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Leaving him under this blessed impression, it was afterwards I asked him, "What do you think of the words we read-of what God Himself has said to us ?"

"Ah, Don Manuel!" he replied, "if I had known how to read I could have learned all these things, and I should not have been a criminal. Oh, it is very beautiful-I can never forget it. Ah, if I could but read I should not be so unhappy!"

"Well, will you learn to read? would you wish to begin ?" was my inquiry.

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'Yes, yes," he exclaimed, with the greatest joy, and all the energy which characterised him; "oh yes, you are indeed a father to me! Oh do this, and God will reward you for it." I gave him the money to buy an A B C book, and the same day the book was in his pocket. We began at once, and from that time he seized on every opportunity to improve himself by asking assistance from those amongst the prisoners who knew how to read. It was in this manner that he employed a great part of the day. His progress was rapid, and at the end of six weeks he read tolerably well. He continued to listen to the Word of God, which I read every morning, and was present at several little fraternal and religious reunions which took place in the prison during the time of my imprisonment, evincing an inexpressible delight on these occasions. His peace of mind became from day to day more profound. He disquieted himself no more by seeking for means to regain his liberty, for he had arrived at a state of complete submission to the will of God. Our intercourse became more and more Christian and brotherly. I felt happy in the society of this man. His love extended itself to all the other prisoners, and he spoke to me of them with a profound interest; he knew their wants, and his greatest pleasure was to minister to their relief. Often have I seen him reading some portion of the New Testament to his companions. He used also to distribute some little tracts of mine; and I have no doubt that his conduct, at once prudent and firm, was productive of much good. As for me, I was strictly prevented from speaking to the rest of the prisoners; but he felt it a privilege to act as intermediary between me and them, by conveying some consolation or some religious book, which he gave with the

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words, "Only look what Don Manuel sends you in the name of the Lord!"

So he went on making each day some progress in the way to eternal life, while the sense of the increasing peace which he enjoyed became impressed upon his countenance. One day I received a visit from Mr. W. Greene, an English Christian, who came into my prison to offer me the comfort of his fraternal affection. During the day he spent with me he had an opportunity of observing the behaviour of my servant, of whose life and circumstances he was informed by me. Deeply interested in the recital, Mr. Greene asked him, "How can you bear the thought of passing thirty-five years in the galleys ?" "Ah, sir," replied my poor friend, "what are some thirty years in the galleys to one who had been condemned to an eternity of punishment? Before I knew Don Manuel I thought of nothing but of making my escape, even if I should have shed blood in the attempt! I lived but in despair-but all that is changed; I know now that Jesus Christ came to save sinners-that by His deservings my sins are forgiven methat my past life can no more be a cause of condemnation for me, for Jesus is my Advocate. This is why I go to the galleys tranquil and happy, for I feel assured of the salvation that Jesus has gained for me, and I rejoice at the prospect of His calling me to leave this life!"

The time at length arrived for my friend to leave the prison and go to the galleys. He wept abundantly on leaving me, yet he was able to say, "My sorrow is exceedingly great at being separated from you! but let us comfort ourselves with the thought that He (Jesus) does not leave us, and that the love of God for us is immovable:-in His presence we shall meet again; shall we

not?"

"Yes," I answered, "let us be faithful unto death, and we shall receive the crown of life !".

There was the friend whom the Lord had given me in my captivity-one of the consolations which He vouchsafed me in my imprisonment; the remembrance of this man, who was but a vile criminal when he came into my cell, is now dear and precious to me! Oh, how touching it is, this manifestation of God's love to

THE CHILDREN'S CORNER.

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sinners!-of any soul where a sorrow for sin exists, He can make a temple for His holy Spirit; and the guilty, even the most degraded, can thus be transformed into the image of our Saviour.

"Come to Me," says this Saviour to each of us, "all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will comfort you and give you rest!"

Oh yes! let us come to Him, such as we are, with the sincere desire and prayer to arrive at the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ!

THE CHILDREN'S CORNER.

BY JULIA S. HEISCH.

Y little friend Maggie was such a rosy laughing little creature. She was the youngest of nine, and was the darling of the whole family. Her home was but a small dingy-looking house, her father was often out of health; yet it was such a pleasure and privilege to go there, for Maggie's mother was such an earnest Christian that I used to keep a visit to that house in my "district " until the last. Lessons are not only for you little people! I learnt many a lesson of patience and thankfulness beneath that lowly roof.

When Maggie grew out of her babyhood she would come bound. ing out to open the garden gate for me, and then would run back into the house and get out all her treasures to show me, delighting me all the while with her endearing ways and pretty prattle. Very early did she learn to trust her mother's Saviour. One day when her father was ill and the Doctor was summoned, Maggie said, in reproachful tones: "Oh, mother, you told me the Lord Jesus would make father well, so why have you sent for the doctor? You don't want two." She was a very sensitive, tender-hearted child. She would shudder at the sound of an angry or wicked word, and was often quite unhappy about "the poor little children in the streets, who had no shoes or stockings, and never went to school." When Maggie was five years old, her parents removed to a distance, and for about two years I scarcely saw anything of them.

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THE MOTHERS' PORTION.

Then they came back, and took a small house quite near to their old home. Very soon after their return, I heard that little Maggie was dangerously ill, and that the doctor had no hope of her recovery. I went to see her, but I should hardly have known her. The once merry face was pale and drawn with pain, and the poor child tossed restlessly from side to side, moaning continually, "My head, my head!" The doctor said there was disease of the brain, and that even if she rallied, her mind would be affected. So we could not wish it. We could only ask the Good Shepherd to take His little weary lamb to the fold above. Sometimes, when there was a lull in the pain, Maggie would clasp her hands together and pray for each member of the family by name; or she would turn to her mother and say: "don't cry, mother; Jesus will take care of me. I'm going home to be with Him."

Her poor mother was heart-broken, but her simple faith never failed. As we stood together at that bedside, she said to me through her tears: "I've often asked the Lord Jesus to provide for my little Maggie, and I think He's going to do it now, though not in the way that I meant."

A few days more, and Maggie went to be with that blessed Saviour whom she had learnt to love almost as soon as she could lisp His name.

Dear little friend, do you know and love this Lord Jesus? Will you not come to Him now, at once, and ask Him to teach you to love and trust Him as Maggie did? He says, and says to you, "I love them that love me, and those that seek me early shall find me." Ask Him to make you His own child now, and to keep you as His "faithful soldier and servant unto your life's end."

THE MOTHERS' PORTION.

"PLEASE, MOTHER, LET ME HELP YOU.” EAR little maiden! She looks so glad and proud at being allowed to carry some of mother's burden. They have been to some beautiful wood, and while the sunlight has been dancing in and out among the trees, making the cool shadows all the deeper, they have been working