Master, for your good advice, and I wish you a good night.

M. Good night, friend Thomas.

V.

Begin nothing of which thou hast not well considered the End."

I ONCE read a little story, which I thought a very useful one: and I will tell it to you as well as I çan remember it. A certain man once met a great king, and said to him, "Give me a thousand crowns, and I will give you a piece of advice." The king took but little notice of this, till the man met him another day, and repeated the same words. The king, though thinking the man a strange troublesome sort of person, still paid but little attention to his words. The man, however, appeared again, and still exclaimed, "Give me a thousand crowns, and I will give you a piece of advice." The king then began to think that there must be something very particular in this piece of advice, for which the man continued to ask so large a sum; and he accordingly paid a thousand crowns to the man, and received the following advice, "Begin nothing of which thou hast not well considered the end." We may be sure that the king highly prized the advice which was obtained in so curious a manner, and he accordingly ordered it to be written up in all the rooms of his house, and on his plate and furniture. One day this king was ill, and his physicians ordered him to be bled. Accordingly his arm was tied up, and a bason was brought, and every preparation was made for bleeding him when, all on a sudden, the surgeon, who was going to perform the operation, was seized with a trembling, and fell down on his knees before the king, beseeching his pardon. He confessed that he had been bribed to

by reading on the bason these words, "Begin nothing of which thou hast not well considered the end." Thus these few words of advice were the means of saving this king's life.

I think we may all learn something from this little story. A young man may perhaps be tempted to go into a drinking company, and may think that, for once, the expence will not be much, and that it can do him no harm in any way. But this once leads to once more, and so on, till in the end he becomes a constant visitor at the alehouse, and a complete sot: he distresses his wife and family, and ruins himself, body and soul. Well would it have been for him if, before he began this bad practice, he had well considered the end.

A person at first may gamble for a penny ;-this leads to a penny more, then to a shilling, and then to pounds. We all know what misery this brings. Begin nothing of which thou hast not well considered the end.

A youth may think that, in some trifling matter, he may deceive another without much harm. The Scriptures teach us a very different lesson, and so does my little story, for this youth will soon be tempted to greater crimes, and so probably become a determined thief: and we know the wretched end of such

If we do not guard our tongues, and watch over our expressions at first, we may in time become horrible swearers and blasphemers,-odious in the sight of God, and offensive to all decent and good

men.

By joining in loose and disorderly company, we may be led to imitate their ways; and, instead of the peaceful life and behaviour of a Christian, we may be drawn into scenes of riot, of profligacy, and of danger. The end of these things is death ;ruin;-here and hereafter.

But, if we chuse the way of godliness and good

ness; if we make the religion of Christ the rule of our conduct, and his merits the foundation of our hopes; then we begin well, and it will end well. We shall have as much happiness as is good for us in this world; we shall have our "fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life."

V.

A Letter from an Apprentice Boy to his Father. Dec. 1st, 1820.

MY DEAR FATHER,

As you have been so good as to settle me in this place as apprentice to Mr. Wilkins, I write you a few lines to say that I am well, and I hope y u are all so at home. I take this opportunity of thanking you very kindly for every favour I have received from you; and I hope, whilst I am here, to behave myself so as to give satisfaction to my master, and to you. I now see what a great blessing it is to have received a good education. I now feel how greatly I am obliged to you for requiring me to go so regularly every day to school. I thought it hard, at the time; but, now, I see the benefit of it. And

I am sure I feel thankful to the good ladies, and gentlemen, who subscribed to our National School, and who used to come so often to visit us, and see how we got on. And I thank the Rev. Mr. B. for all his attention to us: and I feel obliged to Mr. A. the master of the school, for watching us so closely, and giving us such good instruction. I say I did not always like this, at the time; but now I see the use of it. I find, now, that time never hangs heavy on my hands; and, when the business of the day is over, I can find wonderful amusement in reading, especially these winter evenings. I have no desire to go and spend my time, and my money, in idle com

gaining a little knowledge. I know, dear Father, what a comfort you have always found in your book, and you have often said what a happy thing you thought it that you had learnt to read. I see how fond it makes you of your home, and what a great deal more knowledge you have got than other people in your station of life. I know you like religious books above all others, and I know you liked the plan of our school, because our books were of a religious kind. But you have a deal of knowledge of other things; and I should take it as a particular favour if you would, now and then, write me a little account of such things as would be useful for me to know. At present I have hardly read any thing besides our school books, and I feel as if there was a great deal more that I should like to be acquainted with. Perhaps you will say, that there is nothing like reading religious books, and I think so too; but yet it seems to me that there can be no harm in reading, now and then, a little of other matters. I do not mean books that speak lightly of religion; I never can bear such books as those; but I long to know a little about things that have happened in the world. I think a little knowledge of history, instead of interfering with our religion, might sometimes help us to rather a better understanding of it. In the Bible we read of the Romans and sometimes the Greeks are mentioned. Then there is about Cyrus, and Cæsar, and Augustus: then Jupiter is mentioned, and Mercurius and Diana. I suppose these are all parts of history, but I cannot tell. I cannot help wishing to be a little clearer about these matters. A man of this place, who thinks himself pretty clever, told me that the Romans we read of in Scripture meant the Papists, the Roman Catholics. I don't think that this can be right, but I cannot tell. Where can I learn a little about these matters? Then I've heard talk of Henry the Eighth, and bloody Queen Mary, and King Alfred, and the

Reformation, and the siege of Troy and of Gibraltar. Now I know nothing about when and where all these things happened; it's all a jumble in my mind, and I've a great desire to learn about them. It would cost a deal of money to get books all about these things, and it would take up more time than I can spare to read them: and perhaps there is a great deal in them not worth my knowing. I think you could give me a little insight into these matters; and, if you will do so, I shall feel greatly obliged to At the same time, if you think there is any thing improper in trying to gain a little knowledge on such subjects, I shall be obliged to you to say so, and I shall then think no more about it.

you.

I am, dear and honoured father,

Your dutiful son,

THOMAS STEADY.

THE ANSWER.

Dec. 6th, 1820.

MY DEAR BOY,

Ir gave me great satisfaction to receive your letter. I rejoice to find that you are in good health, and that it is your desire to behave yourself properly in your new situation. It is the right way to make you happy. Many boys are ruined by thinking of pleasure instead of duty. You have been taught better. You have learnt that the way to true satisfaction and pleasure is through the way of duty. The religious education you have received, has taught you where to look for real happiness: not in the applause and favour of careless and wicked companions, but in the favour of God, and the society of religious and good people. The great truths and promises of the Scriptures will be your support and comfort; and from them you will see that you can