CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.-CONFESSION

Introduction. Nature of confession. Case supposed. Story of the

boy's disobedience on the ice. Consequences. Their unhappi-

ness. Guilt a burden. Means of relief. The boy's confession.

His conversation with his father. Confession of little faults. The

torn letter. The anonymous letter. Reparation compared with

confession. Confession of great crimes. Punishment. Story of

boys on the ice continued. To parents and teachers. Confes-

sion a privilege. Depression of spirits. Its remedy.

confession. Anecdote. Punishment. An experiment.

the dulled tool. Story continued. Confession to God.

Common mistakes. Immediate repentance. Salva-

unnecessary.

tion by Christ.

Careless

Story of

Anxiety

Page 13

CHAPTER II-THE FRIEND.

Story of an Infant School. The new scholar. The protector appoint-

ed. Qualifications. Power and sympathy. Story of the sailor

boy. The captain's want of sympathy. The little ship. The

Savior. His thirty years of life. Howard. Story of Howard.

Imaginary scene. The voluntary prisoner. The Savior. The

child's little difficulties. Human sympathy. The murderer's

cell. Sympathy for the guilty. The keeper's kindness to the

prisoner. The Savior. The Savior's sympathy. Common dis-

trust of it. Illustration. Case of the sick man. Jesus Christ a

physician. Struggling with temptation. The benevolent teacher.

The teacher imagined to become a scholar. Howard. Sympathy

of Christ. The bruised reed. The metaphor of the bruised

reed.

29

CHAPTER III.-PRAYER.

The absent son. The father's promise. Its implied limitations. Im-
proper requests. Requests in an improper manner. The letter.
Our Savior's promise. Prayers denied. Power of prayer. Grant-
ing requests in another form. The boy asking for a knife. The
sick man unexpectedly cured. Submissive spirit. Prayers of
the young. The packet. Description of the packet. The calm.
The Christian traveller. Books and tracts. The long passage.
The approaching storm. They watch the light. The storm in-

creases. Going about. Splitting of the topsail. Danger. Pro-

tection never certain. Object of prayer in danger. Socrates. His

peace of mind. True composure in danger. The prayer at sea.

Effects. Sincerity of prayer. Ardor in prayer. All can pray who

wish to.

A difficulty about selfishness. Reply. Invitation to the weary. The

prodigal. The nobleman. The desk. The father's refusal. Real

selfishness. Prayer of faith. The morning prayer meeting. The

Young Christian's difficulty. The mother. God decides. A fa-

vorable answer to prayer never certain. Danger of perversion.

The humble teacher. Conclusion. Story of the ship concluded.

The storm subsides. They arrive safely at Provincetown.

45

CHAPTER IV.-CONSEQUENCES OF NEGLECTING DUTY.

Neglecting duty. Injury which this book will do. The disobedient

child. The message disregarded. The Christian message.

Story of Louisa. Her character. The evening meeting. Louisa's

interest in religion. Conversation with her. Increasing interest.

Unwilling to yield to God. Her sickness. She sends for her pas-

Her alarm. Her increasing anxiety. Death-bed repentance.

Increasing sickness and mental suffering. Danger. Louisa's de-

tor.

spair. Her advice to her young friends. Last visit. Her suffer-

ings. She dies at midnight. Her feelings at last.

CHAPTER V.-ALMOST A CHRISTIAN.

Almost a Christian. Louisa's case a common one. Neglecting duty

when it is clearly pointed out. Secret causes of continuing in sin.

First, Procrastination. The student's evening walks. The admis-

sion to college. Resolutions for vacations; for senior years; for

future life. Now is the accepted time. Second, Love of the world.

Sacrifices necessary in becoming a Christian. Losing a friend;

an enjoyment. Third, Fear of the world. Difficulties foretold by

the Savior. Entire surrender required. Real submission. Chang-

ing sides. Address to a young man.

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CHAPTER VI.-DIFFICULTIES IN RELIGION.

Story of the Chinese and the map. Difficulties in all subjects. Astro-

nomical difficulties. Difficulties in religion to be expected. First

difficulty. Attempt to avoid it. Conversation continued. Second

difficulty. Extent of the creation. Difficulty. The existence of

suffering inexplicable. The pirate condemned to die. Accounta-

bility. Fore-knowledge. Story of father and son. Imaginary

conversation with an infidel. Answering prayer. Case supposed.

The sick son. Miraculous interference in answering prayer. Sources
of difficulty. Algebra. The surd. Difficulty theoretical. None in
practice.

Objects of this chapter. 1. Inquiries. Disobedient school-boy. 2.

Perplexities of Christians. Way to avoid them. Plausible reason-

ing sometimes unsafe. Scholars in geometry. Drawing inferences.

Story of the knights and the statue. The shield of brass and iron.

One kind of controversy. 3. Difficulties of children. Children's

questions. 4. Difficulties of parents and teachers. The school-boy's

question. An humble, docile spirit.

98

CHAPTER VII.-EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY.

The doubting clerk. The unexpected letter. The sick child. Possible

mistakes. Men act from reasonable evidence. Evidences of Chris-

tianity, 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 convicted.

Points secured on trials. Three points to be attended to. Irrup-

tion of the barbarians. Old manuscripts. Genuineness of the

Scriptures. Quotations. Illustration. Use made of quotations.

Paley's Evidences. Necessity for proving the genuineness of the

Scriptures. The original records not remaining. The second

point. Opportunities of knowing. The housebreaker'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 Savior's farewell

address. Interested witnesses. Battle of Lexington. Parliament
and Congress. Points proved. Argument from prophecy. Proph-
ecies. 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. Sae-

rifices. Meaning of sacrifices. Their moral influence. Conclu-

sion of the book. Appropriate language. The advent of the Sa-

vior. Its time and place. The Mediterranean Sea. Interesting

associations. Character of God. Language of nature; of the

Bible. The sufferer in the hospital. Jehovah just as well as mer-

ciful. Butler's Analogy.

3. Experimental Evidence. Case of sickness supposed. Medicine.
Proof of it. The mother. The mother and her sick son. 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. Fear of death. The sick young man. Sting of death.

The dying mother. Practical directions. Difficulties. Disputes.

Doing duty.

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CHAPTER 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. Partic-

ular directions. Familiar sounds. The motto in the school-soom.

Description from the Bible. Vivid conceptions. 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. Difficulties

to be anticipated. Studying by subjects. The Sabbath. Jerusa-

lem. List of topics. Too little intellectual study of the Bible.

Object of the historic form. Reading practically. Daily reading

of the Bible. Useless reading. The apprentice. Reading two

verses aright.

CHAPTER IX.-THE SABBATH.

History of the Sabbath. Change from Saturday to Sunday. Beginning

of the Sabbath. Idle controversies. A father's command 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 important. Non-essentials. Liability to

evasion. Human and divine laws. Spirit of the law. James's

way of reading the Bible. A boy studying his lesson. The boat.

The careful 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 va-

210

riety. 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 performed. Way to

make self-examination interesting and useful Minuteness of self-

examination. Prayer. Studying the Bible, and conversation on the

Sabbath. Frivolous conversation. Public worship. Responsibility

of the hearers. The farmer and his boys. Duty of the hearers to

be interested. Sinister motives at church. Way to detect them.

Heartless worship. Way in which it is indicated. Appearance of

evil. The summer evening. A walk. Walking, riding, sailing on

the Sabbath.

244

CHAPTER X.-TRIAL AND DISCIPLINE.

1. Nature of Trial. The steam-boat on trial. Efforts of the engi

neer. Improvements. Final results. Her power. Safe and

successful action. Life a time of trial. Trials of childhood. 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 shunned. Instruction and prac-

tice. The merchant's plan for his son. A voyage of difficulty.

Its effects.

2. The uses of Trial. Self-knowledge. The deceived mother. True

submission distinguished from false. The engineer was watchful.

Trial a means of improvement. The boy studying division. The

moral and arithmetical question. Practical directions. God's

providence universal. Losses of every kind from God. The care-

less engineer. Neglect of duty. Concluding remarks.

280

CHAPTER XI. PERSONAL IMPROVEMENT.

1. Moral Improvement. General improvement a Christian duty.

Moral improvement. Faults. The vain boy. Way to reform 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. For-

mal confession. Excuses. Way to make secret prayer interest-

ing. Private prayer. Examples of minute confession. The

father's letter. Object of this illustration. Faults to be corrected.

Young and old persons. Other means of correcting faults. Ex-

posure 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. Direct efforts. Freedom of
feeling and freedom of action. Way to mould the heart. Metaphysi-
cal controversy. Story of the Duke of Gloucester.

Richard's