and a clever one too."

"I am perfectly sure of it, mamma. I am not more sure that I am alive."

Mrs. Beaufoy laid her hand upon Harry's shoulder, and in an earnest, affectionate tone of voice, said, "Listen to me, my beloved child. You have hitherto believed a fact to be true, if I told you that it was so, because you cannot recollect that I have ever deceived you; and therefore you have no reason to doubt my word. But did it ever occur to you that it is possible I may, in some things, be myself deceived-that I may draw a wrong conclusion from some particular fact, and that on some subjects I must necessarily be ignorant?

"I never thought about your ignorance, mamma; though I have often wondered how you can know so many things that I have no notion of till you tell me about them. But I But I now recol

lect that sometimes, when I ask you a question, you say, "I do not know."

"And sometimes I am mistaken, Harry, and suppose I know a thing, which, on further examination, I find to be different from what I had supposed it to be. Now there is one subject, my dear child, on which you ought not to trust me, or any other human being. You ought to be sure of this fact for yourself; so sure, as not to leave the possibility of a mistake."

"Can I be so sure of any thing,

mamma? You often tell me not to be

positive."

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Very true, Harry. In cases that admit of doubt, it is always right not to be positive; but when you said just now, that you were perfectly sure;' my watch was made by somebody, I did not reprove you; because that is one of the cases in which our knowledge amounts to certainty."

"I understand you, mamma; but what is the subject on which I am not to trust even you?"

"It is the existence of that almighty and benevolent Being, who is the first great cause of all that our eyes behold the contriver, and maker, and preserver of every thing. You believe that there

is such a Being, because I have told you so. I also tell you that there are many subjects on which it is possible for me to be ignorant or mistaken, and it is of the greatest consequence to you to be sure that this is not one of them. Hitherto

I have treated you as a child, but I now speak to you as a friend; because your mind has acquired sufficient strength to examine this wonderful truth for yourself. You may, if you please, acquire the certain knowledge that there is a God, and that he loves and rewards those who endeavour to serve him. You tell me sometimes that you love God, that you are grateful to him for the blessings you enjoy; but you have no idea of the love, and gratitude, and re

verence you would feel for him, if you could perceive and understand the proofs of his goodness, power, and wisdom, which every where surround you. The impression produced on your mind by what I have told you of the Almighty, is very faint, compared to what will be made by your own reflections-your own reasonings when you come to examine these proofs of his goodness and power for yourself."

"But, at my age, can I examine and understand these proofs, mamma ?"

"Yes, many of them

and quite as

easily as you examined the construction of my watch. You could not distinctly understand the use of every wheel and pinion; but you clearly perceived the

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