SUSAN GRAY. 15

to tell me that she should be at home about
nine, and that she should bring with her a
friend, who was to sup and sleep with her that
night; and she sent me her orders to make the
house very neat, and to get the best of what
there was for supper.

Accordingly, as soon as the child had left
me, I set every thing in order; and, having
made myself neat, 1 sat down, about nine
o'clock, beside a bright fire which I had made;
and, while I waited for my mistress and her
friend, I took the opportunity of reading a few
chapters in my dear Mrs. Neale’s Bible.

It was very near ten, and my mistress was
not come; but I was so engaged with my Bible,
that I did not think how the time went.

The part of the Holy Scriptures which I was
reading, was the account of the cruel way in
which the wicked Jews treated the Lord of
glory: how they mocked him and buffetted him;
how they reviled and persecuted him; pierced
his innocent hands with the nails, leaving him
to die a slow and very painful death upon the
cross. When I had finished this sad story, I
shut up the holy book, and sat thinking upon
the great love of God for us poor creatures,
who, when we had enslaved ourselves to the
devil, by our sins, sent his only Son to redeem
us, by his precious blood, from everlasting
misery and torment; and how very humbly did
the glorious Lord Jesus Christ take upon him-
self the shape and form of a poor mortal! how
many hardships and trials did he endure! as
the holy prophet and apostle have said of him,