THE LITTLE WOODMAN, & c. IN former times there lived on the borders of a very wide forest, a certain woodcutter named Roger Hardfoot, who had seven sons. I cannot tell you the names of the six elder sons; but the youngest, who was born several years after his brothers, was called William. The woodcutter's wife died when William was very little so the care of the boys was left to their father only. He was an industrious man, and gained a very good livelihood by cutting wood in the forest, and tying it up in fagots. These he conveyed on the backs of asses to a small town at some distance, and with the money which he sold them for he bought such things as he had need of for himself and his family. He made his sons also work with him; and as they were hearty lads, the elder ones soon became able to do almost as much as their father; so that the earnings of the family were very abundant, and they might have been very happy, had not that one thing been wanting without which no family can be happy. The woodcutter was so sinful as to neglect to teach his children to serve God: and this was the more wicked, as he had himself been taught the word of God by his mother when he was a little boy. But the woodcutter neither thought of his Saviour, nor of his poor mother's instructions, until God brought him to reflection by a dreadful accident. One day, while he and his sons were cutting down a tree in the forest, the tree fell upon him, and he was so dreadfully hurt that he never was able to work any more. His hurt occasioned a disease which, by slow degrees, brought on his death. But while death was drawing on he suffered great pain of body, and his mind was filled with many bitter thoughts: all the sins of his past life were set before him by the almighty power of God; particularly his neglect of his mother, who was a widow, and from whom he had run away many years ago. And now he began to remind his sons of their duty to God; frequently speaking to them of their Saviour, and of the world to come. : From day to day the poor dying woodman earnestly besought his sons to turn to God; but they mocked at him, and would not hearken to him. He could now work for them no longer, nor provide them with what they wanted so they followed their own business and pleasure, hardly taking care to furnish their sick father with common food or clothing. One only of all his sons took pity on him, and hearkened to his advice, and waited upon him. This was little William, his youngest child. He was just five years old when the tree fell upon his father, and his heart was not yet grown hard, like the hearts of his brothers. Fathers and mothers, you should lead your children to love God while they are little, and while their hearts are tender. And you, little children, lose no time, but give yourselves up to God before you become hard and stubborn, like William's brothers. William was now the only comfort his poor father had in this world. When the woodcutter lay sick upon his bed, William sat on his bolster, and watched beside him, and was always ready to bring him every thing that he wanted. And when his father crept out in the forest, which he sometimes was able to do in order to take the air, William followed him; and when he sat down this little boy sat by him; and when he knelt to pray, little William knelt by him and prayed with him as well as he could. One day when the woodman's eldest sons were gone out to steal deer in the forest, the woodman and his little boy sat at the door of their hut; while Cæsar, little William's dog, lay down at their feet. And as they sat together, the woodman thus talked to his little boy; "Oh! my little child! my only comfort!" he said, "how wicked was I when your brothers were young like you, that I did not endeavour to lead them to God; But that opportunity is past, and I can do nothing for them now. They will not hearken to me; they turn against their dying father; and I deserve this treatment at their hands." "Why do you say that you deserve it, father?" said William. "For many reasons, my dear boy. I was an undutiful son; and for this cause, if there were no other, I deserve to have undutiful children. My mother was a widow, and one who loved God. Her house is in this forest; but three or four long days' journey from this place. I was her only child. She brought me up with the greatest tenderness, and taught me early the word of God. But when I grew up I became a lover of pleasure more than a lover of God; so I ran away from my dear mother, and have never seen or heard of her since." "And is she alive?" said little William. "Oh! my child, I do not know," said the woodcutter; "but whether she be alive or dead, I shall never see her again in this world. I only wish that she could know how deeply I repent of my sins; and that I have fled at length to the merits of a gracious Redeemer, as my only hope of being saved from everlasting punishment. And O, my sons! my sons! I pray for my sons in the bitterness of my soul: for as I was formerly a wicked son, so I have since been a wicked father. I neglected to teach my children the word of God while they were little and now they despise me, turning a deaf ear to my instructions, and hardening their hearts against my reproofs !" "But," said William, " perhaps the Lord Jesus Christ may change their hearts even now, father. Let us pray for them." "Yes, my child! my comfort! my delight!" said the woodcutter, "we will pray for them. Every day while I live we will pray for them. This is all I can now do for them." So William and his father knelt together at the door of the hut, earnestly praying that God would, in his good time, change the hearts of the young men. The woodcutter did not live long after this discourse had passed between himself and his little son. In a few days he took to his bed, from which he never rose again. William now became more attentive to him than ever; and never left him but to fetch him water, and such things as he asked for. William sat on his bolster, and Cæsar lay at his feet; and whenever the |