The Young Christian

The doubting clerk. The unexpected letter. The sick child.
Porsible mistakes. Men act from reasonable evidence. Evi-
dences of Christianity, historical, internal, and experimental.
Illustration. The phosphorus.

1. Historical Evidence. Seal. Miracles. Examining witnesses.
The court. The court-room. The prisoner. His accusation
and trial. Testimony of the owner;-of the watchman. The
lawyer's question. The watchman's story. The prisoner con-
victed. Points secured on trials. Three points to be attended
to. Irruption of the barbarians. Old manuscripts. Ge-
nuineness of the Scriptures. Quotations. Illustration. Use
made of quotations. Paley's Evidences. Necessity for prov-
ing the genuineness of the Scriptures. The original records
not remaining. The second point. Opportunities of know-
ing. The house-breaker's trial. Sacred writers could not have
been mistaken. They were eye-witnesses. Third point. Their

style of writing. Impartiality. Elevated views. They were
disinterested. Our Saviour's farewell address. Interested
witnesses. Battle of Lexington. Parliament and Congress.
Points proved. Argument from prophecy, Prophecies.
False prophecies. Subject difficult. Were the Christian
witnesses believed? Contest with Paganism. Power of truth.

2. Internal Evidence. Unity of the Scriptures. The Bible a

number of books. Its single object. The Bible a history of

Christ. Sacrifices. Meaning of sacrifices. Their moral in-

fluence. Conclusion of the book. Appropriate language. The

advent of the Saviour. Its time and place. The Mediterra-

nean sea. Interesting associations. Character of God. Lan-

guage of nature; of the Bible. The sufferer in the hospital.

Jehovah just, as well as merciful. Butler's Analogy.

3. Experimental Evidence. Case of sickness supposed. Medi-

Proof of it. The mother. The mother and her sick

The unbeliever. Power of Christianity. Particular

case. Prisons. Old and new system of discipline. Stories of

the convicts. The disobedient son. Conversation. Struggles

with sin. Second story. Nature of ardent spirit. W.'s

crime. Learning to read in prison. First Lesson. Effect of

the Bible upon W. Sins against God. W.'s mental sufferings.

His prayer.
His way of finding the 51st Psalm. His relief.

Close of the convicts' stories. Charlestown state prison.

Old building. Crowded night-rooms. Arms. Prison yard.

Chapel. Prisoners going to Sabbath-school. Aspect of the

school. Prisoners' dress. Limited circulation of the Bible.

The sick young man. Sting of death. The

Practical directions. Difficulties. Disputes.

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CHAP. VIII.-STUDY OF THE BIBLE.

Way to study the Bible.

The young man's experiment. The
family circle. Distribution of books. Interest of the children.
Particular directions. Familiar sounds. The motto in the
school-room. Description from the Bible.
Vivid concep-
tions. Picturing the scene to the mind. Clear conceptions.
West's Picture of Christ rejected. Effect upon the assembly.
Writing questions. God's command to Abraham. Questions
upon the passage. Questions written by a boy. Many faulty.
Utility of writing questions. Many questions on one verse.
Experiment tried by a mother. A Sabbath-school teacher.
Re-writing Scripture. The boy's evening work. Actual case.
Passage. Difficulty arising. Explanation of it. Story of
Micah, a specimen. Two specimens on the same subject.
Questions. Collating the Scriptures. Plan tried by James
and John. Effect of this method. Three accounts of Paul's

conversion. Advantages of the plan.

List of lessons. Dif-

The Sab-

Reading

ficulties to be anticipated. Studying by subjects.

bath. Jerusalem. List of topics. Too little intellectual

study of the Bible. Object of the historic form.

practically. Daily reading of the Bible. Useless reading. The

apprentice. Reading two verses aright.

CHAP. IX.-THE SABBATH.

History of the Sabbath. Change from Saturday to Sunday. Be-

ginning of the Sabbath. Idle controversies. A Father's com-

mand to his boys. The question about the clock and the dial.

Universal principle. Two doves. A day of twenty-three and

a half hours. A day at the pole. A day lost. No sunset for

months. Sabbath in Greenland. Change to first day. No

change in the command. The creation. Principle import-

ant. Non-essentials. Liability to evasion. Human and

divine laws. Spirit of the law. James' way of reading the

Bible. A boy studying his lesson. The boat. The care-

ful mother. Way to interest children. Conversation with

the children. Ingenuity and effort necessary. The heart to

be reached. Variety. Remarks of a clergyman. Necessity

of variety. Religious books. Way of spending the Sabbath.

Various duties. System in religious exercises. Waste of time

prevented. Rest on the Sabbath. Distinct duties to be per-

formed. Way to make self-examination interesting and use-

ful. Minuteness of self-examination. Prayer. Studying

the Bible, and conversation on the Sabbath. Frivolous con-

versation. Public worship. Responsibility of the hearers.

The farmer and his boys. Duty of the hearers to be interest-

ed. Sinister motives at church. Way to detect them.

Heartless worship. Way in which it is indicated. Appear-

ance of evil. The summer evening. A walk. Walking,

riding, sailing on the Sabbath.

CHAP. X.-TRIAL AND DISCIPLINE.

1. Nature of Trial. The steam-boat on trial.

Efforts of the

Trials of child-

engineer. Improvements. Final results. Her power. Safe
and successful action. Life a time of trial.
hood. The child and the forbidden book. Commands. Pain.
Advantage of trial in childhood. Putting playthings out of
reach. Conversation with a mother. Trials not to be shun-
ned. Instruction and practice. The merchant's plan for
A voyage of difficulty. Its effects.

bis son.

2. The uses of Trial. Self-knowledge. The deceived mo-
ther. True submission distinguished from false. The en-

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225

gineer was watchful.

boy studying division.
Practical directions.

Trial a means of improvement. The
The moral and arithmetical question.
God's providence universal.

Losses

of every kind from God. The careless engineer. Neglect
Concluding remarks.

of duty.

CHAP. XI-PERSONAL IMPROVEMENT.

Direct efforts. Free-

Way to mould the
Story of the Duke of
The council. Violent
Analysis of the story.

1. Moral improvement. General improvement a Christian duty.

Moral improvement. Faults. The vain boy. Way to re-

form him. Conversation with his father. Instances of vanity.

The boy's list. Effect of this confession. Secret confession

to be minute. Secret prayer often too general. Way to

make prayer interesting. Formal confession. Excuses.

Way to make secret prayer interesting. Private prayer. Ex-

amples of minute confession. The father's letter. Object

of this illustration. Faults to be corrected. Young and old

persons Other means of correcting faults. Exposure to

temptation. Conversation between the boy and his friend.

Great and small temptations.

Growing in grace. Unavailing efforts. The mother. The man
of business. The dejected Christian.
dom of feeling and freedom of action.
heart. Metaphysical controversy.
Gloucester. Richard's artful plan.
measures. Murder of the boys.
Richard's wicked character. Sense in which character is
voluntary. Distinction between character and conduct.
Importance of it. Moral obligation. Ways of influencing
the character. Effect of Christian knowledge. The mother.
The child. Gratitude. Christian action. Why Howard
became interested for prisoners. Paul. Dependence upon
the Holy Spirit. An evil heart. Divine influence necessary.

2 Intellectual improvement. A finished education. Object of

education. 1. To strengthen the powers. Robinson Crusoe's

supposed experiment with Friday. Conic sections. Difficult

studies. 2. Acquisition of knowledge. 3. Skill. Three ex-

periments with Friday. Teaching him to count. Study of

mathematics. Imperfect education. Neglect of important

duties. Intellectual progress of a young mother. 1. Reading

system. Variety. Thorough reading. Short works.

Conversation. Difficulty of cultivating it. Means of culti-

vating it. Experiments proposed. Plans and experiments.

Digesting knowledge. 3. Writing. Private Journals. Form

and manner. Running titles. Family Journal. By brothers