cry to Him for mercy! months that are past!" 66 Oh, that I could feel as in "April, 1867.-Felt it good to be there when Mr. V-spoke from, 'He that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.' He was led to bring out many things that I had passed through. In me dwelleth no good thing, for when I would do good evil is present with me.' Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it; but I do love the Lord with mind and heart, His people and His ways. Oh, how I do wish I could live nearer to Him, for there is nothing I desire to live for; but I must wait all the days of my appointed time, till my change comes. Oh, that I may be found ready when the Lord does come with my lamp burning brightly! I feel it a privilege to have such an under shepherd as Mr. V" 66 "1869.—Mr. Ade preached at the Pavilion Chapel, from the last verse of the 31st Psalm, 'Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord.' I did feel that I had that good hope through grace. The dear Lord gave it me, and the minister was led to trace it out." July 30th, 1872.-Obliged to keep to my room; have not power to get down; but the friends are very kind; and, above all, I have found the Lord very near, and this passage sweet, 'I go to prepare a place for you.' Oh, precious Jesus, I want to know Thee more. From Him all blessings come. 'How can I sink with such a prop?' 'Did Christ my Lord suffer, and shall I repine? His way was much rougher and darker than mine.' From this date till the time the Lord was pleased to release her from a diseased tabernacle, on November 5th, she had months of suffering. Having nothing but what she earned, and not being able to do anything, she was signally provided for by the Lord. The hearts of friends were opened to communicate. She was on the Foundation, Christnot tossed, as some are. I saw her a few days before she died-she was comfortably stayed on the Lord. She said she had no other hope but Christ, and He was her all. She died clinging unto Jesus. When asked at the last if all was well, she replied, "All is right." The 91st Psalm was a favourite psalm, as also was the 14th of John. The day before she departed shè drew sweetness from these words, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” "One less on earth, one more in heaven." "One family, we dwell in Him; One army of the living God, At His command we bow; Part of the host have crossed the flood, And part are crossing now." "WE SHALL EAT THE FRUIT!" A BLACKSMITH had in his possession, but under mortgage, a house and piece of land. Like many others, he was at one time fond of the social glass, but was happily induced by a friend to cease taking strong drink. About three months after he observed his wife one morning busily employed planting rose-bushes and fruit-trees. "Mary," said he, "I have owned this cot for five years, and yet I have never known you before care to improve and ornament it in this manner." Indeed," replied the smiling wife, "I had no heart to do it until you gave up the drink—I had often thought of it before, but I was persuaded 66 that, should I do it, some strangers would pluck the roses and eat the fruit. Now, with God's blessing, this cot will be ours, and we and our children may expect to enjoy the produce. We shall pluck the roses and eat the fruit." BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATION. THE Biblical story of the Moabites who mistook water for blood, related in the twenty-second chapter of the second book of Kings, is the subject of a communication to the Athenæum by Mr. E. L. Garbett, who, after stating that few tales ever seemed to him more mythical, says: "One morning, however, last winter, I started by the early train from London into Hampshire, and on entering the water-meads of either the Wandle or the Mole, was startled by the sight, as it seemed, of a pool of blood, too large to be that of any single animal. The next moment, perceiving all the ditches and pools for some hundred yards to be equally tinged, I looked round for the new chemical factory or dye-house that I supposed must have arisen and be polluting them with its refuse. But as the advance of the train brought a mile or two of the valley into view, with a rather unusual amount of water beyond, it was one of those red sunrises, happily very rare, which in this climate, so far as my experience goes, invariably announce a whole day of violent storms. Of course the distant waters, reflecting the red light brightly, destroyed the illusion of the foreground ones; but as long as these alone were visible, I had made the identical mistake recorded of the Moabites, and could not deny that localities were easily conceivable where this very sunrise would probably have led a far from uncivilised battalion into some such disastrous excitement." OR, THE TWO WEAVERS. As at their work two weavers sat, Beguiling time with friendly chat, They touch upon the price of meat, So high a weaver scarce could eat. "What with my bairns and sickly wife," "How glorious is the rich man's state! "In spite of what the Scripture teaches, "Where'er I look, howe'er I range, Quoth John," Our ign'rance is the cause "Seest thou that carpet, not half done, Which thou, friend Dick, hast well begun? Behold the wild confusion there, So rude the mass, it makes one stare. "A stranger, ign'rant of the trade, 66 My work," cries Dick, "is yet in bits, But still in ev'ry part it fits; Besides, you reason like a lout, Why, man, that carpet's inside out." |