ing if he had ever received any tracts for the children, he said no; but expressed his thanks when I promised to give him some, to distribute to them; and eagerly enquired when they might arrive. I understand there are many schools here, circumstanced as this is; and I was surprised at finding that no tracts have been scattered in the neighbourhood."

He then desires to be employed in supplying that part of the country with religious publications: and declares his willingness to purchase them at his own expense, if the Society are not in the habit of providing them gratuitously for such purposes.

My dear little boy, when your Papa was a very young man, serving with the army in Portugal, I have been told that during a sad famine in Lisbon, he used to go out with his own scanty allowance of bread and meat in his pocket, and distribute the greater part of it to the poor perishing creatures who seemed most terribly in need of a morsel of food. This showed the benevolence of his natural character, and followers from the blessed privilege, enjoyed by Protestants, of freely perusing the word of life.

what pleasure he could take in relieving the necessities of others; had he never known the sensation of hunger himself, he could not have felt for those starving people so strongly as to make him undergo a great privation, in order to relieve them in a small degree; and I must think that, if he had not deeply experienced the value and blessedness of religious instruction in his own soul, he would hardly have been so eager to impart it to others, at the sure price of being called by such names of contempt, as an ungodly world is ready to bestow on who regard the eternal welfare of their fellow

creatures.

on those

These children were very poor, half naked, and badly fed: it was, also, in the depth of winter. To supply them with outward comforts

would have appeared, to a worldly mind, far more charitable than to furnish them with books: and the sum which your Papa offered to lay out for them, would have done much towards relieving their bodily wants. His conduct, in so doing, would have been applauded, and his example followed: he had often before done this, and the blessings of them that were ready to

perish have been upon him many and many a time; but I never before knew him to appear conscious what a grievous thing is that famine, spoken of in the book of the prophet Amos,— "Not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord." Amos

viii. 11.

Our Lord Jesus Christ calls himself a Vine, and His people the branches; and says to them, "Herein is my father glorified, that ye bear much fruit." I humbly hope that the fruit of which I have been speaking, the earnest effort to do good to the souls of the poor, was an evidence that your Papa became a branch of that true Vine, and that God was working in him, both to will and to do of His good pleasure. Strong in health, and reckoning on length of days, he did not hasten to make known what was passing within: and we can only judge by what we saw. When I tell you that I believe his soul is with the Lord Jesus in Paradise, it is because I firmly believe that the gospel was unto him the savor of life unto life; and that He who knew the number of his days, most mercifully ordered events, to bring him within

the hearing of that word which maketh wise unto salvation; calling him, and giving him grace to obey the call. Jesus Christ saith, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and sup with him, and he with me," Rev. iii. 20. Suddenly, most suddenly, the Lord came to him: his death was the transaction of a moment. He missed a stroke with his oar, in rowing, and fell: help was so near, that the water could not have had time to suffocate him; but, by spasm or some unseen means, the Lord wrought His decree; and ere the body could be snatched from the water, the soul had returned to Him who made it.

I showed you yesterday, in the church-yard, the graves of many children, not older than yourself, who have been summoned into eternity and will you not lay to heart the awful lesson which the Lord has given us, in thus taking away your dear Papa? Be assured, my child, that, although very young, you are a sinner in the sight of God. You have done, and said, and thought, many things which you know to be contrary to His holy law; and many

things you leave undone, which it is your duty to do. Where will you hide yourself, if God suddenly calls you to His presence, and commands you to give an account of these things? There is but one hiding-place, and that is Jesus Christ, to whom you must flee, and beseech Him to blot out your sins with his precious blood; and to give you a new heart, that shall love God, and obey and serve Him for the time to come. He will receive you now; but, if you delay, He may turn His face from you; and, if you harden your heart, He may swear in his wrath, that you shall not enter into His

rest.

Your Papa now knows how important these things are; for he has entered upon that state which is unchangeable. Oh! how fervently would he cry out to you, if now he could make you hear his voice, and tell you that the world, and all which it contains, are nothing, less than nothing, and vanity! How would he exhort you to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and to press towards the mark for the prize of our high calling in Christ Jesus! But will hear that beloved voice no more; you