,picture3 ,cover ,no4 #ah4 ,,to ,a ,,youth ,,at ,,school4 99 99 99 99 99 ,london3 ,printed by ,a4 ,,applegath1 ,stamford-street2 and sold by ,j4 ,,davis1 #ef1 ,paternoster-row2 and by ,j4 ,,nisbet1 #ba1 ,berners-street1 ,oxford-street4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,will you permit one1 who was once in a similar situation with yourself1 to present a ,paper1 the design of which is to promote your best interest8 ,your parents regard you with tender affection and anxious hope4 ,should it please ,almighty ,god to spare your life1 you will certainly be an instrument of increasing the great mass of sin and misery1 or the small sum of piety and happiness4 ,how desirable to increase the latter6 ,it is at present uncertain what station you will fill1 what influence you will possess1 or by what circumstances you will be surrounded4 ,man is born ignorant of every thing4 ,education is necessary1 because you have every thing to learn4 ,impelled by duty to ,god and to you1 your parents have placed you under the care of those whose instructions and admonitions1 if rightly improved1 will make you respectable and happy4 ,next to ,christian ministers1 your teachers and governors sustain1 in various respects1 the highest and most important office in the world4 ,and since the time you will spend with them is short1 you are under so much the greater obligation carefully to improve it4 ,when you rise in the morning1 fail not to acknowledge your dependence on ,god1 whose watchful kindness continually preserves you4 ,adore him for his greatness and goodness4 ,confess to him your guilt4 ,beseech him to bestow pardon and purity of heart1 through his ,son ,jesus ,christ4 ,pray earnestly for an increasing aptitude to learn1 and for such continued aid as may enable you to realize the best wishes of your friends4 ,and while you pray for yourself1 include your teachers1 your schoolfellows1 your parents1 your friends1 and all mankind4 ,appear among the earliest in school4 ,a habit of punctuality indicates some fixed principle1 and will be eminently to your advantage through life4 ,while in the school1 maintain silent attention4 ,let the foundation of your grammar-learning be laid deep3 you are not to think it unreasonable that you are required to learn the same rules once and again4 ,this repetition fastens them in your memory4 ,indulge a generous spirit of emulation1 aiming to excel in every useful acquirement4 ,be careful in the formation of intimate friendships4 ,if any of your schoolfellows discover bad dispositions1 prudently avoid them4 ,attach yourself to those chiefly who are diligent1 thoughtful1 and amiable4 ,behave always in the most respectful manner to your teachers1 and to all that occasionally visit you4 ,avoid the extremes of bashfulness1 and bold presumption2 frankness and modesty form a happy union4 ,in diet1 be moderate2 in apparel1 neat2 among your companions1 cheerful and kind4 ,the law of ,god is a law of love indeed2 for it requires you to love every body2 and every body to love you4 ,never tell a lie1 nor conceal one when it is your duty to make it known2 at the same time1 remember that a tale-bearer in a school is an odious character4 ,but my principal object is1 to entreat your attention to the important concerns of the everlasting world4 ,you have read in your ,bible1 that ,adam1 the first of our race1 was created in the image of ,god1 a perfectly holy1 just1 and good man2 but he soon apostatized from ,god1 and so lost the divine favour and image4 ,we1 descending from him1 are necessarily partakers of his nature1 and of the depravity with which it was stained4 ,consider what you ought to be1 and compare with that what you have been in heart and life1 ever since you were able to distinguish good from evil2 and you will be convinced that you are a ,,sinner4 ,it is therefore indispensably necessary that you have a ,redeemer1 and wonderful is the love of ,god in providing one3 8,not to be thought on1 but with tides of joy4 ,not to be mention'd1 but with shouts of praise40 ,his name is ,,jesus3 he is a person of infinite dignity2 his blood cleanseth from the guilt of all sin4 ,in that sacred fountain wash and be clean4 ,you have also as much need of a ,sanctifier as of a ,redeemer1 for none but the pure in heart shall see ,god4 ,the ,sanctifier is the ,holy ,spirit of ,god4 ,to be happy in ,heaven1 you must have a heavenly disposition4 8,heaven is a prepared place for a prepared people40 ,it is not long since you were born into the world2 ,o that it may not be long before you are born again6 ,bear with me1 dear youth2 let me detain your attention a little longer on a theme so important4 ,if a soul immortal is superior to a perishing body--if eternity is longer than time--if ,heaven is higher than the ground we tread--if ,god1 the great ,fountain of being and bliss1 is all in all2 then your wisdom1 duty1 and happiness1 all unite in this one point--your seeking the glory of ,god in your present and everlasting salvation4 ,the advantages of early piety are innumerable4 ,it is difficult to say how many dangers will be avoided1 how many felicities attained6 ,the profane youth1 listening to the advice of evil counsellors1 and indulging the worst propensities of his nature1 plunges at once into pollution and misery4 ,health and peace1 reputation and usefulness1 are soon lost1 but not easily regained4 ,in some cases all are absolutely irrecoverable4 ,the heart of a parent is filled with the most bitter anguish--the numbers of the wicked are increased1 and their hands strengthened--good men are grieved and wounded--the holy name of ,god is dishonoured--and the immortal soul is swallowed up in the depths of hell6 ,on the other hand1 if1 in early life1 you seek after the ,god of ,israel1 the most delightful consequences may be justly expected4 ,god will be glorified1 and your everlasting happiness effectually secured4 ,indeed1 the manner in which you conduct yourself where you now are1 creates those hopes on the one hand1 or fears on the other1 which most materially affect the happiness of your best friends4 ,besides1 you will long feel the effects of your present conduct4 ,if you are now idle1 quarrelsome1 selfish1 mean1 and regardless of religion2 whatever change of character you may experience afterwards1 you will be found to have invited difficulties and pains1 which will more or less embarrass and torture you to the latest period of life2 while diligence1 kindness1 liberality1 and the love of ,god1 will shed on your path that light 8which shineth more and more unto the perfect day40 ,thus will useful knowledge be stored up1 and correction become unnecessary2 your teachers will be well rewarded for their trouble1 and your parents for all their cost3 from school you will go into the scenes of business1 and take your place among those1 who1 under ,providence1 are supplying the world with its comforts4 ,but religion conveys you far beyond these mortal employments3 the ,almighty ,saviour stretches forth his hand to lead you into eternity4 ,and1 ,oh6 what glorious instructions does he communicate along all the path6 ,he speaks of the love of ,god1 the life of faith1 the joys of heaven2 when it is needful1 he reproves2 nor does he fail to encourage2 he administers truth1 and1 superior to all earthly teachers1 he opens the understanding that it may receive it4 ,but ,i must conclude4 ,accept kindly the information and advice which have now been given with much freedom1 but equal cordiality1 by ,a sincere1 though unknown1 ,,friend4 99 99 99 99 99 ,london3 ,printed by ,a4 ,,applegath1 ,stamford ,street1 for the ,,religious ,,tract ,,society2 and sold by ,j4 ,,davis1 at their ,depository1 ,no4 #ef1 ,paternoster ,row2 and by ,j4 ,,nisbet1 ,no4 #ba1 ,berners ,street1 ,oxford ,street4 ,price #as4 #d;d4 per #ajj4 ,considerable ,allowance to ,subscribers and ,booksellers4