sake, who had so dearly bought her, and whom she now could love, the greatest joy of her heart. I often see her now in my mind, how happy she looked, and how kindly and cheerfully she greeted me whenever I met her on her way to church.

Her mother, who then was not converted to the Lord, said to her one Sunday when the weather was wet and the roads were bad, "My daughter, will you not rather stay away from church to-day?" When she replied, "Oh, dear mother, faith comes by hearing the word preached. Let us work as long as it is day; the night cometh, when no man can work. I love the church so much, pray let me go." And thus she would joyfully go off in the very worst weather, and return still happier. If she was alone, she employed her spare moments on her knees in prayer, and her mother often found her thus silently praying.

Her mother, her elder sisters, all her relations who were much with her at that time, are now never tired of telling how she showed her lively faith by all kinds of good works. All praise her childlike, joyous spirit, her decided earnestness against all sins, her friendliness and benevolence towards every one.

Then it happened-I do not remember whether it was one or two years after her first sickness-that one Sunday morning a message came to me, requesting me, when I returned to the village from my second church, to come and administer the communion to this young girl. After I had finished my sermon at my second church I had to visit two sick persons, and when I was with the last of these a man on horseback came up to entreat me to make haste if I would see her alive. I did so; but when I came near the village I was met with the news that she was already dead. I could only look upon her corpse. She lay there with a friendly smile, like some one who had just fallen sweetly asleep; and so she had.

The evening before, she had mentioned that she felt unwell. "The stag, the stag, I am the stag," she said immediately, and expressed herself certain that the Lord would call her away this time; but she was in very good spirits about it, and praised him because he had had mercy upon her, and renewed her in the spirit of her mind before he took her from the world.

On Sunday morning she had expressed the desire to enjoy once more the supper of her Lord. In the most

urgent manner she had implored all her relatives to give up their hearts at once to the Lord, for they saw how cheerfully she could now go to meet the Lord; she wished so heartily that she might see them all once more in heaven. Her sorrowing, weeping mother she comforted in the sweetest manner with the words, "For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." As I did not come, and she already felt the chill of death, and her friends expressed themselves much grieved that she could not receive the Lord's supper any more, she said soothingly, "Do not trouble yourselves about it. I have the Lord Jesus, and I die happy even if I should not receive the communion any more. I wished it certainly, that I might refresh and strengthen myself at my Lord's table. before my end; but if he does not permit it, his will be done." Then at last, with the words on her lips, "Now come, my Saviour! Come, Lord Jesus!" sweetly smiling she bowed her head and quietly fell asleep.

Her holy and happy death made a powerful impression on the whole family. One after another of those connected with her began earnestly to call on the Lord; and it can be said of many of the souls of this family that the conversion and death of this young girl served to awaken them from the sleep of sin. The mouth of her aged mother was filled with the praises of the Lord, and henceforth she walked in the service of her Divine Master; her three elder sisters, all married to persons in the village, serve the Lord Jesus with all faithfulness, and their husbands willingly acknowledge that their wives are their true helpmeets in their pilgrimage to the heavenly Jerusalem.

An uncle of the deceased, a tradesman, was much affected by the happy death of his niece; but he thought it was only necessary to continue to improve and amend in order to be saved, not, as a poor lost and condemned sinner, to desire repentance. He was everywhere esteemed as a true, honest tradesman, who had never defrauded any one, but always lived a moral upright life. If he was invited to come to the assembling together of the faithful, he replied that they were hypocrites; he knew them all; he had lived better, and was living now better, than they, and he knew not what he could learn of them: he saw them still erring and sinning. But gradually he became more doubtful about his own righteousness; and the more earnestly he began to pray, the more was his lost condition

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discovered to him. As he searched the Scriptures more diligently, it became clearer to him that he, too, was a poor sinner before God, for whom there was no other way to heaven than the way of grace. The Lord had mercy on him too, and heard his prayer for the Holy Spirit that he might be saved through faith in Jesus Christ our Lord. Oh, how often he said to me, Sir, how blinded I have been till now! I considered myself better than the chief among the faithful: oh, if now I were only as good as the lowest among them!" And he made the remark, how the Lord had given his choicest gifts frequently to the poorer, meaner members of his church; how among these were often the most fervent suppliants, the most joyous and bravest witnesses; and therein he praised the wisdom of the Lord. At the time when, through God's grace, it was a Pentecost season in my church, and the streams of the Holy Spirit flowed powerfully from heaven, his whole house came in for a rich share of the blessing.

In one night, which he passed watching and praying, his head farm-servant came to the knowledge of the faith, and praised the grace of the Lord with such joy that many in the house who had stood for some time in the faith, but had been brought more gradually to it, and had neither first experienced such agonizing conviction of sin, nor afterwards such irrepressible joy, were quite alarmed, and thought they could as yet only have deceived themselves, and that it was impossible for them to have real living faith. Then in the morning the faithful old house-father came and entreated me to come with him to help his household in the right way.

He had already told them decidedly that everything in real conversion depends on whether one has acknowledged himself a poor sinner, and confessed before God with contrite heart, and whether one has by faith laid hold of the merits of Christ, but by no means on a sudden change accompanied by strong expressions of pain and joy; he had very wisely restrained his servant, who appeared almost out of his mind for joy when he was led in the morning to go to all his relatives to tell them that they must be converted, saying to him, 'You will only do their souls harm; for they will not be able rightly to understand your condition of such great joy, but will consider you mad." When I returned with him to his house, all the household were sitting waiting

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for us around the large family table, on which the Bible and Psalm-book lay ready for my use. Then we prayed, meditated on God's word, and sang hymns, till all the troubled hearers rejoiced again in childlike faith, and were comforted.

From that day this man cared faithfully for his household, held morning and evening family worship, warned from evil ways, excited to labours of love, and set an example in the church of all good works. Were meetings assembled for the heathen, for home missions, for poor suffering brethren in the Lord, this family was particularly distinguished, for they gave willingly and liberally. Sunday is a happy, precious day for this man and his family. They do not go about visiting their neighbours, but after church is over remain at home, and in the evening a sermon is read aloud, with prayer and singing.

This tradesman belonged to my own village. But in the village in which the young girl died, though at her death not a single soul was converted except herself, now everything is changed. Of the peasants and their wives we can say at least, that even those who have not yet come to the full knowledge of the faith (with the exception of one whose heart seems quite hardened), that they readily hear God's word, and pray for God's mercy, and amongst the children are many dear souls wholly given to the Lord. When in winter, on moonlight nights, I hold an evening lecture and Bible reading in a large cottage, all the inhabitants of the little village assemble around their pastor, with the exception of those who are obliged to remain at home to watch over their little children or take care of their houses. Truly, all this is a rich blessing from the simple warning conveyed by a simple parable, by the grace of God's Holy Spirit.

"THE BRAVE OLD MOTHER."

WHILE residing in Prussia the facts in the following narrative came to my knowledge. They are interesting, and illustrate the power of Christian love in animating one of the humblest, not only to deeds of kindness, but to heroic self-sacrifice for the good of others.

In the small town of Husum, situated in Sleswick, in South Denmark, resided an old woman, who for many years was commonly spoken of, not by her proper name, but by

the title of "Die liebe alte Mutter," "The dear old mother," being regarded as a kind of dear old mother to the whole of the inhabitants.

As such there was hardly a little boy or girl who found their sum or task for the morrow too puzzling for them, but would carry it off to her for her assistance. She was

a scholar in her way, and she could and would help them. Whoever might be busy, the liebe alte Mutter" would not be too busy, they knew; and she was always to be found "at home too, for she was tied to her bed of suffering, having long been crippled from rheumatism. If a father sprained his foot, or wounded his hand, so that he was disabled from working for his family, the "liebe Mutter knew the best cures for all such wounds and bruises: only bring her the herbs she required, she would soon effect a cure. If a mother wanted counsel in the bringing up of her family, in the management of her household, or in bearing up against some great calamity, it was to the "liebe alte Mutter" she would go; and spiritual counsel would this dear old woman give, for she could, from the depth of her own experience, say to them, "Come and hear, all ᎩᎾ that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul" (Ps. lxvi. 16); how "he strengtheneth me upon the bed of languishing," and maketh my "bed in my sickness," Ps. xli. 3.

Far into the future did she look, and reaped from her view of heaven and heavenly things that bright glowing spirit which enabled her, though occupying such a poor and weak position in the world, to shed a lustre of happiness around her, and to be a channel of blessing to all within her little sphere.

But it came to pass that the "liebe alte Mutter" earned for herself a change of title to that of "brave alte Mutter," and became so known by it that the former one ceased to be used. Thus it came about:

It was winter, and the ice was thick. The inhabitants of Husum determined to make a great holiday. They raised tents on the ice, and old and young were collected together out of doors. Some skated, some drove in sledges. In the tents there were music and dancing; and the old people sat at tables and drank and smoked. Thus passed the whole day, and the moon rose, but they had no idea of returning homewards; on the contrary, the festivities seemed but renewed.