natural heart would have turned away in indignation and disgust; but the woman of Syrophenicia took counsel of love, and not of anger or pride, and to these disparaging remarks she meekly answers, "Truth, Lord; but the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their master's table, and this is what I ask of thee."

The trial was complete, the result glorious. Casting aside at once the veil of indifference in which he had shrouded himself, the Saviour says to her in accents of tenderness, "Oh woman, great is thy faith; be it unto thee even as thou wilt."

The faith which had stood such a test could casily appropriate these blessed words; and buoyed up as on angel-wings, the happy mother returned to her home. We may imagine the joy that reigned in that little household when, on her entrance, she found her daughter calm and tranquil, though weak from the effects of the terrible disease that had so long oppressed her.

How sweet must the name of Jesus have been both to mother and child, as they repeated to friends and neighbors the narrative of

his goodness, dwelling with ever fresh delight on the wisdom which delayed an answer only to make it the more complete and precious.

The days of miracles have long since ceased, and the Saviour in person walks no more on earth; but with his people he is still omnipresent, and his ear is open to their cry. As a trial of faith, which in his sight is more precious than of gold which perisheth, he may for a time seem unmindful of the agonized cry sent up from the crushed and bleeding heart; but sooner can he deny himself, and cease to be the God of infinite love and truth, than turn away one humble suppliant whose plea for mercy is offered in his name.

MONG those faithful wom

en who followed our Lord during the brief period of his public life, and who ministered to him with unshaken fidelity and devotion, none was more conspicu

ous than Mary of Magdala; or, as she is called in the narrative of the evangelists, Mary Magdalene.

She has often been most erroneously confounded with the woman mentioned in Luke 7:37-50, who washed the Saviour's feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of

her head, and who is there described as a sinner.

Mary Magdalene belonged to that class of unfortunates who were the subjects of possession by demons, and her case must have been one of peculiar aggravation, since we are told that seven devils were cast out of her by the power of Jesus. There is however no reason to doubt that she was a woman of spotless character and high social standing. From the period of her cure, she seems to have devoted herself to the service of her great Deliverer with a strength and earnestness of affection proportioned to the benefits she had received.

On the last sad journey from Galilee to Jerusalem, Mary Magdalene, with Mary the mother of James and Joses, Salome the wife of Zebedee and mother of James and John, and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod's steward, accompanied him, sharing his privations, and in concert with the disciples ministering to his wants.

Unlike the disciples however, these noble women, far from forsaking or denying their Lord when he stood alone in the midst of cruel

enemies, adhered to him only the more closely, following him through all those hours of insult and agony, though every pang endured by the august Sufferer must have fallen on their hearts with a weight of intolerable anguish.

When, at the close of his mock trial, the Lamb of God was led forth to Calvary, these women were still there, following his feeble, fainting steps, and shedding bitter tears over what they regarded as the failure of their hopes and expectations.

Seeing their deep grief, Jesus turned to them and said tenderly, "Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me; but weep for yourselves, and for your children. For behold, the days are coming in which they shall say, 'Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the paps that never gave suck.' Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us, and to the hills, Cover us. For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?"

Mary Magdalene with her associates watched the Saviour as he hung upon the cross; caught his last expiring accents, "It is fin