IN my parish, not far from the fine town of Ludlow, on the bank of the beautiful river Teme, are the garden, the little orchard, and the ruins of the pretty cottage which many years ago were rented by James Gray. A fine wood of tall trees shelters this pleasant spot from the cold north-wind, and a row of large willows grows at the foot of the garden beside the river. When I first. came to my living, I became acquainted with James Gray. He was an honest good young man, and he was so happy as to have a wife who feared God: the character still given in that country by those who remember Mary Gray, was that she was a pious, sober-minded young woman-" a keeper at "home," Tit. ii. 5. as the Apostle exhorts women to be, and a most kind and dutiful wife. James gained a tolerably comfortable livelihood by working in his garden. He cultivated his land with so much care, that he had the earliest and best peas and beans, gooseberries and currants, salads and greens, in the country: these he always sold at a moderate price, never attempting to deceive or cheat the rich, for it was one of his most favorite sayings, that honesty is the glory of a poor man. : For some years these good young people lived most happily in their cottage. It is true that they were obliged to work very hard and now and then, as I have been told, in a severe winter to live rather hard also: but they loved each other, and next to their God, they thought it their duty to please each other; and as the holy Scripture says, a dinner of herbs, where love is, is better than a stalled ox, and hatred therewith." Prov. xv. 17. 66 After his daily work, James never omitted reading a chapter in the Bible, and a short prayer with his wife before they went to bed; for, as he often used to say, when we lay ourselves down in our beds, we know not whether we shall be ever suffered to rise from them again; many have died in their sleep: let us therefore, before we lie down to rest, make our peace with God, ask his pardon for any bad thing we have done in the day, and pray him to continue his blessings to us so should death visit us in the hour of night, we shall not go into another world unprepared to stand before our Judge. It pleased Heaven that Mary Gray should have but one child: but this child, although every one who saw her declared her to be one of the finest little girls in the country, never was foolishly indulged or spoiled by her father and mother. Although little Susan's parents would have rather starved themselves, than have let their child want any thing which was good for her, yet they never gave her any thing for which she cried; they never suffered her to shew angry airs, or to disobey the least of their commands. For as some very wise man remarks, if a father or mother suffers a child at five or six years of age to disobey his will, that child at twelve or fourteen will go nigh to break his parent's heart. The stubborn wills of children should be broken whilst they are small and weak, and yet dependent on their parents. It is too late to subdue an obstinate child, when that child is nearly old enough to provide for himself. But although Mary Gray never spared correction when it was necessary, yet there was not in the neighbourhood a kinder mother; when Susan was good, she would play with her, she would sing to her, she would tell her stories, gather her flowers, and when she had leisure from her work, she would carry her into the green fields to shew her the high blue hills afar off, the by pretty birds in the hedges, and the little boats on the river. Almost as soon as the child could speak, she taught her to kneel down and say a short prayer to God: when she became older, she told her that it was God who made her, and talked to her of that happy place, to which those blessed children go, who keep God's holy will and commandments. When Susan was about three years of age, her father and mother took her with them every Sunday to church; upon which occasion they always dressed her very neatly, yet never decked her out in vain ornaments, for Mary remembered well these words of the holy St. Paul: "I will that women adorn "themselves in modest apparel, with shame"facedness and sobriety; not with broider"ed hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; "but, which becometh women professing "godliness, with good works." 1 Tim. ii. 9, 10. Mary would sometimes say, when talking over these things with James, as they often did of a Sunday evening; It does not become me, who am myself guilty of so many offences both in thought, word, and deed, to find fault with my fellow-creatures; yet it has often seemed very strange to me when I have been at market, or at church, or in any kind of public place, to see so many women of all ranks and degrees, striving as it were who should most transgress the command of the Apostle, adorning themselves and their children in every vain' ornament which their fortunes could procure them; surely this cannot be right. In my humble opinion, James would answer, the love of fine clothes is as plainly condemned in the Bible, as the love of drinking; but let us, my dear Mary, with God's blessing, bring up our little Susan, and appear ourselves in a plain way, and leave other people to themselves. I often went to visit these good folks, and was greatly delighted with their pious and excellent discourse; for a foolish or profligate word never proceeded from their lips, and their child was so clean, so well ordered, so dutiful, and so gentle, that young as she was, I formed the greatest hopes of her, and believed she would become a good Christian. It pleased Heaven, however, to deprive this poor child of her good parents. She was just turned six years of age, when a terrible fever, which raged in this neighbourhood at that time, seized first upon Mary Gray, and then upon her husband; and notwithstanding all the care and skill of the doctor, they both died. But death to them was no evil, for they had always |