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The master said more in his prayer, but this was what Jessy remembered; perhaps she might not so well understand what followed. When he had finished, he said, 'Now, my dear children, you who have given yourselves to Christ, do not talk and trifle as you go home, but remember what a solemn thing you have done. You have chosen the Lord to be your Lord and Master, and have given yourselves to him. From henceforth you are not your own. You belong to Christ, and you are in all things to seek to please him. He has commanded this day to be kept holy. Go, then, in silence and thankfulness to your homes, and, before you sleep, again seek that Lord who is ever near you, and may you so find him, my dear young friends, as to love him with your whole hearts and souls.'

The children then sung part of a psalm, and afterwards separated to their different homes. Jessy remembered what the master had said, and though some of the girls began to talk to her when they got into the street, she did not reply to them, but quickened her pace, and reached home without having spoken to any one. When she got there, she found her mother standing at the door, and several of her neighbours with her, spending the evening of the Lord's day in idleness and foolish talk, making remarks on the people as they passed from evening church, or from spending the Sabbath in visiting, or country walks.

'Here comes Jessy,' said her mother, 'she has kirk and preachings enough for us all now.'

'And she looks as glum as the minister himsel',' said a neighbour, on observing that Jessy did not laugh at her mother's remark.

'Are ye weel eneugh, Jessy?' asked her mother.

'O! yes, mother,' replied Jessy, slipping past her into the house; but, as it was getting late, Mrs. Allan almost immediately followed her, and began talking about her neighbours, and how such a one had been dressed that day; and 'Mary Thomson had a shawl on, I am sure it could not cost under forty shillings; and her lassie with a new straw bonnet; I wonder where folk get the money,' and so on.

The last advice of the master was still in Jessy's thoughts, and she longed to kneel down and pray, but, while her mother talked in this way, she could not. Mrs. Allan, however, soon went to bed, and then, when all was quiet and still, Jessy raised her thoughts to Christ, and prayed nearly in the same words the master had used, and then fell into a sound and peaceful sleep.

I do not mean to tell much of what passed while Jessy was at school, because it would take a great deal of time to do so; and I particularly wish to call the attention of my young readers to some events which took place after she had left school, and no longer either received good advice or instruction, and had no proper example set before her. Jessy's conduct then proved how much she really had profited by the instructions bestowed on her at school. I shall just mention, that, after the evening I have described, Jessy improved rapidly in every way. Her mind was opened to perceive, that hitherto, though she had tried to please the ladies, and the Sabbath School master, and her school mistress, she had not known God, and had forgotten that it was the heart he regarded; and she began to feel, that her own heart was very sinful, and that however earnestly she might desire to do what she knew to be right and pleasing in the sight of God, she constantly failed, and could not for one day, or one half-day, live without sinning. This knowledge of her own sinful nature made Christ precious to her, when she dared to come to him, and trust to his blood to wash away her sins; but she was still so ignorant, that she sometimes thought her sins so great, she feared to come to Christ.

Before Jessy came to school, she had been in the constant habit of lying; and so difficult was it to cure that sinful habit, that even after she knew how wicked it was, her first impulse, when accused of a fault, was to deny it, even though she had committed it; and after doing so she was afraid to pray, and would go about for days with a guilty conscience, and in terror lest God should cut her off, and appoint her a portion with liars in everlasting misery. One thing the Sabbath School master said on this subject was very useful to Jessy. It was this:

'Young Christians, when they have sinned, are afraid to return to Christ by prayer; but, my dear young friends, why so? It is not from the Bible you have been taught this fear. The Bible says -- 'Turn, O back-sliding children, saith the Lord: Return, and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, saith the Lord, and I will not keep anger for ever; only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the Lord thy God. What do you expect to gain by continuing at a distance from Christ ? Do you hope to make yourselves more holy, and intend, on finding that you have become so, to return to him? Such thoughts, if you entertain them, proceed not from, the teaching of the Bible, nor from the Spirit of Truth, but from the devil, the enemy of your souls; and it is only the ignorance and deceitfulness of your hearts which lead you to believe them. Jesus Christ himself says -- 'Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more can ye, except ye abide in me. He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit; for without me ye can do nothing.' By remaining at a distance from Christ, you cut yourselves off from the source of your strength, without whom you have no more power to do what is pleasing to God, than a branch has power to grow and bring forth fruit when it is cut off from its parent tree. And remember what an awful end our Lord declares shall await those who do not abide in him: -- 'If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.' Take heed, therefore, my dear young friends, how you listen to the temptations of the evil one, or to your own sinful and unbelieving hearts, when they would keep you away from Christ, for he is ready to pardon you. He is your advocate with the Father, -- your High-Priest, who bears your names on his heart, and continually intercedes for you. His blood cleanseth from all sin; and there is no other way whatever by which you can receive forgiveness or remission, but by faith in him.'