THE KINGS OF ENGLAND. HENRY VI.-1422. Of splendour unconscious, to govern unable, King Henry the Sixth was a babe in his cradle; In London and Paris they crown'd this poor child, Who, when he grew up, prov'd meek, merciful, mild. But weak were his measures, and feeble his sway, France was lost, and the English refus'd to obey: Civil war soon blaz'd out; plots on plots were disclos'd, Edward triumph'd in arms, and the king was depos'd! MORAL. Though kindness is good, yet, in public con cerns, Both mercy and justice should triumph by turns! HOW TO COME TO JESUS. DEAR boys and girls,-I want to have a little talk with you. You do not know my name, and very likely you may never mind that. There is something I want to say to some of you. "To some of us!" you say, "and why not to all?" I'll tell you why. I want to speak to those little boys and girls who care about their souls, and I am afraid you don't all care about your souls. If you don't, I may have a word to say to you another time, but not just now. When I was a little girl God showed me that I had got a naughty heart, and I was frightened, for I knew that bad people went to hell, and I thought I should die and go there. I wanted very much to know how to get rid of my naughty heart. I didn't ask anybody to tell me how, but I read some little books I had, which I thought would tell me. The little books said, "Come to Jesus ;" but I said, "How can I come to Jesus? He is in heaven, and heaven is a long way off, and I can't come to Jesus. Oh! if he was here on earth I would go to him, but now how can I?" My little books didn't tell me that, and I said to myself, "Oh! if ever I know how to go to Jesus, I'll write it all down in a little book, so that any little child may understand it." Now is there any little boy or girl who reads this that has ever said, "I want to go to Jesus and I don't know how." Well, that's the child I want to speak to. Listen, and I'll try to tell you how. "You are very poor, Now, if I were to say to you," you have got but little to eat, and the clothes you wear are old and thin, come to me and I will give you some food and some better clothes," wouldn't you first want to know where I lived? Well, where does Jesus Christ live? "In heaven," you say. Yes, but he is somewhere else besides in heaven. He is every. where-close by you now-so you've got no long walk to take to go to him. And when you knew where I lived, wouldn't you come to my house and say, "Please ma'am you said you would give me some food and some clothes, so I'm come to ask for them?" That's the way to go to Jesus, dear children. Try to get alone somewhere, and remember Jesus will be there wherever it is; and tell him you've got a naughty heart, and you are afraid you shall die and go to hell; tell him he promised to give his Holy Spirit to those who asked him for it; and tell him you are come to ask for that Holy Spirit to take away your naughty heart. Ask him to wash away your sins in his blood, and to teach you how to love him. And if you can't get alone, pray to him in your heart; I'm sure he'll hear you, for he has promised, and you know he cannot tell a lie. When he was on earth he took little children in his arms and blessed 'them, and he loves them just as much now as he did then. Only go to him as I have told you, and he will give you all you want. C. WHAT THE FOOL SAID. IN Psalm liii. 1, we read the fool said in his heart, "There is no God." Surely none but a fool could say so. I will tell you how a wise man convinced such a fool of his folly. Kircher, the astronomer, having an acquaintance who said there was no God, took the following method to convince him of his error. Expecting him on a visit, he placed a handsome celestial globe in a part of the room where it could not escape the notice of his friend, who, on observing it, inquired whence it came, and who was the maker? "It was not made by any person," said the astronomer. "That is impossible," replied the sceptic; "you surely jest." Kircher then took occasion to reason with his friend upon his own foolishness in saying there was no God, and explaining to him that he had adopted this plan with a design to show him his error. "You will not," said he, "admit that this small body originated in mere chance, and yet you contend that those heavenly bodies, to which it bears only a faint and small resemblance, came into existence without author or design." He pursued this chain of reasoning till his friend was totally confounded, and cordially acknowledged the absurdity of his notions. H. P. |