down and take our rest, for it is the Lord who maketh us to dwell in safety." And again, "the Lord is in his holy temple,-his eyes behold the children of men"-" He never slumbereth or sleepeth."

LYDIA.

Which of the Psalms do you particularly admire?

ANNE.

They are almost all beautiful; but give me the book, and I will find some of my favourites. Here is the 145th; I believe it is generally allowed to be one of the finest in the whole collection, both for sentiment and composition. And here is the 116th, which I mentioned to you just now, as being appointed for the 24th day of the month; beginning "I am well pleased that the Lord hath heard the voice of my prayer, that he hath inclined his ear unto me; therefore will I call upon him as long as I live." I think no one recovered from an alarming illness, or preserved from any other imminent danger, could read this Psalm without emotion:-it begins with thanksgivings for the writer's preservation

from the danger that had lately threatened him, he reverts to his precarious state, and to the doubts and fears which agitated him when he appeared to have been deserted by God and man:-he owns his error in imagining God would forsake him, and looks around for some means to atone for his fault, and express the thankfulness which fills his heart to overflowing:-it concludes with determinations to adhere to the service of the Almighty in future, and to praise him constantly for his mercies. The two following Psalms preserve the same tone of feeling, and may be read with particular advantage, after the first of the three.

LYDIA.

You have made me anxious to read them. Pray let me have the book.

ANNE.

There are also many excellent moral rules for the direction of our conduct, to be found in the Psalms." Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? Even by ruling himself after thy word.” "A good man is merciful, and lendeth; and will guide his words with

L

discretion." "He will not be afraid of any evil tidings, for his heart standeth fast, and believeth in the Lord." The first Psalm gives a beautiful and simple description of the righteous man, whose "delight is in the law of the Lord," which he not only studies in the day, but treasures in his mind, that he may meditate upon it during the silent hours of the night. But come, we must return to the house, or mamma will be waiting breakfast.

LYDIA.

There is one class of the Psalms you have not mentioned, which I hope I shall never have occasion to apply so closely to myself as the writer did.

ANNE.

The Penitential Psalms?

LYDIA.

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Yes. The same quickness of feeling which made David so alive to the mercies of God, and to the feelings of praise and thankfulness, must have rendered the consciousness of his many errors almost insupportable.

ANNE.

You say truly, my dear Lydia. However necessary repentance may be, for the errors we daily commit, it is a state of such exquisite suffering, that we cannot help wondering at those, who instead of avoiding faults, which before they become habitual might be easily overcome, prefer following the multitude to do evil, and intend to atone for all, by a death-bed repentance.

ON THE OBSERVANCE OF THE

SABBATH.

"Great God! this sacred day of thine,

Demands our souls' collected powers;

May we employ in work divine.

These solemn, these devoted hours!"

MRS. STELLE.

LYDIA.

Do you know, Anne, that every person who is seventy years old has lived ten years of Sundays?

ANNE.

Yes, every body must know that, who has ever considered that one-seventh of our days are Sabbaths.

LYDIA.

Well, it never occurred to me; I found it mentioned in the preface to Grahame's Sabbath. Ten years of days set apart for holy