DRY BREAD TO GET A BIBLE. JOHNNY D-, when only nine years of age-the son of a poor widow in N-, Montgomeryshire-came to my house (I am a Bible secretary) at ten o'clock on an extremely cold winter night, and, on finding my shop closed, came to the kitchen door, and rapped loudly several times. When the servant inquired what was wanting, the reply was, "A Bible." I answered "If you come in the morning, you can have one." "I cannot, sir," continued the boy, "as I work in M (a place two miles from N), "and don't return home until late at night." "Come in, then, and you shall have one." And on my inquiring how he came into possession of the money he gave me for the Bible, and how he thought of spending it for so good a book, he told me that it had been announced in the Sabbath school that any little boy or girl could have a Bible very cheap at my house. "Therefore I saved it, sir," continued the boy. I replied, "You did very right in buying one for yourself;" and wished him good night. The next day his widowed mother came with the Bible in her hand. I was for a moment startled, fearing the boy had done something wrong; and her first word was, "Did my little boy buy this Bible here last night?" "He did; and told me that he had saved the money for that purpose." "Yes," continued the mother; "and how do you think he saved it?" Having to leave home very early every morning before breakfast, I cut him two large pieces of coarse bread-for I cannot get anything better; his supper he had when he came home at night. And with this I gave him a halfpenny each day to buy some milk; and told him to divide the bread into two equal parts-the one for his breakfast, and the other for his dinner." Here was a pause, and her countenance showed how strongly she was feeling. At length she said, "The little boy ate the coarse bread, and drank nothing but water for four successive weeks, without my knowledge, to have this Bible" (holding it up in her hand). Such was the value set upon the Word of God by this poor little boy. Dear young reader, do you value it as much? HAVE YOU THIS KEY? THE Duke of Wellington was very sick; and the last thing he took was a little tea. When the servant handed him the cup, asking him if he would have it, the Duke said, "Yes, if you please." The Duke was one of the great generals of Europe. He was used to ordering, for he commanded one of the largest armies of modern times. But you see how polite and courteous he was in the family; far more so than some boys I know of, who order their little sisters and brothers about so,-yes, and sometimes their mothers. Do they know, I wonder, how ill-bred it is, and what a hard, coarse nature it shows? If you please" makes people willing to help and serve you. "If you please" makes people happier and more obliging. "If you please" is the key which unlocks more doors of kindness in family life than all the cross and ordering words in the whole dictionary. Try if it is not. "I KNEW YOUR VOICE." AMY C- was a fragile but beautiful child of eight. She and her twin-sister occupied a small chamber called the porch-room, from which sounds at the front door could more easily be heard than in any other room in the house. Her father, having been away from home on business, unexpectedly returned one night. No one in the house heard him but Amy. Now, she was naturally a timid little creature; but hearing her father's voice, she instantly jumped up, and, without a light, ran along quickly to let him in. Her loving father took her in his arms, saying to her, My little Amy was not afraid, then, to come down-stairs and open the door alone?" "Oh no, papa!" she replied; "I knew your voice, so I was not afraid. THE kind master of the slave Esop one day gave him a bitter melon, and desired him to eat it. It was nauseous to the taste, but Esop ate it without making a wry face. His master looked surprised. "What," answered the servant pleasantly, "have I received so many favours from you, and cannot I manage to eat a bitter melon without making a fuss about it?" A USELESS WATCH. AN idler is a watch that wants both hands, as useless when it goes as when it stands. SATURDAY NIGHT. A TEXT FOR OUR TEACHER. May 3. We are more than conquerors 17.0 my God, I trust in thee. -Ps. xxv. 2. 24. I will cry unto God most high; unto God that performeth all things for me. -Ps. lvii. 2. 31. Cast down, but not destroyed.-2 Cor. iv. 9. INDIA. MADRAS. A Girls' Boarding-School in India. Letter from Miss Sloan to Free St. Matthew's FREE CHURCH MISSION, MADRAS, MY DEAR MISS W -I have to thank you much for your kind letter, and also for the cheque sent by the Sabbath school for the support of Phebe. I am quite sure that the Sabbath scholars of Free St. Matthew's would take a tenfold interest in their mission schemes if they could only have a little peep at the dusky inhabitants of India, could hear them sing, and see the earnest attention they pay to the instructions they receive from the Bible; and that they would anxiously pray that such privileges might be extended to the thousands who are yet heathens. While going through the Suez Canal we saw many camels, some going about at large, others laden, I have no doubt, with merchandise similar to what the Ishmaelites carried down to Egypt in days long ago, when Joseph was sold to them by his brethren. We sailed down the Red Sea, and must have passed the place where Pharaoh's host "sank like lead in the mighty waters. We had a very fine view of Mount Sinai, one clear, bright morning before six o'clock. I looked at it long and earnestly to fix it on my memory, for it has not changed since God revealed himself in such awful majesty to Moses and the Israelites. It stands there, in the desert, rugged and solitary, yet seeming to speak to all who see it of the mercy and grace of God who bore so long with sinful Israel, and who still bears so much with us; but it also speaks loudly of the God who will by no means clear the guilty." We had a dreadful thunder-storm one evening in the Red Sea. The ship was twice struck by lightning, but no one was hurt, and no damage was done. We were all stunned and blinded by the glare for a little while. All were solemnized, and not a few of us felt that God had answered the prayers of many in thus shielding us from danger. Nothing else of note occurred all the way, and we arrived at Madras on the 5th of November, after a prosperous voyage. You would be interested to see the inside of the school, which is very foreign-looking. There are a great many doors and windows, all wide open; for, although this is December, it is hotter than our warmest summer days in Scotland. The floor is made of bricks, and the classes sit far apart from each other, and are separated by pillars and arches. We could not have class-rooms here, for walls prevent the circulation of the air too much. Above my chair there is a punkah which sways backwards and forwards and causes quite a little breeze. The seats, desks, maps, blackboards, &c., are just like those at home. But the scholars! they are still more foreign-looking than the school. I have got quite accustomed to them now, and find them very nice, good girls, and very like their white sisters in a more favoured country in many ways. But at first it seemed very strange to see their dark-brown faces and curious native dresses. They usually wear pink or lilac dresses and white scarfs; they have their arms and feet bare, for they, too, feel it hot although it is their native land. They all look so like each other, that I found it very hard to distinguish them at first. They have very black hair and eyes, and good features, with an intelligent expression. They have very good manners, and are kindly to each other; but they have been long under excellent training, and they seem to feel very grateful for all that has been done for them. They sing beauti fully-far beyond any school children I ever heard; their voices seem more flexible, and they enter into the spirit of what they sing apparently with all their hearts. The morning after I landed, tney sang, just after I had been introduced to them, "The Lord bless thee, and keep thee," &c.; and I scarcely ever felt anything more touching, it was sung so solemnly and earnestly. I think that will be the most vivid of all my early impressions of India. (To be concluded in our next.) The Gospel in Gondee. OUR friend the Rev. W. Dawson, Free Church Missionary, Chindwara, has translated the Gospel of St. Matthew into Gondee, and an edition of 500 copies of his translation has been published by the North India Bible Society WHO WILL TAKE HER UP? OUR friend the Rev. John Fordyce, ever watchful for usefulness, writes to Dr. Duff that there is a good opening for a girls' school at Pachamba, among the Santhals. There is a bit of his letter which we should like our young readers to notice. Will no Sabbath school take charge of poor little Lailia? "One pupil, at least, is also ready, whom I would commend to the loving care of some Sabbath school. I saw her an hour ago; a little dark girl of apparently five Her uncle left her in the years or so. jungle to die. A police-officer found her with an arm broken; and the magistrate handed her over to the mission, to be healed, fed, clothed, and taught. By a payment of £5 a-year a school or family may enjoy the pleasure of having as a peculiar care this little girl, whose name is Lailia." Let any school willing to take up Lailia write to Colonel Young, 3 Greenhill Park, Edinburgh, Secretary to the Society for Female Education in India. THE JEWS. CONSTANTINOPLE. The School-house for Jewish Girls. THE Rev. Mr. Tomory, our missionary at Constantinople, in a letter to Mr. Young, dated 4th March, makes grateful mention of the "New-Year Offering," for which we hope all our young friends have been doing their best. Mr. Tomory says: "I am glad to hear of the liberality of our Free Church children; and I hope that, with our great necessities, the Lord will put it into the heart of the young, and of others too, to contribute liberally, and help us to provide proper school accommodation for the 200 Jewish children attending our schools." whose discharge from the Russian army the children two years ago contributed £140). He has yet to serve twelve years; but it is a mercy that he is not living among the rough set of the Russian soldiers. He is in the military dispensary, and is thereby saved from many hardships that he had to endure before. He has. some free hours in the afternoon, and he devotes that time to visiting the Jews, or receiving visits from them. From the money the children collected to set him free, and which Russian tyranny prevented from being carried out, the Committee allows him a small yearly sum, and this enables him to have a private room where he receives his Jewish visitors. "Last autumn, while the cholera was raging in Warsaw, Eliezer went among the Jews, giving them medicine, and telling them of the good news of the gospel. Many a dying Jew heard the gospel from his lips; and they all felt thankful for his kindnesses, and called him "an angel of peace.” is, in fact, the Children's Messenger, for he is paid by their money; and I trust that they will remember him in their prayers." He Many of our young friends, who helped to gather the money to set Eliezer free, were disappointed when, after all, the Russians would not let him go. But we see how God has brought good out of evil, as he did for Joseph in Egypt. Eliezer is still a Russian soldier; but he is now also the children's missionary to the Jews in Poland, or wherever as a soldier his lot may be cast. "YOU TRY TO MAKE ME GOOD." |