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Then pitching her voice to its highest infantile strain, she sang so sweetly and correctly, that it was difficult to realise that the singer was but five years old—

"I does believe, I does believe,

That Jesus died for me,

And on the cross He shed His blood,

Yes! Jesus died for me!'"

Then, on her father's catching her up to bestow the wellearned kiss, she whispered softly, yet so as to be heard by us all, "I does believe' is nicer 'n 'hoping-so' isn't it, pappy dear ?"

I need not say that Dora's question remained unanswered; and must I confess why? Because, though we were all professing earnest Christians, we had not an undisputed right to the glorious name "Believers," simply because when asked certain questions concerning our filial privileges as children of God, instead of being able to reply, "I do," we could only attain to the poor "I hope so" of any spiritual outsider.

Dora's lesson has not been without its results, and one, at any rate, of those present on that occasion never hears or gives this unsatisfactory reply, "I hope so," without deep heart-searching, and a prayerful desire that more of St. Paul's soul-stirring aspiration may be hers, and that when asked to give a reason for the hope that sustains her, she may be able to exclaim with humble gratitude, “I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him."

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X. Y. Z.

N.B.-It must not be supposed that this dear child understood the solemn verities she uttered, but as "I hope so in gaining parental permission for any expected pleasure would convey doubt, she would naturally prefer the heartier form of speech.

1 2 Tim. i. 12.

J

Mark v.

ESUS is with the ruler

Whose daughter lieth low,

And crowds of people throng Him,
As to his house they go;
Some to implore His pity,

Some marvelling at His fame,
Some with new love enkindled,
And some to praise His name.
Mark that pale, timid woman,
With feeble step and slow;
Twelve years of wasting sickness
Have strangely laid her low:
Twelve years of ceaseless spending,
In suffering, on and on,
With many a famed physician,
Until her means are gone.

And she was nothing bettered;
It was sheer waste, she knew ;
Her step became more feeble,
Her pale face paler grew.
And in the sighing tempest
She seemed to hear her doom
And catch the solemn echoes

That murmur through the tomb.

She knew the power of Jesus,
Who then was very nigh;
And so she came behind Him,
As He was passing by;
Believing, in her weakness,
With light-enkindled soul,
That if she touched His garment
She should at once be whole.

None helped her to the Saviour,
Of all that anxious band;

But gently as an infant

She raised her trembling hand, And faith had grandly triumphed; Oh! faith for her had won

The health for which she languished, The favour of the Son!

"Who touched Me?" said the Healer;
And at His feet she fell,
And felt it such a comfort

Her greatest griefs to tell.
He spoke in tenderest pity,

He bade her sobbings cease;
"Thy faith hath brought the blessing;
Oh, daughter, go in peace!'

So is it with the sinner

Who gives his wanderings o'er :
Throughout all generations

Faith makes the promise sure.
Faith gilds the pilgrim's passage
Beyond the shades of night,
And, on his Saviour resting,

He gains the hills of light.

"Faithful in the east."

THE STORY OF A TRACT DISTRIBUTOR'S LIFE.

J. H.

LIZABETH SYDSERF was born at the commencement of the present century, in a small market town in the west of England. Her family claimed its descent from some German Protestant refugees, who had emigrated to England in order to escape religious persecution in their own fatherland. They were faithful to their religion, counting it honour to suffer persecution for the name of Christ.

Elizabeth herself was the daughter of poor parents. The father died in his prime, leaving the widow with three orphan children to face a cold world. She forthwith opened a small school, and managed by this means to support her little family in some degree of comfort.

A large part of the education she imparted consisted of hymns, combined with copious reading of the Scriptures. When a very little child Elizabeth would sing these hymns, while the friends and neighbours listened with wonder.

She was also very fond of reading, and when about

eight years of age met with Legh Richmond's " Young Cottager," which she read with avidity. The reading of this book led to her conversion to God, although never, from the time of her earliest recollection, was she destitute of conviction of sin. But, under the quickening influence of this little book, and by the aid of the Holy Spirit, these convictions culminated in conversion at this early age.

From this time she practised secret prayer with great regularity; and finding no quiet corner in the house available for her use, she, with another girl similarly minded, used to retire regularly every day to a secluded spot, and pour out her childish petitions.

At twelve years of age, so consistent was her life, and so marked her proficiency in prayer, that she would frequently pray publicly in a cottage prayer-meeting. At this time she and her sister were factory workers in her native town, and had to endure much persecution on account of their religion; for the elder sister, as well as Elizabeth, was accustomed to read the Bible and retire for secret prayer.

When in her teens Elizabeth went to domestic service, as also did her sister, in order to procure a decent maintenance and assist in supporting their mother. She spent nine years in service, with varying experiences, and then opened a small school, as her mother had done-going back home, indeed, to do this when her mother was too feeble to continue in the work. But after her mother's death Elizabeth was once more thrown upon the world homeless, and she again tried service. Thus she was driven about for some years, having no settled home, and was at times dependent almost on the charity of strangers for a shelter. Her way of life was always lowly, always humble, but full of unfailing trust and confidence in God.

At length she married, somewhat late in life, a labouring man, a widower, who had a little family and a smaller income. From this time it became her constant study how

to live honestly in the sight of all men.

This was not an easy task; but her surroundings only

served to show more brightly and more beautifully her godly life, in the midst of hard, grinding poverty. Family prayer was steadily maintained; the Sabbath was strictly kept; and not unfrequently, when her step-children were gone to the Sunday-school, she would follow, and, stealing quietly in, act as substitute to some class which was destitute of a teacher.

Not content with this, she commenced labouring as a tract distributor, and that most faithfully. Her district included some thirty houses, which, in later years, was increased to over sixty; and these houses were all regularly and faithfully visited once a fortnight with the zeal of an evangelist.

Always very poor in this world's goods, she was humble, prayerful, full of rich faith. Her conversation was literally and entirely about the Word; for she was so full of the treasures of the Bible and of Christian experience, that she could not speak one five minutes without turning the current of talk into a religious channel. There was not a text, nor a chapter, nor an obscure phrase, in the Bible but she was acquainted with; for the precious book was literally "the man of her counsel," "the lamp to her feet." Her feeling seemed to be that of Newton, when he wrote:

"Forgotten be each worldly theme,

When Christians meet together thus ;

We only wish to talk of Him

Who loved, and died, and reigns for us."

In her tract district were to be found several poor old people, some of them Christians, others not, but all hastening down the hill of life. To these she was as the " messenger of good tidings;" for at many places she would regularly read her tracts to the recipients of them, while at others she would read the blessed Word and engage in prayer. She had not silver and gold to give these poor old, feeble, bedridden people; but such as she had she gave unto them. She had received largely of the Spirit's influence, and so she could minister to others. Some few at

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