modern schoolboy. "Call this a story? Would I have read it if I had known what it would be about! I call it much ado about nothing.' And Mansfield was noble, was he, because he was put out of temper, and afterwards confessed it, and begged pardon? Why, any boy could have done that."

Stop, young friend. Would every boy have done it? Would you? Well, the next time you commit a fault, or are guilty of a folly-TRY.

V.

TEMPTATION AND CONQUEST.

MANSFIELD left school, passed through an apprenticeship, and at twenty-five years of age, or thereabouts, was the proprietor of a small business in the country town in which, at a later period of his life, we have spoken of him as a prosperous tradesman.*

At this time, however, his circumstances were far from prosperous. He had embarked the very limited capital he possessed in a business which sadly disappointed his hopes, though, happily, it did not damp his energies. It is a wearing, harassing occupation for an active young man to stand, day after day, behind the counter of a shop, waiting for customers who will not come, and tossing about merchandise which he cannot dispose of; feeling himself, all the while, entangled in responsibilities which daily accumulate, and out of which he can see no mode of extrication. This was Mansfield's position.

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Hope on, hope ever; Hope humbly, hope always;" "Never despair:" these are

* See "The Young Cumbrian."

good mottoes in their way; and Mansfield

tried to make the best of them. He would not despair; he would hope; but he could not keep his heart from aching, when, night after night, after his shop shutters were put up, he sat tired with doing nothing in his scantily furnished parlour, or retired to his bedroom, sadly pondering over his gloomy and uncertain prospects.

Mansfield's situation was all the more irksome from the fact of his being almost a stranger in the place. He had lived but a little while in the town, and had made but few acquaintances, to say nothing of friendships, which the reader may perhaps know are very different things. He had, therefore, no one to advise him, or to encourage him, excepting Rachel-dear Rachel.

Rachel was Mansfield's sister, the same who had helped him in his boyhood to learn the multiplication table, and who now, his housekeeper and only companion, helped him to persevere and struggle on.

Sometimes, when poor Mansfield's spirits were most drooping, Rachel would persuade him to leave his shop in the care of his only assistant, and walk with her quite away into the fields, or by the river side. And then, forgetting his troubles for a little while, Mansfield would be induced to talk of the days of his childhood, or of old school times, and of other things besides, and returned refreshed and strengthened.

It was in itself no pleasant change for Rachel Mansfield to take up her abode in a close and somewhat dark dwelling, in a narrow, crowded street, in a town where she and her brother were so little known, instead of living in the country, and being surrounded by old and loving friends. But had it been still more irksome to her, she would willingly have borne it for her brother's sake, and to be useful to him. Ah! these kind and selfdenying sister Rachels are great blessings in the world.

Mansfield was grateful to his sister; and his gratitude was shown in many little matters. which some young men would never have thought of. Sometimes too, when hope was at its highest, after a particularly encouraging day of business, perhaps, he would lay many a plan for rewarding, in future days, the care and goodness of his sister Rachel.

There was something else, however, which, in addition to these alleviations, and more than anything besides, enabled Mansfield to keep up a good degree of courage amidst all his discouragements: he loved the Bible, and he loved prayer. He had the true recipe for cheerfulness he was a Christian. Some years before he knew much about the cares of business, Mansfield had been dissatisfied with himself, with his pleasures, and with all the world. And yet, some might have said, he had much with which he might have been

satisfied. The approbation of the wise, the love of the good, cheerful companions, industrious and persevering habits, health and moderation, a business training which suited his inclination-all these, with many other helps to happiness, were his. But still he was dissatisfied. One thing more was wanting; and that one thing was "the love of God shed abroad in his heart." For a time, he neglected the invitations of God's word, and the gentle but powerful strivings of the Holy Spirit, and his uneasiness increased. But at length, by the grace and mercy of God, he was enabled to yield, and he gave his heart, his affections, to Christ; took Christ's "yoke" upon him, and learned of Him: then his disquietude vanished. From that time, Mansfield had known much, and enjoyed much, of the spirit of that most faithful declaration, "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee," Isa. xxvi. 3.

Not that Mansfield expected, because he was a Christian, to pass through life without trouble of some kind or other; he knew better than this: but he did expect, he trusted, he believed, that even trials would be sanctified and made blessings; and he rested upon the promise of God, who says of every child of his, "Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.