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Sabbath day, and also at weekly prayers,—a duty too much neglected by many who call themselves members of our church, but who systematically omit to observe those seasons which she hath set apart as a means of stirring up our minds by way of remembrance, of the bitter temptation and sufferings of our Divine Saviour. The Sabbath was indeed a holy day at Merton Lodge, it was therein esteemed “ delight, the holy of the Lord, and honourable,” but the Wednesdays and Fridays in each week were observed, as we have stated, with the most becoming scrupulosity. The new vicar of Orpington was a frequent visitor at this delightful house, and with his family maintained a close intimacy with them, and indeed a spot so lovely, an abode so blessed, and a family so interesting, were well qualified to attract and to please.

The delightful unison of feeling and sentiment which subsisted between each member of this happy home, was the object of general notice, and the theme of constant admiration: they all seemed as though moulded for each other, and never was the voice of disagreement heard to interrupt the harmony of that united band.

The mornings of one or two days in every

week were set apart by Mrs. Woodville for works of charity, and frequently were the visits of this admirable lady like those of an angel of mercy, to the inmates of the humble cottage, or the squalid tenants of the hut, to whom she would administer relief, coupled with the words of divine consolation; it was her desire to see in every suffering child of God, a disciple of Jesus; and therefore she acted upon that saying of her Lord-" A cup of cold water given to a disciple in the name of a disciple, shall in nowise lose its reward." The distant sight of her carriage, or the sound of its approach, as it turned the corner of a lane, or descended some neighbouring hill, made many a widow's heart to rejoice, and many an orphan's eye to beam; thus she considered that "pure religion and undefiled before God and the father was to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction;" and while she looked not upon her deeds as meritorious in the sight of God, but in the language of her church deemed herself unworthy to offer unto God any sacrifice," yet still she aimed at fulfilling the work which had been given her to do, and earnestly desired that her heavenly father would accept her bounden duty and

service.

Every day was spent usefully and profitably at Merton Lodge; and as it was always commenced, so was it concluded-by family prayer. Truly it must have been a beautiful sight to have witnessed the quiet room of domestic worship during the serene hour of prayer, the respected head of the household officiating as priest at the social shrine, and those whom God had graciously given him, on his right hand and on his left. Blessed, peaceful household!-there had the truth entered-in this dwelt the secret which constituted the happy family before us,—for no greater joy is there than to see a household walking in the truth.

CHAPTER VII.

"Fast on the rock that has for ages stood
The tempest's howling and the ocean's flood,
My faith in my dear Mother Church I fix,
And scorn religion's modern politics."

LORD JOHN MANNERS.

"And look at youth with all its powers
Devoted unto Heaven;

The lessons learnt 'neath yonder spire
Have through devotion thriven."

BARLOW.

ARTHUR HUTCHINSON was, as we have said, gifted by nature with great and varied abilities, and had he employed them to the glory of his God, and to the welfare of his own soul, and the souls of others, he would have presented the spectacle of as glorious a champion of the true faith in the town of Orpington as he proved himself the advocate of error and of falsehood. He had read much, was endowed

with a retentive memory, possessed a vivid apprehension of subjects by the many deemed obscure and difficult, and having received a liberal education, was well qualified to acquit himself with credit as a speaker or a writer. Soon after he had embraced the tenets of the Socinian school, and had attached himself to the Unitarian connexion at Orpington, he instituted, with the assistance of some of his "brethren," a conversational society, which he styled "the Orpington Debating Club." It was arranged that the members should meet alternately at each others' houses, and that invitations should be sent to individuals in the neighbourhood, who were not members, to attend, and if agreeable to themselves, such persons should be permitted to express their sentiments up to a certain limit, to be prescribed by the chairman at the meeting. The principal members of the club consisted of Unitarians, Quakers, and Deists, with one or two of the attendants at the "old meeting-house," and a few of the "new chapel" frequenters; we need hardly mention that not a single Churchman joined the society. Our hero was chosen. president for the first year, and entered upon his duties with a zeal and an ardour worthy of a better object.