see her?' 'Yes sir' said I, 'very much. She can
have very few visiters I think, in this lonely place, and if you think
she would like to see us, I should like to go.'

"We turned our horses towards the door, and as we were riding up, I
asked what was the matter with the young woman.

"'Consumption,' the gentleman replied, 'and I suppose she will not live
long.'

"At that moment we dismounted and entered the house. It was a very
pleasant summer's afternoon, and the door was open. We entered and were
received by an elderly lady, who seemed glad to see us. In one corner of
the room was a bed, on which was lying the patient whom we had come to
visit. She was pale and thin in her countenance, but there was a very
calm and happy expression beaming in her eye. I went up to her bedside
and asked her how she did.

"I talked with her some time, and found that she was a Christian. She
did not seem to know whether she would get well again or not, and in
fact, she did not seem to care much about it. She was evidently happy
then, and believed she should continue so. She had been penitent for her
sins, and sought and obtained forgiveness, and enjoyed, in her
loneliness, not only the protection of God, but also his presence in her
heart, diffusing peace and happiness there. When I came into the house,
I said to myself, I pity, I am sure, a person who is confined by
sickness in this lonely place, with nothing to interest or amuse her;'
but when I came out, I said to myself, 'I do not pity her at all.'"

Never destroy the effect of such a communication as this, by attempting
to follow it up with an exhortation, or with general remarks, vainly
attempting to strengthen the impression.

_Never_, do I say? Perhaps there may be some exceptions. But children
are not reached by formal exhortations; their hearts are touched and
affected in other ways. Sometimes you must reprove, sometimes you must
condemn. But indiscriminate and perpetual harangues about the guilt of
impenitence, and earnest entreaties to begin a life of piety, only
harden the hearts they are intended to soften, and consequently confirm
those who hear them in the habits of sin.

In the same way a multitude of other subjects, infinite in number and
variety, may be brought before your pupils at stated seasons for
religious instruction. It is unnecessary to give any more particular
examples, but still it may not be amiss to suggest a few general
principles, which ought to g