and say your prayers. In the day time when you are tempted to commit any sin, pray to God for strength to overcome it. When you go to bed at night kneel down again and say your evening prayers. When you come into your class in the Sunday School, kneel down and ask God's blessing upon your teacher and yourself. Some of your school-fellows may laugh at you for this; but never care for that. If you leave off doing good every time you are laughed at for it, you will soon cease to do good at all. When the school is opened or closed with prayer, then you must join with your heart and soul in what is said. Think of what the words mean, and try to feel them. Do not lean against the form, or sit back upon your heels, but kneel on your knees, with your body bent a little forward, your hands up, and your eyes towards the ground. Do not look at your school-fellows, or your teacher, or at any thing else, try to fix your thoughts on God. You will be tempted to look at your teacher's dress, or at the dress of somebody near you, or at the clock, or at the fire, but you must not do so, or your attention will be caught away in a minute from what you ought to be thinking of. Sometimes a noise will be made in the school, the door will be slammed to, or some one will be coming in, or a bible will be dropped, or a form upset, by lazy children leaning against it; whenever anything of this kind occurs, never let it take your thoughts away, do not look up, or turn round, or stare about you, but go on praying still in your heart, and keeping just as you were before until the prayers are ended, then quietly stand up and take your proper place in the class.

Nearly the same rules will do for Church, only remember that God is especially present there, and that if it is wrong to trifle over your prayers at school or at home, it is doubly wrong to do so in Church, for God IS VERY GREATLY TO BE FEARED IN THE CONGREGATION OF THE SAINTS, AND TO BE HAD IN REVERENCE OF ALL

THEM THAT ARE ROUND ABOUT HIM.

K. K.

AN ENGLISH SKETCH.-No. 1.

EVENING SERVICE.

In one of those pretty and secluded spots of pleasant pasture land, with which the county of Wiltshire abounds, lived Martha Grant, an old woman, who had brought up a large family, and who was now supported by several of them in comfort and decency. She was very infirm, and unable herself to leave her cottage, excepting as she would hobble round the neat little garden in which it stood, or occasionally creep down to the wicket gate at the end of her garden, and look down the pretty lane which led to the adjoining village. One of her grand children, the child of her youngest son, always resided with her, and was the pet and delight of her old age. Patty Grant was a child of about ten years of age, at the time of which we are speaking; lively, healthy, and good-tempered. The whole of the little world she knew was sunshine to little Patty, and Patty was sunshine to her grandmother. The old woman could not spare Patty to attend the daily village school, for Patty had every thing to do for her grandmother; to fetch her bread, and milk, and water; to prepare her meals, to sweep the house and keep it neat, and to do what little needle-work there was to be done for both of them. But Patty had been well brought up by her own parents, and was not now neglected by her grandmother, who never omitted hearing her read the Psalms and Lessons for the day, every morning and evening. So the daily schooling was of little consequence. But there was one thing which old Mrs. Grant took great care that her little grandaughter should constantly be mindful of, and that was attendance upon the Sunday School, where the children of the parish were regularly assembled every Sunday morning before divine service, that they might be seen by their Pastor before they repaired together to the house of prayer. To the School, after morning service, Patty frequently could not go; for it would have occasioned too long an absence from her old grandmother, but she would then walk quietly home, give her grandmother her dinner, read to her some portions of Scripture, and then be back at the church in time for evening service. Many of the children of the school took their dinners with them, and were allowed to eat them in the school-room; but on account of

her grandmother's age and infirmities, Patty could not do this. The Pastor knew how she was situated, and it was by his advice and sanction that she acted. It is not to be supposed that with Patty's cheerful disposition, and at her early years, she did not enjoy the companionship of children of her own age. No little girl could more enjoy it. And when her grandmother was pretty well, she would often get forward and run off to school on the Sunday, a few minutes earlier than was necessary, that she might join some of the other girls, and talk and chat with them as they went together towards the School and Church. Sometimes she would go out of her way a little, to call on one of her favourite companions, and when time allowed, take a ramble with her through some of the pleasant shady lanes.

In the year of which we are writing, the 30th of April happened to fall on a Sunday. The next day was to be the 1st of May; and on that day the children in many parts of England make garlands of flowers, and in some places balls of cowslips, called testy tosties. I could never hear the origin of the name: but the practice is one very well known. Flowers for these garlands and floral balls, were very frequently gathered on the evening before May-day, to be in readiness for the morning; but the 1st of May happened on this year, as I said before, to fall on a Monday, and the collecting of the flowers on the preceeding evening could scarcely be accomplished without intefering with the duties of the Sunday. Patty, on the day mentioned, had given her grandmother her dinner as usual, and was returning towards the Church, when she heard the merry voices of some of her young acquaintance of the village on the other side of the hedge by which she was walking; and hastening on to the stile by which she could see into the adjoining field, she saw a number of young girls spreading themselves over a field of cowslips, talking and laughing, and gathering bandfuls of flowers as fast as they could. Two or three of them, on seeing Patty, called her by name, and asked her to come and join them. Patty felt very much disposed to do this, and had her foot upon the stile, when the distant strain of the Church bells reminded her that her duty led her another way; and she withdrew her foot. She still, however, stood a little to look at the girls, and to say a few words to Kitty Masters, who was her particular friend. Kitty tried to persuade Patty to come over the stile for a little,

telling her there was plenty of time, it wanted yet half-an-hour to Church time; and lastly, that they had been to Church this morning, and there could not be any great harm in staying away from it one evening.

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"Oh, Kitty," said Patty; "but if we begin to stay away one evening, we may go on to stay away another, and another, and in the end, may go on to stay away altogether."

"I don't see that," replied Kitty, at the same time engaged in twisting up into a ball, the cowslips she had gathered. "I don't see this at all. You know the first of May only comes once a year, and only now and then on a Monday; so, just for this once, you may as well come over the stile."

But at this instant, the wind again brought the sound of the bells across the fields, and they seemed to warn our little Patty not to be seduced from her duty. And she moved away from the stile, and proceeded down the lane. Kitty jumped over the stile, and ran after her.

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Why are you so eager after church this evening?" she said, as she walked on by the side of her friend. "There are never a great many people there, and the gentry never come. not think it much signified whether we went or not."

I should

"Why Kitty," said Patty, "I think you do not know what you are talking about to-night. What does it signify to us, whether other people go to church in the evening or not, when we know it is our duty to go? And as to the gentry, it is not for poor little girls like you and me to take our superiors to task. There are not a great many gentry in our parish, and they may have reasons for staying away that we know nothing about. Miss Harris at the lodge could not leave the old lady perhaps; and so on with the others."

"Well," rejoined Kitty, who was a little obstinate when she took up an argument, "I am sure Squire Hartwell and his lady have nothing to prevent their coming, and yet you never see them there."

"No more you do;" replied Patty, "Well, I should like to know why they do not go; though as I said before it is no business of mine."

While the little girls were thus chatting, and Kitty had been insensibly led on towards the Church with her friend, they came

up to the gate which led to the Hartwell Lodge, from which was coming down several men and women with their prayer books in their hands, and evidently prepared for Church. The old grey headed Butler was amongst them, and as he knew our little Patty very well, from having seen her at the Lodge on errands from her grandmother, he stepped forward to speak to her, and tell her he was glad to see her coming quietly and orderly to Church as usual, instead of running and romping about the fields as most of the children of the parish are.

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They think, sir," said Patty modestly, and not anxious to condemn others. 66 they think that coming to Church in the afternoon does not signify, if they have been there in the morning."

'They forget," replied Mr. Curzon, the Butler, that the whole of the Sabbath is to be kept holy; and they also forget that the Church has provided an order for evening prayer, as well as that for morning prayer; and that all this would not be provided and put in the prayer-book, if it were not intended that they should be used."

"I am sure, sir, I am much obliged to you for telling me all this," said Patty again, "it is just what my grandmother has told me, for sometimes I have been idle and wished to stay at home, and then she has explained things as you have done."

Kitty Masters still continued to walk on by the side of Patty, and to listen what Mr. Curzon said. She was rather too forward a little girl sometimes, and upon the present occasion, asked a question of Mr. Curzon which was not very becoming in her to ask; but the answer to which made a great impression on her. She asked Mr. Curzon, why Squire Hartwell and his Lady did not come to the evening service.

"I can answer you this, little girl," said Mr. Curzon, in a very satisfactory manner. "You know, I dare say, that the Squire has been lame from the gout many years, so that he has not been able to walk more than a few yards from the house during that time. In the morning he goes to Church in his carriage, but does not like to have the horses out a second time. But my master and mistress are the only two persons left in the house. All the servants attend Church. Some person must be at home beside my master, because he is too infirm to remain by himself, and my mistress remains herself, because she is then company