Story continued.

Confession to God.

ment, he ought to have borne, himself, all the risk of its return. He regretted that he nad refused to do what now, on cool reflection, he saw was clearly his duty.

On the following morning, therefore, he went half an hour earlier than usual to the shop, and while alone there, with the help of grindstone and hone, he put the unfortunate plane in the best possible order,-laid it in its proper place and when his companion came in, he said to him pleasantly,

"I wish you would try your plane, and see how it cuts this morning."

Now was not this a most full and complete acknowledgment of having been wrong? And yet there is not a syllable of confession in language. Any way by which you can openly manifest your conviction that you have done wrong, and determination to do so no more, your is sufficient. The mode best for the purpose will vary with circumstances.-Sometimes by words, sometimes by writing, and sometimes by action. The only thing that is essential is, that the heart should feel what in these various ways it attempts to express.

I doubt not now, but that many of my readers, who have taken up this book with a desire to find religious instruction in it, have been for some time wishing to have me come to the subject of the confession of sin to God. You feel that the greatest of all your transgressions have been against him; and that you can have no true peace of mind until he has forgiven you. I have no doubt that this is the state of mind of very many of those who will read this chapter. But confession of sin is the same in its nature and tendency when made to God as when made to your fellow man. When you have finished this chapter then, shut the book, and go alone before your Maker, and acknowledge all your sins. Acknowledge them frankly and fully, and try to see and feel the worst not by merely calling your offences by harsh names, but

Anxiety unnecessary.

Common mistakes.

by calmly looking at the aggravating circumstances. While you do this, do not spend your strength in trying to feel strong emotion. You cannot feel emotion by merely trying to feel it. There is no necessity of prolonged terror,-no need of agony of body or of mind,-— no need of gloom of countenance. Just go and sincerely acknowledge your sins to God, and ask him to forgive you through Jesus Christ, and he will.

But perhaps some of you will say, "I am surprised to hear you say that there is no need of strong agitation of mind, before we can be forgiven for sin. I am sure th there often is very strong feeling of this kind. There is terror and agony of mind, and afterward the individual becomes a sincere Christian."

It is true, there is sometimes strong and continued agitation, but it is only because those who suffer it are unwilling to yield to God and confess their sins to him. As soon as this unwillingness is gone, and they come to their God and Savior with all their hearts, the mental suffering vanishes. I said that if you were willing now to confess your sins to God with sincere penitence, you may at once be happy. Of course, if you are unwilling,if you see that you are sinning against him, and will not come and make peace, you then have indeed cause to tremble.

There is a great mistake prevalent on this subject, especially among the young, though the subject is often clearly enough explained, both from the press and the pulpit. God's command is, repent at once, and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall have peace. I have, in this chapter, used the word confess, instead of repent, for sincere confession is only a manifestation of penitence. Now I do not find that the Bible requires any thing previous to repentance. It does not say that we must be miserable a week or a day or an hour. I never heard any minister urge upon his hearers the duty

Immediate repentance.

Salvation by Christ.

of suffering anguish of mind, and all the horrors of remorse, a single moment, in order to prepare the soul for Christ. It is doubtless true, that persons do often thus suffer, and are perhaps led by it in the end to fly to the refuge. But they ought to have fled to the refuge without this suffering in the beginning. The truth is, that God commands "men every where to repent." It is a notorious fact, that they will not comply. When the duty of humbly confessing their sins to God is clearly brought before them, there is often so great a desire to continue in sin, that a very painful struggle continues for some time. Now this struggle is all our own fault,— it is something that we add altogether;-God does not require it. He says come to me at once. Ministers in the pulpit do not urge this continued struggle, while sin is cherished in the heart; so far from desiring it are they, that they urge their hearers to come at once to the Savior and be happy ;-and when any of their hearers are suffering in consequence of their indecision, the pastor, so far from wishing them to continue in this state as a part of their duty, urges them with all his power to terminate it at once, by giving up their hearts to God and to happiness. And yet so reluctant are men to give up their hearts to God, and so exceedingly common is this guilty struggle, that by the young it is often considered as a painful part of duty. They think they cannot become Christians without it. Some try to awaken it and continue it, and are sad because they cannot succeed. Others, who are serving their Maker, and endeavoring to grow in grace and to prepare for heaven, feel but little confidence in his sympathy or affection for them, because just before they concluded to yield to God sin did not make such violent and desperate efforts in their hearts, as in some others, to retain its hold.

No, my reader, there is no necessity of any prolonged struggle, or suffering. If this chapter has led you to be

Story of the infant school.

The new scholar.

willing to confess your sins, you may confess them now, and from this moment be calm, and peaceful, and happy.

My readers will recollect that I mentioned in the early part of this chapter two points connected with confession, viz. reparation and punishment. In confessing sins to God, we have no reparation to make to him, and no. punishment to suffer. We have a Savior, and we fly to him. He makes reparation, and he has already suffered for us. We must come trusting in him. I hope very many of my readers will see that both duty and happiness urge them to take the simple course I have endeavored to describe and illustrate, and that they will now take it, and follow me through the remaining chapters of this book with hearts bent on loving and serving God.

CHAPTER II.

THE FRIEND.

"To whom shall we go?"

There is a very excellent infant school in one of the chief towns of Switzerland, where many young children are collected under the care of a most kind and faithful superintendent and assistant, to receive moral and intellectual instruction. Whenever a new pupil is admitted, she looks with fear and trembling upon the strange scene before her. A large open room is filled with the children standing in rows or collected in busy groups, and in the pleasant play-ground, verdant with grass and trees, many others are seen full of activity and happiness.

It is the custom whenever a new scholar enters the school, for the teacher to collect all the children in the great room, extending them in a line around it; and then he walks into the midst, leading the little stranger by the

The protector appointed.

Power and sympathy.

hand, and something like the following conversation

ensues.

Teacher. "Here is a little girl who has come to join our school. She is a stranger, and is afraid. Will you all promise to treat her kindly?"

Pupils. (All answering together.) "Yes, Sir, we will."

Teacher. "She has told me that she will try to be a good girl and to do her duty, but sometimes she will forget, I am afraid, and sometimes she will yield to temptation and do wrong. Now which of the older children will be her little friend, to be with her for a few days till she becomes acquainted with the school, and tell her what she ought to do, and help her to watch herself, that she may avoid doing wrong?

Several voices at once.

"I will, I will, Sir."

The teacher then selects from those who thus volunteer, one of the best and oldest children, and constitutes her the friend and protector of the stranger. They are together wherever they go. A strong mutual attachment springs up between them. If the stranger is injured in any way, the protector feels aggrieved: kindness shown to one touches almost as effectually the other, and thus the trembling stranger is guided and encouraged, and led on to duty and to strength by the influence of her protector, though that protector is only another child.

We all need a protector, especially in our moral interests. The human heart seems to be formed to lean upon something stronger than itself for support. We are so surrounded with difficulties and temptations, and dangers here, that we need a refuge in which we can trust. Chil dren find such a protector and such a refuge in their parents. How much safer you feel in sickness if your father or your mother is by your bedside. How often, in a summer evening, when a dark heavy cloud is thundering in the sky, and the window glitters with the brightness