of such condescending love as this? Where is the Christian mother in this favored land who would not, like Hannah, at the call of God, give up cheerfully even an only child to his service, "in sure and certain hope" of a reunion in that better world where separation is unknown?

Alas, the influence of things earthly is strong within and around us, stifling the still small voice that would speak to us of the claims of God and of a perishing world. We admire the devoted piety of Hannah, without the courage or even the wish to imitate it; and clasp our idols to our hearts, forgetful of the fact, that what we selfishly withhold from God may be resumed by him in a moment at his good pleasure.

Those who lend to the Lord shall be repaid by him with usury. This truth was strikingly exemplified in the case of the mother of Samuel. She gave an only child to God, and he rewarded her for the sacrifice by giving her other sons and daughters, to bear up her name in Israel, and to be the support of her old age.

Every year as she went up to Shiloh, she

carried a garment of her own making to the youthful Samuel; and we may well imagine those annual meetings to have been seasons of deep and tender interest both to mother and

son.

It is certain from the ode composed by Hannah, probably on the occasion of her leaving Samuel at the temple, and which is one of the finest specimens of Hebrew poetry, that she was a woman of rare endowments of mind as well as heart; and to such a mother the wide spread reputation of Samuel, and the eminent services rendered by him to the chosen people of God, must have been a source of the most exquisite delight.

The child left by her with the Lord in his helpless infancy had become the prophet of his time, directing both the civil and military affairs of the nation, and retaining this post of distinction through a life of nearly one hundred years; for, from many passages in the inspired account, we are led to infer that Samuel was considered the judge and civil ruler of Israel, while Saul the king was looked upon as the chief executive, and the general of its armies.

But in the midst of his greatness, Hannah and her love were never forgotten. Long afterward, when "the word of Samuel came to all Israel," we learn, from his choice of Ramah as a place of residence, that neither his early departure from home, his subsequent fame, nor a life filled with stirring events, had power to wean his heart from the mother whose selfsacrificing devotion had insured to him temporal prosperity and greatness, and everlasting bliss.

THE story of Ruth is one of

the most beautiful and touch

ing in the whole range of litera

ture, sacred or profane. A young and beautiful woman, tenderly cherished, and full of deep sympathies and warm affections, is sud

denly reduced from affluence to poverty, deprived by death of the husband dearer than her own life; and bereft of all,

"Of every stay, save innocence and heaven," she clings to her companion in sorrow, the mother of her lost Mahlon, who is about to leave Moab for Judea, after an absence of many years.

But how different are the circumstances of Naomi's return from those that attended her departure. Ten years before, she had gone out from her native land leaning on the strong arm of the husband of her youth, while their two sons, in the flush of early manhood, filled their house and hearts with rejoicing.

In the process of time, Mahlon and Chilion had each brought home a lovely bride to enlarge the circle of affection, and though they were taken from a people with whom the Israelites had been forbidden to intermarry, they seem to have loved and been beloved by Naomi, so that the household was still united and happy.

But death, stern and inexorable in his mission of sorrow, mocks at earthly ties, and hes