indirect persecution against piety; it spreads out its snares to procure its fall, it vilifies it, it ridicules it, and it renders the practice of it in most situations so difficult, that even in the midst of Christian nations, and where the sovereign authority supports Christianity, one is in danger of being ashamed of the name of Christ and of the imitation of his life.

Represent in a lively and impressive manner the happiness of being made members of the body of Christ by the eucharist; in baptism, he makes us brethren; in the eucharist, he makes us his members. As by his incarnation he has given himself to mankind in general, in the other sacrament, which is a natural consequence of his incarnation, he gives himself, in a special manner, to every disciple. But to approach this ordinance, without living by the spirit of Christ, is to eat and drink judgment to ourselves. The Saviour himself says, "He that eateth me, shall live by me." Praise the infinite goodness of the Son of God, who has appointed pastors to instruct us in his name, to minister to the

edification of saints and to the conversion of sinners, that the church may be preserved without interruption through every age. Show that we have reason to rejoice that God has given such power to men; that we should venerate these men of God, and that the discovery of anything in them which brings reproach upon their office, should excite our deepest sorrow. The doctrine that they preach is not their own; he who listens to them, listens to Christ himself; when they come in the name of Christ to explain the Scriptures, the Holy Spirit speaks through their lips. Their time is not their own; from so high a ministry, in which they ought to give themselves wholly to preaching the word and prayer, we should not wish to withdraw them, for the purpose of mingling in secular affairs. The wish to withhold from them a proper support is, therefore, unjustifiable ; but it is still more criminal to desire to educate relatives and friends for this most solemn and responsible office, with a view merely to their temporal interests.

It remains to show the necessity of prayer, grounded on the need of grace to which we have already alluded. You can say to a child, "God requires us to ask the aid of his grace, not because he is ignorant of our wants, but because he chooses to subject us to a supplication that leads us to be sensible of our need; thus it is the humiliation of our hearts, the feeling of our misery and helplessness, and confidence in his goodness, that he requires of us. This supplication which God requires us to make, consists in nothing but the intention and the desire; for there is no necessity for our words. Many words are often repeated without prayer, and often there is inward prayer where not a word is pronounced. These words are, nevertheless, very useful, for they excite in our minds, if we are attentive, the thoughts and feelings which they express; it is for this reason that Christ has given a form of prayer. How great a consolation is it for us to know, from the lips of the Saviour himself, in what manner we should approach the Father! What

power must there be in the petitions that God himself instructs us to use! How can he fail to grant that which he has taken care to instruct us to ask? You can next show how simple and sublime is this prayer, how concise and yet how full of every thing which we can hope to receive from on high,

CHAPTER IX.

PREVALENT FEMALE DEFECTS.

We have yet to speak of the care requisite to preserve young ladies from several faults usually prevalent with their sex. They are educated in a softness and timidity that render them incapable of acting with firmness and resolution. There is at first much affectation, and afterward much of the power of habit, in these groundless fears, and these tears which they turn to so good account; contempt for such affectation may be very useful in its correction, since so much of it is to be ascribed to vanity.

It is necessary also to repress their too tender friendships, their little jealousies, their flattery, and their extreme eagerness in the