as if they believed the precept, "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from

it:" let them teach their children the importance of the exhortation, "Children obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing unto the Lord."

M. M.

FANNY MASON.

WE gave a short extract from this little work in our 3rd vol. p. 542;-the following is a sort of abridgment of the story, but our limits oblige us to shorten it so much as to leave out many remarks which might be of great use to those readers for whom Fanny Mason's history was written.

Fanny was educated at a school of industry, and, by her good management, and the care she took of every farthing she earned, and of every trifle that was given to her, and, by putting it into the Savings' Bank and getting interest for it, she had got together as much as six pounds before she went out to service.

Fanny, having an excellent character, was taken into the service of Mrs. Hancock, the widow of the late rector of the parish. Before she went to her place, the ladies, who had taken much pains with the charity school, and had a great regard for Fanny, on account of her good behaviour, gave her some good advice at parting, and, among other things, bid her remember to attend church regularly: telling her that it was a good rule, when servants went to be hired, to mention to their mistress "that they should hope for this permission," since there were some mistresses who did not take pains so to arrange their family affairs that their servants might attend church, as well as themselves. The money which Fanny had saved was of great use in fitting her out for her new place, and it enabled her to purchase good stout useful things, which, though they cost a little more at first, answer much the best in the end. She chose a dark

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strong gown, without any nonsense of tucks and flounces; for she had no silly desire to look smart and fine, but always wished to be clean; and her mother had taught her to put on her things in a tight and neat manner so as to give her a truly respectable appearance.

Fanny's mother accompanied her to her new place, to thank Mrs. Hancock for taking her. Mrs. H. received them very kindly, and hoped that she and Fanny should agree very well. She told the mother fairly that she thought it her duty to look after her servants to see that they did not neglect their duty, and that therefore she did not pass over their faults; that still she was ready to make every allowance for them, and to consider herself as their friend as well as their mistress.-After much had passed on this subject, Fanny's mother left her to return home.

Mrs. Hancock, in the evening, sent for Fanny, and asked her several questions, and gave her much good advice. She recommended her to rise early in the morning, that she might not be obliged to hurry over any part of her work, but might have time to do it all well. She then recommended her to be strictly honest, and to pray for God's help to enable her to resist the temptations which would fall in her way. She had just parted with a servant who was in the habit of carrying meat and bread out of the kitchen. The girl had done this to assist her parents who lived near,-but she had done it without the consent of her mistress, and therefore she was guilty of dishonesty,-she had taken what was not her own." Never touch any thing," said Mrs. H.," that does not belong to you. A person who allows herself to commit the first sin, will quickly fall into the second." Mrs. H. told Fanny, that, from the excellent character which her father and mother bore, she had every reason to hope that their child would imitate them, yet she thought it her duty

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