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"LOOK AT THIS TEXT!"

LAST year was a year when the dew of heaven descended largely upon some favoured spots; and, under its softening influence, many hardened sinners found their Bible to be, what a poor Kaffir once called his Testament, "The heart-melter." Kingstown, near Dublin, was one of these favoured spots. Many there have of late been brought to true repentance.

Amongst those whose hearts were melted was a little Irish girl. Her trouble about ber sins was deep and distressing. Young as she was, she felt they were both many and great. She had not loved God, but had forgotten him, and had broken his holy law in thought, word, and deed. She was afraid that the blessed Saviour would not regard one so wicked, as she felt herself to be.

One day this little girl took up her Bible, and began to search it for some promise which might comfort her, when her eye rested upon the words, "Him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out." She thought within herself, "Does this mean Her that cometh? Does it

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belong to me? No,” thought she; “Jesus does not say, 'Her that cometh,' but 'Him that cometh.' With intense anxiety she ran to her mother, with her Bible in her hand, saying, "Look, mamma, look at this text. It is here written, 'Him that cometh to me.' Does it mean, 'Her that cometh?"" Her mother replied, "Yes, my dear child, male or female, old or young, may come to Jesus Christ, and are equally welcome when they give Jesus their hearts, and put their whole trust in Him for the salvation of their souls."

The little one's heart seemed to leap for joy. The promise was exactly suited to her. It was the very thing she wanted. At once she felt quite sure she should not be cast out, because Jesus said so. This was enough. Her anxious fears departed, and her spirit rejoiced in God her Saviour.

Reader! have you found your Bible to be a heartmelter?-Quarterly Token.

HOW GOD ANSWERS PRAYER.

THE director of a school in Germany relates the following circumstance :-" One of the children came to me one day in trouble, because, as he said, God would not hear his prayer. And what did you pray for?' 'I prayed to God that he would give me a humble heart.' 'And why do you think that he will not hear you?' The child said, with tears, 'Since I prayed for this the other boys have been so cross to me. They tease me and mock me at every turn, so that I can hardly bear it.' I said, 'You prayed that God would give you a humble heart, and why then should you be vexed if the other boys are the means of humbling you? Here you see that God does really hear you. You will find that the Lord has humbled you and heard your prayer. It is in this way that he sees fit to send you a humble mind.' The poor child had not thought of that. He had fancied that God would have taken some other way with him, and thus he was mistaken in thinking that his prayer was not heard."

"Tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope."-British Messenger.

A TRUE SAD STORY.

A YOUNG man and his wife were preparing to attend a party at the house of a friend some miles distant. " Henry, my dear husband, don't drink too much at the party today; you will promise me, won't you?" said she, putting her hand upon his brow, and raising her eyes to his face with a pleasing smile. "No, Millie, I will not; you may trust me. And he wrapped his infant boy in a soft blanket and they set out. The horses were soon prancing over the turf, and pleasant conversation beguiled the way.

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"Now don't forget your promise," whispered the young wife as she passed up the steps. Poor thing! she was the wife of a man who loved to look upon the wine when red. But his love for his wife and their babe, whom they both idolized, kept him back, and it was not often that he joined in the drunken revelries.

The party passed off pleasantly, the time for parting drew near, and the wife descended from the upper room, to join her husband. A pang shot through the trusting heart as she met him, for he was intoxicated-he had broken his promise.

Silently they drove homeward, save when the drunken man broke into snatches of song, or unmeaning laughter. But the wife rode on, her babe pressed closely to her grieved heart. "Give me the baby, Millie; I can't trust you with him," said he as they approached a dark and somewhat swollen stream. After some hesitation, she resigned her first-born, her darling babe, closely wrapped in the great blanket, to his arms. The horses safely bore them through the water, and when they reached the bank the mother asked for the child. With much care and tenderness he placed the bundle in her arms, but when she clasped it to her bosom, no babe was there! It had slipped from the blanket, and the drunken father knew it not. A wild shriek from the mother aroused him, and he turned round just in time to see the child rise one moment above the waves, then sink for ever.

What a sight! the idol of his heart gone-gone for ever-and that by his own drunkenness. The anguish of the mother, the remorse of the father, are better imagined than described. This is no fiction, but plain truth.-American Temperance Herald.

"SUFFER ME FIRST TO GO BID
THEM.FAREWELL."

LUKE ix. 61.

YOUNG people, let this be a text for you. Our Lord had been teaching, that when he calls we ought at once to obey; but a man in the company wished a little delay. Now, a little delay is often Satan's wedge for getting into the soul some great and insurmountable hindrance; and, therefore, our Lord in reply, said again, that there must be no delay, no hesitation, no excuses, no asking for more time to consider, when he was calling. The truth is, in almost all cases when any one seeks delay, a little delay, he is not willing, not really intending to give up what he is at present occupied with, he just wishes to get quit of the troublesome pressure of the friend that is dealing with him,-"Just suffer me first to go and bid my friends farewell." Have you never dealt thus with the gospel call? What say you? Have you never put it aside by pretending that you wished only a little time to consider?

EARLY RISING.

IN New York there has been formed a Young Men's Early Rising Association, all the members of which are pledged to be up at a certain hour. It began with about half a dozen men, who, having kept up this habit for some years, were surprised at its good effects, and at the marked success in life of their companions.

"NOT A BAD MEMORY."

THAT is not a bad memory which does not remember an injury. Some people are too fond of remembering one. They nurse their wrath to keep it warm.

THE PAPOOSE AND ITS CRADLE.

A BABY is called by the Red Indians of North America a papoose. Their little ones are, soon after their birth, tied with care on a flat piece of carved or painted wood, which has a wide band or hoop to protect the child's head.

It is the pride of the mother to ornament this cradle with ribbons and beads. From the loop some little jingling ornament is generally suspended, to attract the child's notice. A carrying-strap is fastened to the top of this cradle, by which the mother can carry it on her back safely through the plain or forest. Indeed, she can thus hang it, when she is resting, on the branch of a tree; and the cradle is so constructed, that, if it falls, the child cannot be hurt.

Meantime, the little thing, tied up in its bag, looking more like a little mummy than anything else, is perfectly contented, and rarely cries. In this confinement it learns its first lesson of Indian endurance.

Sometimes, when the Indian mothers are attending divine service in our mission churches, the papoose, in its cradle, is hung up on the palings of the churchyard till the service is over.-Quarterly Token.

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