pardoned and cured; and you can remember that text which says, 'In whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins.'1 Christ came to the earth and was crucified for us, that our sins might be pardoned; and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin. Would you like me," he added, "to write a letter to your husband? I dare say he can read."

"Oh yes, sir, he reads beautifully; and sometimes I have thought that was all the worse for him; for when he does seem willing to stay at home now and then of an evening some of the men come and fetch him away to the tap-room to read the newspaper to them. But it's very kind of you to offer to write to him. I dare say he would like to have a letter. He must find it very dull lying there in bed all day."

The fellow-passenger at once took a letter-case and a pencil from his travelling-bag, and commenced writing in a bold, clear hand. It was a very kind and earnest letter which he wrote, and after sympathising with the poor fellow on the trying position in which he now was, he entreated him to think of the danger in which the soul of every man was placed if he had not been brought to confess his sins and obtain forgiveness for them. He did not name the sin of drunkenness, but spoke of the evil which dwells in every human heart, reminding him that we must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ to give an account of the deeds done in the body, whether they be good or whether they be bad. 2 He told him to remember how Jesus Christ came to seek and to save them that were lost, and how the invitations in the gospel were free to all, and to be had without money and without price. He urged him not to delay, under the idea that he would wait till he became a better man,, but to cast himself upon the Saviour just as he was. He advised him, too, to read the New Testament, and especially directed him to the third chapter of St. John's Gospel. He entreated him to ask God's help, and quoted 1 Col. i. 14. 2 2 Cor. v. 10.

those words of the apostle: "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it."

When the letter was finished' the young man took a once-used envelope from his letter-case, and, turning it inside out, directed it to Mr. George Benson, as he had ascertained that this was the name of the woman's husband.

The train rushed onwards, and soon reached its destination, and its occupants parted on their various ways: Mrs. Benson, feeling much comforted by the kindness of her fellow-passenger, pursued hers to the hospital.

Short Readings for the Year.

NO. V.

"I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned." -Luke xv. 18.

IN is the great standing evil of human life. It is innate in us, and shows itself in our thoughts, words, and actions; in our neglect of God's

commandments, coldness, indifference, and departure from God; and whilst under the dominion of sin we are in bondage. But when the Holy Spirit comes into the heart He convinces us of sin. In the subject of our text we have a picture of sin, its course and consequences, and the awakening from its deadly sleep. A son, weary of home restraint, leaves his home for a far country. He gets into bad company, and spends all the money he had with him ; then, in the desolation of want and privation, the thoughts of his home, and all its comforts, come before him. "He comes to himself," and with feelings of deep humility he returns to his father; and the acknowledgment of his guilt brought a hearty, loving welcome from the father he had

wronged. So, when the sinner comes to himself,” and sees sin in its true light, then with hearty repentance will he go to his Heavenly Father, saying, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before Thee." And notice, there was no delay in the return of the prodigal. "He arose," to leave the empty cisterns and dry husks; and so will the sinner, when he sees the emptiness of all created streams, return to his Heavenly Father, who waits to receive him, and clothe him with the robe of Christ's righteousness, and "with the garment of praise, for the spirit of heaviness.” We must remember that time admits of no delay; for whilst we delay Satan is making good use of his time, whispering suggestions for delay, or doubts and fears. But the call is imperative: "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon." We have a loving Father to deal with, long-suffering and merciful. He waits to receive us, and as we confess our sins He will pardon, and our sins and iniquities remember no more." May the prodigal's prayer be ours! for the Christian must live and die in the dust of self-abasement, and trusting only in the finished work of Jesus.

66

Father! I come to Thee,

And for Thy mercy plead―

I've sinned against Thee grievously,
In thought and word and deed.

Oh! for the sake alone

Of Christ, whose love so free
Redemption's work has fully done,
Have mercy, Lord, on me.

Unworthy, Lord, I own

Myself Thy child to be,

Yet grant me succour from Thy throne,

To live alone for Thee.

A. L.

Tomasa and Dorotea.

A STORY OF TWO SPANISH CONVERTS.

REJOICE at Thy Word as one that findeth great spoil." This was the happy experience of one who, nurtured in a religion which forbids its votaries to quench their thirst at the Fountain of Truth, found a stream of that living water, of which whosoever drinketh shall never thirst again.

Tomasa, a native of a town in a northern province of Spain, entered into domestic service in a gentleman's family at Bin France.

Upright and conscientious, as the mountaineers of her native province usually are, she served her master and mistress faithfully, acting up to the dim light of the religious system in which she had been trained.

Her mass-book contained portions of the Word of God, and she felt a power in them which was not in the other parts of the book; not knowing, however, from whence they were taken. One extract specially struck her; and she went to a second-hand bookstall to ask the owner if he had the book from which the passage (from St. Matthew's Gospel) was quoted. A Bible was put into her hand, and great was her joy when she discovered what a treasure she had acquired.

Night after night she read it in secret, much helped by the references and notes made, in red ink, by a former possessor. One of these references was from Proverbs viii. to John i. I. She had been taught that "Wisdom" represented the Virgin Mary; but now her eyes were opened to see the Light which shineth in darkness, and lighteth every man that cometh into the world. As she read, the glory of the Gospel shone brighter and brighter on her soul.

Soon after gaining possession of this copy of the Bible, Tomasa had been joined by a young servant, a native of the same town as herself. They naturally had much in

1 Psalm cxix. 162.

common, and talked together of their Spanish homes, their churches, of the pictures in the latter, and so forth. Dorotea, the new servant, spoke with admiration of a picture, which represented Solomon's judgment regarding the two mothers and the two infants, and expressed her great wish to know the end of the story.

Tomasa then promised to read to her from a book which told all about it, and thus she shared her secret treasure with Dorotea.

Together they read, and the light shone into their hearts more and more. Soon they began to feel that they could no longer pray to the Virgin or go to confession; yet how could they avoid these things without incurring the reproof of their mistress or the anger of the priest? But they had found the Light of Life, how could they walk in darkness ?

The strong, brave spirit of the younger helped and encouraged the more timid Tomasa, and they agreed to witness for the truth, cost what it might.

The motive for their absence from confession was soon suspected, and the sorrow and indignation of the mistress knew no bounds. She sent for the priest and for their relatives; but nothing could daunt these confessors of the faith. Dorotea's sister took her to a priest in a neighbouring convent; but her ready answers defeated the priest's arguments, and he was glad to escape from them.

On another occasion this sister, under pretext of taking Dorotea to see a relative said to be embarking for a foreign land, attempted to entrap her into a convent; but Dorotea knew she was not leading her the right way to the harbour. and cleverly defeated her designs.

At length the mistress, whose husband was a relative of the then Archbishop of Seville, finding threats and persuasion useless, dismissed the two servants from her house; and they took refuge with Tomasa's aunt, who was not altogether unacquainted with the Bible. Here, however, the pressure brought to bear upon them by authorities, clerical and lay, endangered their safety and freedom, Dorotea not being yet