out a laughing when he was speaking, sat kicking his heels against each other, wrote his name on the table, and, when the gentleman was done speaking, put on his cap in the room, ran out in great haste, and began to whistle and halloo in the lobby; would we not say that such a rude boy did not deserve any more kindness? And yet this is just the way in which many boys and girls behave in church. They make a great noise when coming in; they slam the door of their pew, kick against the boards, speak to one another, laugh aloud, scratch the seat with pins, or cut their names on it with knives, scribble in their Bibles and prayer-books, and either disturb everybody near them, or fall asleep and never hear a single word that the preacher says.

Now, all this is very bad; it is very ungrateful, for we would never behave in this way to our parents, or friends, or teachers, and yet God has been kinder to us than all

of these have been; and we know that it is wrong, for we try to behave better when any one looks at us; and, if we think for a moment, we must feel that God must be angry with us for such conduct. We, no doubt, feel it very tiresome to sit so long and listen, when we perhaps do not understand much that the minister is saying; and sometimes we may get so sleepy that we cannot keep our eyes open. keep from making noises; and perhaps, if we were to try, we might be able to understand a good deal of the sermon, and then we should not feel so sleepy; and besides, if we do our best, God will be pleased with us, and will help us to do better. We require to please Him as far as we can, just as grown people do ; and if we listen to the clergyman when he is explaining the meaning of the Bible, we shall better understand the meaning of the sacred book, and know better what we should do to please God. The more

But at all events we can

anxious we are to know what we ought to do, and to thank our Maker for all the care and kindness which He shews to us, the greater pleasure will we take in going to church, and the more likely will we be, when we go there, to behave as we ought to do.

LORD, how delightful 'tis to see
A whole assembly worship Thee;
At once they sing, at once they pray,
They hear of heaven, and learn the way.
I have been there, and still would go;
"Tis like a little heaven below;
Not all my pleasure and my play
Shall tempt me to forget this day.

O write upon my memory, Lord,
The texts and doctrines of Thy Word,
That I may break thy laws no more,
But love Thee better than before.

With thoughts of Christ, and things divine,
Fill up this foolish heart of mine;

That hoping pardon through His blood,

I may lie down and wake with God.

DR. WATTS.

113

CHEERFULNESS.

Some

EVERY one likes to see boys and girls cheerful and happy. They have so few cares to annoy them, and so few misfortunes to distress them, that if they are not cheerful when young, they are never likely to be. And yet even boys and girls do meet with little disappointments and annoyances, and it will be well for them to bear them cheerfully; for a misfortune loses more than half its weight when it is borne with cheerfulness. children are naturally inclined to be more cheerful than others, and are not so much cast down by disappointments; others are naturally gloomy, always expecting that things will go on badly with them, and making all their little misfortunes a great deal worse by giving way to sadness. Now, if we are wise, we will surely try to make our grief less, not greater; and therefore we

must learn, as the best way to lessen our grief, to be as cheerful as possible, to keep up our spirits, and to make the best of any unavoidable misfortunes that overtake us. If we lose any favourite plaything, or fail in getting a prize, we may indeed be sorry at the time, and we ought to resolve to take more care in future, but there is no use of giving ourselves up to gloom, for the thing is past, and we cannot make a better of it. If it should turn out very wet some day when our parents have promised us a trip on the railway, we must just put the best face on matters and hope we shall have better fortune next time. There is no good in grumbling, for we know that our being sulky and distressed will not make the weather any better. If we try this plan in all our misfortunes, taking as much care as we can beforehand to prevent them, practising self-denial so as to be able to control our feelings, and making an effort to maintain our cheerfulness, and to