THE

ERRAND-BOY.

A CERTAIN pious gentleman from London, whose name was Bliss, was some time ago visiting at a small town in Worcestershire; and going to church one Sunday morning with his friend, he was much pleased with the appearance of a very neat and modest boy, who came into the church carefully leading by the arm an old woman, who was also neatly dressed, though in very coarse clothing. The old woman and the boy seated themselves on a bench in the aisle, just at the door of the pew in which the stranger was with his friend; and this gave the gentleman an opportunity of observing how very well the boy behaved, how orderly he used his Prayer-book, and how attentive he was all the time of the service. As to the old woman, it seemed that she could not read, as she used no Prayer-book, though her behaviour was very devout.

When service was over, and Mr. Bliss was walking home with his friend, he failed not to ask him about the boy whose appearance at church had attracted his notice; and was answered that he commonly went by the name of Honest Tom the Errand-boy, being well known in the town as a boy that might be trusted. On hearing so good an account of the boy, Mr. Bliss resolved to inquire further into his history: for it happened that at this very time he wanted a person to work under his gardener, and he thought that such a place might suit the boy in question, and that in this manner he might befriend a worthy lad; that is, if Tom, upon inquiry, turned out to be such as he hoped.

With this thought in his mind, Mr. Bliss that same evening inquired out the house where Tom lived with the old woman, who was his grandmother; and was directed into a back part of the town, where was a nar

row street, formed on one side by old and shabby houses, and on the other by rick-yards, pig-sties, and little cabbage-gardens.

As Mr. Bliss walked down the street, before the doors of the houses, which were all open, it being very warm weather, he looked into one and another, in order to find the boy or the old woman whom he was seeking. But he had passed half the length of the street without either finding them, or indeed wishing to find them, in such scenes and company as met his eye in many of the houses for in some he saw young people dressed above their stations, in shabby finery, gossiping round their tea-tables; in others he saw men smoking and drinking; and in others he saw dirty and neglected children. At length, however, he came to a house which, although quite as poor and mean as the other buildings in the row, had an appearance of cleanliness and comfort, which made it look quite different from the rest. The walls, instead of being black with smoke, and hung about with ballads and ugly pictures, looked as if they had been lately washed, and had no ornaments but a few printed hymns, and an old picture of John Bunyan: the bricks which paved the kitchen were swept clean, and the furniture, though very mean, was all in its place. Mr. Bliss stood a while at the door of this cleanly habitation, and looking in, saw those he came to seek, namely, the neat old woman sitting at a round table before the window, and honest Tom by her side, who was just then turning over the leaves of a Bible, no doubt in order to find the place where he had left off reading in the former part of the day.

Mr. Bliss knocked at the door: upon which the old woman, looking up and seeing a gentleman dressed in black, started, and seemed confused; but her grandson, who had been more used to talk to his betters, came forward, and bowing civilly, asked the gentleman what he pleased to want.

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"I am a stranger in this town,” answered Mr. Bliss; "but having heard a good report of you, I have come to sit with you a little while, and to have some conversation with you upon subjects befitting this day."

Tom seemed a little surprised at being thus spoken to nevertheless, he offered Mr. Bliss the chair which he had been sitting on; and when the gentleman begged him also to be seated, he very properly refused. Mr.

Bliss, however, insisted that the old woman should keep her seat.

Mr. Bliss was a man who feared God, and gave much of his goods (for he was a rich man) to feed the poor. He knew their ways well, he felt for all their troubles, and had a way of making his conversation not only very agreeable, but very profitable to them. He now opened his discourse to Tom and his grandmother, by saying how pleased he had been to see them so attentive at church; and thence he went on to point out the advantages of true religion, both to high and low, to rich and poor, to young and old. He was going on, when the old woman interrupted him by saying that she had received such comfort from religion, even in this world, as she should find it hard to describe;" and what it is to do for me in the next," said she, "no tongue can tell, neither can it enter into man's heart to conceive. I lived in the world,” added she, “seventy years without religion, and during that time I suffered all manner of troubles. I had one only child, a daughter, whom I brought up without the knowledge of God, and who, after having brought me to much shame, ran away from me in my old age, leaving me to take care of her child, who was then only five years old. All my neighbours know, though I had, as it were, some natural feeling for the child, that I taught him neither the fear of God nor man; but suffered him to go on for several years in all manner of wickedness, while I myself set him the worst of patterns. But it pleased the Lord in a wonderful manner to turn his heart, and to bring him to the knowledge of his duty; and through him I have myself been brought to a better life than what I formerly led, although I am still, in my own opinion, the chief of sinners."

Here Mr. Bliss put a question to the old woman:"You talk of religion, my good woman, saying that it has made you happy in this world, and that you expect it will make you still more so in the next: now, inasmuch as many in these days talk of religion, and trust to it, who do not understand by any means the root of the matter, will you not be offended if I put one question to you-What are your views of that religion by which you are to be saved? Does it consist in keeping God's commandments? Do you expect to be saved because you have reformed your life?"

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"No, sir," replied the old woman; we have a pious

minister, who puts us right whenever he thinks we have wrong opinions on that subject. It is not in my power to expound the doctrine of salvation in the manner that he does, but I nevertheless think that I understand the meaning of it; and indeed it is so comfortable a doctrine, that I wish every poor creature could understand and receive it. Our minister has taught us, and showed us Scripture to prove his words, that we have all deserved everlasting damnation by our sins, and that there is no way of salvation but by faith in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ; that this faith is the free gift of God, and that good works are the fruits of faith."

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Therefore," said Mr. Bliss, "if you are enabled to do well, you must give the glory to God, and take no credit to yourself."

"Lord, give me grace so to do!" answered the old

woman.

"And be very careful," said Mr. Bliss, "that you do not mistake talking for doing; for there is much danger of this in these days, when religion is more in favour and fashion than it was some years back."

"Sir, we must pray for help," replied the old woman. "We must seek the grace of humility," returned Mr. Bliss: "Lord, make and keep me humble! must be our constant prayer."

Mr. Bliss then turned to Tom, saying, "Well, my boy, and can you give me an account of yourself? By what means were you first led to seek the right way? Your grandmother owns that she brought you up entirely in ignorance of religion."

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Sir," replied Tom, "I owe all the good I ever got, under God, to a certain gentleman, and to his Sundayschool but you shall hear, sir, if you please."

:

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HONEST TOM'S ACCOUNT OF HIMSELF.

I HAVE lived in this house with my grandmother ever since I can remember, and in a very wretched and miserable manner we lived for many years. My grandmother can tell you what ways we had, and how dirty and filthy our house was. She could earn but little, her health was so bad, and what she did earn we had no notion of putting to the best use; while I was very

undutiful, affording her neither help nor comfort. So it went on till I was about nine years old; I do not think that in all that time I ever set my foot within a church, or mentioned the name of God, except in oaths and blasphemies. But, as I was saying, when I was about nine years old, my grandmother hurt her leg; and as her own little earnings, together with the small assistance she received from the parish, were not sufficient for our support, I was forced to look about for some employment. I therefore went and stood with some other boys in the market-place, and offered myself to run on errands; for which I was paid at the rate of about twopence a mile, and for shorter turns I never got less than a penny but as I was exceedingly slow and idle, I seldom had above two or three jobs at most in the day. With the first penny I got each day I used to buy me a penny roll, and whatever else I earned I used to hazard at chuck-farthing, pitch-and-toss, and other such games, with the boys who stood in the market-place with me; and as we could not carry on these games in a full market, I lost many a good job by being out of the way when people were looking for some one to go on their errands.

"During this time, as you may be sure, sir, I grew fast in sin. It is said that ill weeds grow apace; and I am sure my sins at that time grew apace: for I think there was scarce a worse lad than I was at that time in the town. Well, so I went on, without stop or check, till one day a butcher called me, and sent me about a mile out of town with some meat, which I was ordered to deliver before such an hour, it being wanted for dinner. Well, I took the meat, and went strolling along, at the rate of half a mile an hour, stopping to stare at every thing I met, and lounging five or ten minutes on the top of every gate or stile.

"At length, coming into a large high turnip-field, not far from the house to which I was going, I heard some one step briskly behind; and presently a gentleman passed me, dressed, as you now are, sir, in black clothes. This gentleman was presently out of sight of such a poor snail as I was, and I thought no more of him, but crawled on to the house, where I delivered my meat, and got a good scolding from the cook for being past my time. "About an hour afterward, as I was going slowly back through the same field, having stopped some time to eat VOL. VIII.-K

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