and love, to reflect on the grief of those from whose cheek no mother's hand wipes the tears of sorrow, and for whose welfare no father's solicitude provides.

In whatever situation we are placed, this duty becomes us. That dwelling must be wretched, indeed, into which we cannot invite them; and that pittance must be scanty, of which we cannot ask them to share. If we should not have it in our power to assist them in a pecuniary way, our countenance and advice, our instructions and prayers, may be of the greatest advantage to them, and these should be mingled with every dispensation of temporal aid. Kindness to the orphan has been often shown, where the selfish, the indolent, and the fearful, would have thought it impracticable.

In the memorable retreat of the British army under Sir John Moore, to Corunna, an officer fell behind through hunger and fatigue. He got into a tuft of trees by the way-side, and there beheld a soldier's wife expiring, with an infant child beside her. Observing the symptoms of pity on his countenance, she had power but to say, "God bless you, it is all over," and then expired. The officer took his napkin, and fastened the child in it to his back, and carried it many a weary step, begging sustenance for

himself and it till he reached Vigo, where he got on board a transport, and came to England. He put out the little orphan to nurse, and declared, that, whatever be his fortune through life, this babe, cast on his care by Heaven, shall share it. What a noble act of humanity was this! and how strikingly does it show how much they mistake the hearts of the brave, who attribute to them a merciless ferocity. And if, in scenes ill calculated to call forth compassion, it was so beautifully exercised, shall not we, who are enjoying so frequently and so amply the lessons of the religion of love, whose dwellings God keeps in peace, and whose barns he fills with plenty, receive the stranger, clothe the naked, and support the helpless! Let us think, that whatever is done in kindness to one of the least of Christ's brethren, is done to him; how honourable it is to be workers with God in deeds of mercy; and that this is mentioned by the apostle James as the first and loveliest feature in religion, pure and undefiled before God the Father, that it visits the fatherless and widows in their affliction.

Let the orphan bless God for his care, and for the hope of its continuance, and let it induce him to love God with all his heart. If your heart cleaves to the man who led you gently

away from the corpse or the grave of a departed parent, and spoke peace to your troubled heart, what ought to be your affection to him who has fed you all your life long to this day, and given you strong consolation! Contemplate the Almighty as blessing the scene which your parents gladdened, and doing for you infinitely more than their affection could have suggested, or their hands could have done. Never turn away from the friends whom God has stirred up to show an interest in your welfare. You may meet with persons of a gayer temper and views, who will try to fill you with dislike of their society, and suspicions of their designs; but they do this to get you into their power. You see, in this affecting instance, that " he that walketh with wise men shall be wise;" and, alas! proofs are easy to be found of the truth of what follows, "A companion of fools shall be destroyed."

Be regular in your attendance on all religious ordinances. How sweet is the communion of saints to the solitary! and how nourishing is the bread with which God satisfies the poor of Zion! Complain not of the necessity or the toils of honest industry. An honourable mind will disdain to receive from others that support which it can earn for itself; and those who have no

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parents to provide for them are peculiarly called to active exertion for themselves. You see how Providence smiled on the efforts of this orphan girl; and what she left at her death, was as creditable to her industry and frugality, as the destination of it was to her benevolence.

Her charity at her death was not a novel impulse, for from the labour of her hands she had given before to those that needed, and knowing the orphan's wants and fears, "Be ye kind to one another, and tender-hearted." "It is more blessed to give than to receive;" and far sweeter is the pleasure felt in giving to the poor than ever was experienced in the sums hoarded by avarice, or squandered in folly.

And let her fate teach you to prepare for an early removal from the world; and let it keep you from dark forebodings as to the loneliness of an orphan's death. God will send pious friends to your death-bed, in whose prayers you will hear a parent's wishes, and in whose sympathy you will behold a parent's tears; yea, he will come and shed through your heart a peace which no terrors of the last hour shall be able to shake. You shall feel the supports of his own hand, and the soothing tenderness of his own voice; and as your safety in life has been the result of his care, your translation to Hea

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ven shall be the triumph of his mercy. nature leads you to express this wish to surrounding friends, "Let me be buried by the grave of my father and my mother," grace shall utter to them this blessed hope, "I go to my Father and to your Father, to my God and your God." Now, our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, who hath loved you, and given you everlasting consolation, and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts, and establish you in every good word and work.

WRITING memoirs of children has been ridiculed by some and condemned by others; but in such mirth there is little wisdom, and in such censure there is little candour. That some children have exhibited many amiable qualities, and that the detail of these may be useful to the young of their age, cannot well be disputed. When the graces of religion are exhibited before them in the character of persons who have risen to maturity, they cannot be so affected by