"Do not stop in _wishes_, dear tiny child, go and _pray_;'_Ask_, and ye shall receive.' '0pen your mouth wide' in thefull utterance of all your distress, and of all you desire; pray forwhat you _want, name_ it; pray for _repentance_, and for_temperance_. Pray that the _lust of your appetite_ may be_crucified_, and pray that the blood of Jesus, the Lamb of Godwho taketh away sin, may be sprinkled upon your guilty soul, andcleanse it from all sin. He giveth liberally, and upbraideth not. Heis angry only when we neglect his promises and his gifts.

"It is not long since, dear Mary, that you and I conversed on thistext, 'My people would not hearken to my voice, Israel would none ofme: _so I gave them up to their own heart's lusts_,' Psa. lxxxi.A dreadful judgment! what would become of _you_, dear Frances,if you were given up to the dominion of your appetite?"

"But, my dear mamma," Mary said, "do you not remember the end ofthat psalm, what a sweet verse there is?"