THE OR, THE ADVANTAGES OF RELIGION. izabeth BY MISS SANDHAM; AUTHOR OF MANY APPROVED WORKS FOR YOUNG FIFTH EDITION "O sacred Solitude! divine retreat! LONDON: PRINTED FOR J. HARRIS, CORNER OF ST. PAUL'S CHURCH-YARD. → THE NEW YORK 343111 ASTOR, LENOX AND TILDEN FOUNDATIONS, 1905 E. HEMSTED, NEW-STREET, GOUGH-SQUARE, PRINTER. PREFACE. THE following Work is intended to display the benefits of Devotion, which are illustrated in the lives of two very young persons, whose pursuits were, not the vanities of the world, but the true and lasting plea sures of Religion, and Time well spent. There are few, even of those who do not study to live by its rules, that are not willing to acknowledge the efficacy of Religion, in the hour of death, or on a bed of sickness; though they are inclined to put off all thoughts of it till that awful period. But in this short history will be seen, and the truth of the be perceived by ge illustration may neral observation,) that if the duties of a profession are not attended to in our lives, its support and consolations in those trying scenes cannot be felt either by the dying, or by their surviving friends. This important truth has, no doubt, been often enforced on many of my young readers, and in a way more farge and comprehensive than in this simple tale: yet, as, after having observed a charming view of Nature reflected in a mirror, where each object, though lessened to our sight, is distinctly seen, and bears its due proportion to the whole, we |