you done to merit heaven?' 'Nothing. Christ has shed his blood to wash away my sins, and I put my trust in him.'

"Again I say, my young friends, Is it not well with her?

"Now, if you are anxious to know by what means it was that these children were thus early prepared to meet their God, and how they were reconciled to the idea of giving up all that they loved and hoped for on earth, just when they began to feel that it was glorious to live and move and have their being, could their spirits hear you and respond to your inquiries, they would say that it was in the house of God, and in the Sunday-school, that they learned those holy truths which taught them how to die. If you desire that it may be well with you here and for ever, use all the means in your power to become reconciled to God. Learn all you can of divine truth; study it with earnest prayer for the Spirit's guidance and instruction; and meditate deeply on what Christ has done for your soul. Remember that you too may be removed by an early death; and as you value your well-being through a long eternity,

it is necessary that you be always ready to give up your account to God. 'A soul prepared, needs no delay.' Come when he will the messenger will find you watching; and in place of the terrors and alarms which the wicked experience at the thoughts of death, you will feel that although it may be desirable to live, it is gain to die."

The approbation of friends best acquainted with the characters of the deceased children was given to the simple volume which attempted their delineation.

"The memoir of those beloved children," one writes, "I value most highly. They were both very dear to me. Never shall I forget the last visit from the lovely Henrietta. She conversed so sweetly, and her looks were so angelic, that I could not but remark to those around me that she seemed more like some being from a brighter sphere, than an inhabitant of this lower world. Still, I could not realize that she was so near her entrance into that heavenly rest. May the grief of the parents be assuaged by the blessed thought of the

repose of their beloved ones in the bosom of their Father and their God."

Another, well qualified to judge, thus writes:

"When we contemplate the purity and loveliness of their characters even before grace had shone in their hearts, how can we wonder that they were so early transplanted to bloom in a brighter clime; to dwell among the shining ones; to be arrayed in robes of righteousness, and sing the praises of the Lamb. And in what holy society are they now mingling their praises and offerings at his feet. There shall they be fully taught to comprehend the beauty of his power, and be transformed into his image.

"Can we not think of them as they now are, and wipe all tears from our eyes? Shall we mourn that they soon departed, to dwell with the spirits of the just made perfect? Truly, 'God's ways are not as our ways, nor his thoughts as our thoughts.'

"And may not their death be instrumental of good to earth? Is there a youthful heart which would not be benefited and urged to new exertions for holiness by a perusal of that

touching little narrative? Though the most tender ties of nature may be severed for a few brief moments, yet is the wound not too deep to be healed by Him whose sympathy is stronger than that of any earthly friend. Yes; and their characters will be perfected to reflect greater glory on their Maker than aught earth could have given.

"I have long known them; and when frequently seeing the elder away from home and the guardianship of the paternal eye, have observed with pleasure her superiority of character; a correctness of feeling, clearness of intellect, and power of expression which would have been creditable to a mind much more mature. Her deep and strong affection for her parents and sister, of whom she often spoke with so much warmth and tenderness, was not less manifest. She seemed to pursue her studies simply for the love of acquiring knowledge, and with such ease and pleasure as often astonished her teachers. The many leisure hours, owing to her detention from school by sickness, which by most children would have been passed idly or in unprofitable employments, were care

fully improved. When her sister was sick, she manifested for her all that solicitude which she little thought would so soon be excited in the breast of that loved one for herself. Their destiny seems to have been as closely united as their hearts.

"Yes, the gentle and fragile Henrietta also drooped like a bud of sweet promise, which was never destined to be nurtured here. How clearly can I now recall to my mind her youthful innocence, and her countenance beaming with purity and kindness. Her moral perceptions were unusually keen. If they were so lovely before the power of Redeeming grace was shed abroad in their hearts, how deeply interesting to have observed those powers of mind, and that warmth of feeling, as manifested in gratitude for a Saviour's love, and a sympathy with his sufferings which strengthened them in their last moments."

"Of all the endeavors to do religious good to the millions of our land," writes the Rev. Dr. Stone, "that of preparing salutary spiritual food for the infant and youthful mind holds, it may be safely said, the first rank in importance.