nerself in silver and gold, she may paint her face and tire her head like the wicked queen Jezebel. But these are the words of God, "Hear now this, thou that art given to pleasures, that dwellest carelessly, that sayest in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me: evil shall come upon thee, thou shalt not know from whence it riseth; and mischief shall fall upon thee, thou shalt not be able to put it off; and desolation shall come upon thee suddenly, which thou shalt not know." Isaiah xlvii. 8, 11.

And I pray you, my daughters, do not deceive yourselves, nor suppose, because you see many bad women around you, that God will spare them for their numbers: the city of Sodom, in which there were not ten good men, was burnt with fire from heaven; so, were there not ten girls in the town or village in which you live, the multitude of the sinners would not save them. All bad people will have their portion in the lake which burns with brimstone and fire.

Nor must you hope that you will be saved by being secret in your crimes, for night is not dark with God. He knows even all your thoughts; and if we suffer our minds to be filled with evil thoughts, he will not receive us into heaven when we die.

Attend, therefore, my daughters, to what an old man says, who has studied God's book from his cradle to his old age; and all of you try to equal Susan Gray, that you may with her enter into the joy of your Lord.

But now let me proceed to tell you her story, as I heard it from herself.

SUSAN GRAY'S

ACCOUNT OF HERSELF.

WHEN I consider the early part of my life, and the pious instructions which I received from my beloved parents (said Susan Gray,) my mind is filled with shame and sorrow, to think how little I profited by them, and how, for a time, I entirely forgot all that had been taught me, and yielded to every temptation which fell

in my way. Thus I became, early in life, convinced, by sad experience, of the utter depravity of my own heart, and of my total incapacity of turning to good without divine assistance.

Many particulars concerning my childhood you are well acquainted with, my dear sir; but, much as you respected my parents, and often as you visited them, you can form little idea of their anxiety to give me a right apprehension of the religion of Christ. So great were the pains they took, that they made me acquainted, before they were called hence, with most of the leading doctrines of Christianity; such as the fall of man-the evil of the human heart-the need of a Saviour-the nature of God-and the wonderful plan formed by divine wisdom for man's salvation. And O! what endearing ways were used by these loved parents to win my infant heart to God! How often did my gentle mother mingle her tears with prayers for my eternal welfare! How sweet is the recollection of pious parents! "The memory of the just how blessed!" Prov. x. 7.

But I will leave this part of my story, and go on to that time when I was taken by my aunt to her house in a little narrow street in the town of Ludlow. I was too young to feel very much the sad change; a sad one indeed it was, for even in the poor-house I had lived in cleanliness, and had been encouraged to behave well; but with my poor aunt I lived in dirt and wretchedness, I was suffered to keep company with bad children, to tell lies, to take God's name in vain, and even to steal. My aunt was old, and made herself very sickly by having been in the constant habit, from her youth up, of drinking strong liquor. She had never been an industrious cleanly woman; and now that she was advanced in years, she became so dirty and disagreeable, that no decent person cared to enter her house.

She had, since the death of her husband, sold, by little and little, all her furniture, till there was scarcely any thing left in her house. The floor was covered with litter and dirt, the broken windows were filled up with paper and rags, and we had no other than straw beds to sleep upon.

But what was worse than all this, was the wickedness which went on in this house. My aunt not only herself took God's name in vain, and entirely neglected all religious duties, but she encouraged all sorts of bad

people to come about her. I never loved my aunt; for although she often indulged me to an extreme, giving me of the best of what she had to eat or drink, and suffering me to go unpunished for many grievous faults, yet she sometimes fell into the most violent passions with me upon the most trifling occasion. She would sometimes beat me severely for throwing down her tobacco-pipe or snuff-box; and would, at the same time, allow me to swear and tell lies, without correcting me in the least.

In this manner I lived till I was about ten years of age, and seemed entirely to have forgotten every lesson I had ever received from my parents; but although God was absent from my thoughts, yet was I remembered by him, and in due time he returned and took pity upon me.

Where was I different from my young companions? Where was I better than these, that the Lord should save me as a brand plucked out of the fire, while these were left to perish? O, God! how can I praise thee sufficiently for that thou hast preserved me from the ways that lead to destruction?

When I was about the age of ten years, my aunt sent me to gather sticks in the fields; and I took with me, as a companion, a little girl of my own age, the daughter of a widow, who kept a huckster's shop near my aunt's house. This little girl, whose name was Charlotte Owen, was no better taught than myself, though she was indulged in being dressed in as costly a manner as her mother could afford; and the gay apparel of this little girl often used to excite in my young mind the most envious and malicious feelings.

Charlotte used to take a delight in ridiculing my ragged and dirty appearance; and I, on the other hand, found a thousand little ways of venting my spite at her. Thus, even in those early days, a spirit of hatred and rivalry began between us, which, on my part, I have only been able to subdue by the assistance of my Saviour; for, though weak in myself, in him I found strength. 2 Cor. xii. 10.

When Charlotte and I had got into the fields opposite to the castle, instead of looking for sticks, she began to taunt and reproach me with my ragged dress, and I failed not to say every thing to her which I thought would vex her. Our contention at last ran so high, that

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we parted; she running home to her mother, and I going further out in quest of sticks.

As I was sauntering down a narrow lane at the back of the town, I saw, in the hedge, one of the prettiest little birds I had ever beheld. It was not much larger than a robin, and had a hooked bill like a hawk, but its feathers were of the brightest red, blue, and purple. I immediately laid down my sticks, and walked softly up to the bush in which the bird sat: but no sooner had I put out my hand to take hold of it, than it hopped through the hedge into the next field; I followed it there, and thought I was sure of it, when it again made its escape into the lane.

At length, with much trouble, I caught the pretty little creature, and was surprised to find that it was so tame as to sit upon my finger, as my aunt's magpie used to do.

I was so delighted with my prize that, forgetting my sticks, I hastened into the town, proudly holding up the bird, which perched quietly upon my hand.

Just as I was got into one of the largest streets, I heard somebody cry out, "Ah! there is my mistress's parroquet;" and immediately a very decent elderly woman came up to me, and said, with an air of much joy, "My good little girl, where did you find my mistress's bird?"

"Your mistress's bird, indeed!" said I; "it is my bird."

"No," replied the woman, "that cannot be; it flew out of my mistress's window this morning, and over the garden-wall into the fields."

"For all that, he is not your bird," I answered; "he is mine:" and I was going to run off with him, when she caught hold of my gown, and said, "My mistress will give you half a crown for it."

"No, no, no," I cried, "I will have it."

At that moment my aunt, coming out of a shop hard by, and seeing me struggle with the servant, called out, "Hey-day, what is the matter? what are you doing to the child?"

"Come, aunt, come!" I exclaimed; "come and take my part: I won't part with the bird."

My aunt was at first very angry with the servant; but when she heard that I was to have half a crown if I would consent to part with the bird, she turned all her

anger upon me, and bade me give it to the servant, and follow her to her mistress's house to receive the money.

I obeyed; but I was sadly vexed, and went muttering the whole way to the lady's house.

We passed through several streets, till at length we came to one which leads up to the castle. The servant stopped before an old house close by the gates of the castle-walk; she opened the door, and bade me wait in the hall.

While I stood there I stared round me with wonder, for I had never before been in a house belonging to gentlefolks. The hall was a large room hung round with pictures, which I afterward learned were taken from the history of the Bible. At the further end was a window, partly filled with coloured glass, which looked into a garden full of tall trees. Beside the window was a clock made of very shining black wood, ornamented with golden flowers. On one side of the hall was a door which opened into a kitchen, and on the other was one which led into the parlour.

When the servant had brought me into the house, she went immediately towards the parlour, and left the door open so wide that I could see all within. The parlour was hung with paper of a dark colour; and in one corner there was a cupboard, filled with very fine china.

Over the fireplace was a coloured picture of three very pretty little girls; one of them held an orange in her hand, one had a bird upon her finger, and the least held

a rose.

By the fireside sat an old lady. O! I did not then know what a sweet good lady she was, or I should have cried for joy. She was very short, and, having lost her teeth, her mouth had fallen in. But she was fair, and her eyes were bright, and looked very good-humoured; so that her face was still very agreeable. She was dressed in a black silk gown, with a short white apron; she had long ruffles, and a white hood over her cap. little round table stood before her, upon which lay her large Bible; and a small yellow cat was asleep at her feet.

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"Here, madam," said the servant, going into the parlour, "here is Miss Polly come back."

The old lady smiled, and, holding out her hand, the