om of his faithful page, and wept
long and passionately, promising, at the same time, amendment of his
faults if ever it should please his Heavenly Father to raise him up
from the bed of sickness on which he then lay.

How careful should young people be to perform the resolutions of
correcting their evil habits which they make at moments when sickness
or adversity brings them to a recollection of their evil propensities.
Yet, alas! how often is it that such promises are forgotten, as soon as
they find themselves in a condition to repeat their faults.

Thus it was with Prince Edwin. Instead of seeking the assistance of a
higher power than his own weak will to strengthen and support him in
the right path, he contented himself with saying, "I am determined to
begin a fresh course; to correct my hasty, imperious temper; to pursue
my studies steadily and perseveringly; and to shun the society of those
who, by flattery and false speaking, seek to increase my foolish
vanity, and impede my improvement!"

Now it was easy to say all this, but very difficult to put these good
resolutions into practice. Prince Edwin, neglecting to implore the
Divine aid to strengthen him in their performance, soon yielded to
temptation, and in a little time, listened to the pernicious flatteries
of Brithric with as much pleasure as he had done before the period of
his sickness.

It was to no purpose that the faithful Wilfrid remonstrated with him,
and pointed out the fatal consequences that result from listening to
the false commendations of those who pay no regard to truth. Prince
Edwin loved to hear himself praised, even for those very qualities in
which he was most deficient. He grew weary of Wilfrid's admonitions,
and frequently reproved him when he ventured to reason with him, or
attempted to offer the counsel of a true friend.

Brithric was, as I said before, much older than the prince or any of
the royal wards. He was artful and ambitious, and had formed in his
heart a wicked project for his own advancement, which was too likely to
plunge the country into the horrors of a civil war. This project was
no less than that of attempting to induce Prince Edwin to set himself
up for king, and to claim the throne as the eldest legitimate son of
the late King Edward.

In all this, Brithric was very ungrateful to King Athelstane, who had
been very kind to him, and had recently appointed him to the honorable
office of his cup-bearer. That