SAMUEL HARRIS'S LAWSUIT, AND HOW THE LORD SETTLED IT FOR HIM.

"When Samuel Harris, of Virginia, began to preach, his soul was so absorbed in the work, that he neglected to attend to the duties of this life. Finding, upon a time, that it was absolutely necessary that he should provide more grain for his family than he had raised upon his own farm, he called upon a man who owed him a debt, and told him he would be glad to receive the money.

"The man replied: 'I have no money by me, and cannot oblige you.'

"Harris said; 'I want the money to purchase wheat for my family; and as you have raised a good crop of wheat, I will take that of you instead of money, at a current price.'

"The man answered: 'I have other uses for my wheat, and cannot let you have it.'

"'How then,' said Harris, 'do you intend to pay me?'

"'I never intend to pay you until you sue me,' replied the debtor, 'and therefore you may begin your suit as soon as you please.'

"Mr. Harris left him, meditating. Said he to himself, 'What shall I do? Must I leave preaching, and attend to a vexatious lawsuit? Perhaps a thousand souls may perish in the meantime, for want of hearing of Jesus! No; I will not. Well, what will you do for yourself? Why, this will I do; I will sue him at the Court of Heaven.' Having resolved what he would do, he turned aside into a wood, and on his knees laid the matter before the Lord. Mr. Harris felt such an evidence of Divine favor,—he felt, to use his own expressive language, that Jesus would become bondsman for the man, and see that he was paid if he went on preaching. Mr. Harris arose from prayer, resolved to hold the man no longer a debtor, since Jesus had assumed the payment. He therefore wrote a receipt in full of all accounts against the man, and dating it in the woods, where he had prayed, signed it with his own name. Going the next day by the man's house, on his way to meeting, he gave the receipt to a servant, directing him to give it to his master. On his return from meeting, the man hailed him, and demanded what he meant by the receipt he had sent him in the morning.

"Mr. Harris replied: 'I mean just as I wrote.'

"'But you know, sir,' answered the debtor, 'I have never paid you.'

"'True,' said Mr. Harris, 'and I know you said that you never would unless I sued you. But, sir, I sued you at the Court of Heaven, and Jesus entered bail for you, and has agreed to pay me; I have therefore given you a discharge!'

"'But I insist upon it,' said the man; 'matters shall not be left so.'

"'I am well satisfied,' answered Harris. 'Jesus will not fail me. I leave you to settle the account with him at another day. Farewell.'

"This operated so effectually on the man's conscience, that in a few days he came and paid the debt."

A WAGON-LOAD OF FOOD.

"A young minister and his wife were sent on to their first charge in Vermont about the year 1846. On the circuit were few members, and most of these were in poor circumstances. After a few months the minister and his wife found themselves getting short of provisions. Finally their last food had been cooked, and where to look for a new supply was a question which demanded immediate attention.

"The morning meal was eaten, not without anxious feelings; but this young servant of the Most High had laid his all upon the altar, and his wife also possessed much of the spirit of self-sacrifice; and they could not think the Saviour who had said to those he had called and sent out to preach in his name: 'Lo! I am with you always,' would desert them among strangers. After uniting in family prayer he sought a sanctuary in an old barn, and there committed their case to God;—his wife met her Savior in her closet and poured out her heart before him there.

"That morning a young married farmer, a mile or two away, was going with a number of hands to his mowing-field. But as he afterward told the minister, he was obliged to stop short. He told his hired help to go on, but he must go back—he must go and carry provisions to the minister's house. He returned to the house, and telling his wife how he felt, asked her help in putting up the things he must carry. He harnessed his horse into his wagon; put up a bushel of potatoes, meat, flour, sugar, butter, etc. He was not a professor of religion. The minister's wife told me there was a good wagon-load. He drove it to the house, and found that his gifts were most thankfully received. This account was received from the minister himself,—David P.—, who died in Chelsea, Mass., in Dec. 1875, and subsequently from his wife,—and communicated to a correspondent of 'The Christian.'"

"GOD'S RAVEN."

"A lady who lived on the north side of London, set out one day to see a poor sick friend, living in Drury Lane, and took with her a basket provided with tea, butter, and food. The day was fine and clear when she started; but as she drew near Islington a thick fog came on, and somewhat frightened her, as she was deaf, and feared it might be dangerous in the streets if she could not see. Thicker and darker the fog became; they lighted the lamps, and the omnibus went at a walking pace. She might have got into another omnibus and returned; but a strong feeling which she could not explain made her go on. When they reached the Strand they could see nothing. At last the omnibus stopped, and the conductor guided her to the foot-path. As she was groping her way along, the fog cleared up, just at the entrance to Drury Lane, and even the blue sky was seen. She now easily found the narrow court, rang the number 5 bell, and climbed to the fifth story. She knocked at the door, and a little girl opened it.

"'How is grandmother?'

"'Come in, Mrs. A——,' answered the grandmother. 'How did you get here? We have been in thick darkness all day.'

"The room was exceedingly neat, and the kettle stood boiling on a small clear fire. Everything was in perfect order; on the table stood a little tea-tray ready for use. The sick woman was in bed, and her daughter sat working in a corner of the room.

"'I see you are ready for tea,' said the lady; 'I have brought something more to place upon the table.'

"With clasped hands the woman breathed a few words of thanksgiving first, and then said, 'O, Mrs. A——, you are indeed God's raven, sent by him to bring us food to-day, for we have not tasted any yet. I felt sure he would care for us.'

"'But you have the kettle ready for tea?'

"'Yes, ma'am,' said the daughter; 'mother would have me set it on the fire; and when I said, 'What is the use of doing so? you know we have nothing in the house,' she still would have it, and said, 'My child, God will provide. Thirty years he has already provided for me, through all my pain and helplessness, and he will not leave me to starve at last: he will send us help, though we do not yet see how.' In this expectation mother has been waiting all day, quite sure that some one would come and supply our need. But we did not think of the possibility of your coming from such a distance on such a day. Indeed, it must be God who sent you to us.'

"'The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.'"

HOW THE STOLEN SLEIGH WAS RETURNED BY A THIEF.

The widow of a minister of the Gospel sends to "The Christian" the following instance illustrating God's faithfulness in hearing and answering prayer:

"About the year 1829, my husband, who died January 2d, 1854, lent his sleigh and harness to a man calling himself John Cotton, to go some twenty miles and be gone three days. Cotton was quite a stranger among us, having been in our place but six weeks. During that time he had boarded with my husband's brother, working for him a part of the time, and the rest of the time selling wooden clocks, of which he had bought a number. Three days passed, but he did not return. The fourth went by, and we began to think he had absconded. On inquiry, Mr. P. found that the clocks had been purchased on credit, and all sold for watches or money; that Cotton owed sixty dollars toward his horse, and had borrowed of the brother with whom he boarded, horse-blanket, whip, and mittens. Now it seemed sure that he was a rogue, but what could be done? Pursuit was useless after such a lapse of time.

"My husband felt his loss severely, for we had little property then, and what we had was the product of hard labor. But he was a Christian, and, I believe, always made his business a subject of prayer.

"About three weeks passed away. One evening, having been out longer than usual, he came in, and, with his characteristic calmness, said: 'I shall not worry any more about my sleigh and harness, I think I shall get them again.' 'Why do you think so?' His answer was: 'I have been praying to God to arrest Cotton's conscience, so that he will be obliged to leave them where I can get them, and I believe he will do it.'

"From this time, which was Wednesday evening, he seemed at rest on the subject. The next Tuesday morning, as he stepped into the post-office, a letter was handed him from Littleton, N.H. It was written by the keeper of a public house, and read thus:

"'Mr. P.—Sir, Mr. John Cotton has left your sleigh and harness here, and you can have them by calling for them.

Yours, etc., J—N N——N.'

"He returned home with the letter, and started for L——; went there the same day, some forty miles; found sleigh and harness safe, with no encumbrance. The landlord informed him that, a few nights before, at twelve o'clock, a man calling himself John Cotton came to his house, calling for horse-baiting and supper; would not stay till morning, but wished to leave the sleigh and harness for Mr. S.—- P.—- of Marshfield, Vt. He said he could not write himself; and requested the landlord to write for him, saying he took them on a poor debt for Mr. P., in one of the towns below! He started off at two o'clock at night, on horseback, with an old pair of saddle-bags and a horse blanket, on a saddle with one stirrup and no crupper, on one of the coldest nights of that or any other year. He took the road leading through the Notch in the mountains, left nothing for either of those he owed, and we have never since heard from him."

"NONE OF THE LORD'S CHILDREN LEFT DESOLATE."

"The Christian Era tells of a Dutch preacher who held a meeting one evening in a strange city. While he was preaching, and enforcing upon the hearts of his hearers the doctrine of the Cross, a police officer came into the room and forbade him to go on. He even commanded him to leave the city. As he was a stranger in the place, and the night was dark, he wandered around the city gates. He was not, however, without consolation; for he remembered Him who had said, 'Lo, I am with you always. I will fear no evil, for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.'

"He had long been in the school of Christ, and had learned to watch for the slightest intimations of His will. While he was thus wandering around, suddenly he saw a light in the distance. 'See,' he said to himself, 'perhaps the Lord has provided me a shelter there,' and, in the simplicity of faith, he directed his steps thither. On arriving, he heard a voice in the house; and, as he drew nearer, he discovered that a man was praying. Joyful, he hoped, that he had found here the home of a brother. He stood still for a moment, and heard these words, poured forth from an earnest heart: 'Lord Jesus, one of thy persecuted servants may, perhaps, be wandering, at this moment, in a strange place of which he knows nothing. O, may he find my home, that he may receive here food and lodging.'

"The preacher, having heard these words, glided into the house, as soon as the speaker said, 'Amen.' Both fell on their knees, and together thanked the Lord, who is a hearer of prayer, and who never leaves nor forsakes His servants."

THE NEW COAT THAT FITTED EXACTLY.

"A few years since, a young preacher in the State of Massachusetts, who was laboring in a field which yielded no great pecuniary returns, had laid aside the sum of fifteen dollars from his scanty income, with which to purchase himself a coat, of which he stood in need. Before he had time to obtain it, there was presented to him a certain charitable object which seemed to demand a portion of his little store. After some consideration as to whether it was his duty to give as much as the ten dollars, which first presented itself to his mind as the proper sum to bestow, he concluded to follow his convictions, and thus assist one who was more needy than himself, and trust in the Lord to provide the coat.

"Within two or three days afterwards, he was visiting at the house of his mother, in another town, and she, as mothers will, noticed that his coat had arrived at that condition which usually affords the preacher of the Gospel evidence that he is shortly to have a new one, and she made some remarks about its worn appearance, saying, 'It seems to me you need a new coat.' 'I know it,' he replied, 'and I shall get me one as soon as I get the means.' She said, 'There is a coat up stairs which your brother had made for him not over two weeks ago, which he never has worn but once, because it was made too small, and he said that you might have it, if you wanted it.'

"The coat was accordingly brought down and tried on, and it fitted exactly. The young man gladly accepted the coat, wondering a little at the wisdom of the Lord in clothing him at the expense of his brother, who was not particularly interested in the Lord's work, and who was so much larger than he was, that nothing short of the wisdom of Providence could have made a coat that was measured for one of them ever to fit the other."

This was the return that God made to him for his sacrifice to the Lord. Never withhold from the Lord.

PRAYING TO STOP THE WIND AND THE SAILING OF A VESSEL.

The late aged and venerable Rev. Dr. Cleaveland, of Boston, relates the following incident:

"In a revival of religion in the church of which he was pastor, he was visited one morning by a member of his church, a widow, whose only son was a sailor. With a voice trembling with emotion, she said, 'Doctor Cleaveland, I have called to entreat you to join me in praying that the wind may change.' He looked at her in silent amazement. 'Yes,' she exclaimed, earnestly, 'my son has gone on board his vessel; they sail to-night, unless the wind changes.' 'Well, madam,' replied the doctor, 'I will pray that your son may be converted on this voyage; but to pray that God would alter the laws of His universe on his account, I fear is presumptuous.' 'Doctor,' she replied, 'my heart tells me differently. God's Spirit is here. Souls are being converted here. You have a meeting this evening, and, if the wind would change, John would stay and go to it; and, I believe, if he went he would be converted. Now, if you cannot join me, I must pray alone, for he must stay.' 'I will pray for his conversion,' said the doctor.

"On his way to the meeting, he glanced at the weather-vane, and, to his surprise, the wind had changed, and it was blowing landward. On entering his crowded vestry, he soon observed John, sitting upon the front seat. The young man seemed to drink in every word, rose to be prayed for, and attended the inquiry meeting. When he sailed from port, the mother's prayers had been answered; he went a Christian. The pastor had learned a lesson he never forgot. The Lord had said, 'O, woman, great is thy faith; be it unto thee, even as thou wilt.' God answered that prayer because the mother was seeking to advance His own kingdom. God always hears a prayer that will in any way bring a soul to the Lord."

INSANITY CURED AND SUICIDE PREVENTED.

"Augusta Moore, writes The Christian, of a young lady called home by the illness of her widowed mother, who died before she could reach her. This alone was a terrible shock to the delicate daughter, who, having been reared in luxury, was ill-fitted for firm endurance of calamity. But, when it became known that a relative, in whom she had placed confidence, had managed, in ways that need not be explained, to defraud her out of her inheritance, her mind gave way and she became insane.

"For years, her distressed husband strove in every way to restore her reason, but she seemed rather to become worse, and showed signs of intentions to commit suicide; and her family and friends lived in a wretched state of apprehension. In spite of the most faithful watchfulness, she twice succeeded in securing the means for self-destruction, but something prevented her from accomplishing her design. At last, it occurred to a friend to present this woman's case in the prayer-meeting, to the Lord, and earnest prayer was offered for her restoration.

"No immediate result appeared; but the friends persevered. During the Winter, a revival of religion occurred in the town where she dwelt, and, with much difficulty, the insane woman, who declared that she was utterly and finally forsaken by God, was prevailed upon to attend the meetings. They began immediately to have a good effect upon her. She could sleep better; she grew more cheerful, and, in a short time, her reason returned to her. A happier, or more grateful woman than she now is, no mortal eyes ever beheld, and she affords one more instance of the Lord's willingness to hear and answer fervent prayer."

ANSWERS TO PRAYER.

Dr. Newman Hall, minister of Surrey Chapel, London, gives the following instances of answers to prayer from his own experience:

"The writer's brother, when superintendent of a Sunday School, felt a strong impulse, one Saturday evening, to call on a member of his Bible-class, whom he had never visited before, and to inquire if he was in any need. He found him very ill. Though the mother and sister seemed in comfortable circumstances, he felt constrained to inquire if he could aid them in any way. They burst into tears, and said that the young man had been asking for food which they had no power to supply, and that, on Monday, some of their goods were to be taken in default of the payment of rates. When he knocked at the door they were on their knees in prayer for help to be sent them. By the aid of a few friends, the difficulty was at once met—but the timely succor was felt to be the divine response to prayer.

"With that brother, the writer was once climbing the Cima di Jazzi, one of the mountains in the chain of Monte Rosa. When nearly at the top, they entered a dense fog. Presently, the guides faced right about, and grounded their axes on the frozen snow-slope. The brother—seeing the slope still beyond, and not knowing it was merely the cornice, overhanging a precipice of several thousand feet—rushed onward. The writer will never forget their cry of agonized warning. His brother stood a moment on the very summit, and then, the snow yielding, began to fall through. One of the guides, at great risk, rushed after him and seized him by the coat. This tore away, leaving only three inches of cloth, by which he was dragged back. It seemed impossible to be nearer death, and yet escape. On his return home, an invalid member of his congregation told him that she had been much in prayer for his safety, and mentioned a special time when she particularly was earnest, as if imploring deliverance from some great peril. The times corresponded! Was not that prayer instrumental in preserving that life?"

BISHOP SIMPSON'S RECOVERY.

Bishop Bowman gives the following instance from his own experience:

"In the Fall of 1858, whilst visiting Indiana, I was at an annual conference where Bishop Janes presided. We received a telegram that Bishop Simpson was dying. Said Bishop Janes, 'Let us spend a few moment's in earnest prayer for the recovery of Bishop Simpson.' We kneeled to pray. William Taylor, the great California street preacher, was called to pray, and such a prayer I never heard since. The impression seized upon me irresistibly, Bishop Simpson will not die. I rose from my knees perfectly quiet. Said I, 'Bishop Simpson will not die.' 'Why do you think so?' Because I have had an irresistible impression made upon my mind during this prayer.' Another said, 'I have the same impression.' We passed it along from bench to bench, until we found that a very large proportion of the conference had the same impression. I made a minute of the time of day, and when I next saw Simpson, he was attending to his daily labor. I inquired of the Bishop, 'How did you recover from your sickness?' He replied, 'I cannot tell.' 'What did your physician say?' 'He said it was a miracle.' I then said to the Bishop, 'Give me the time and circumstances under which the change occurred.' He fixed upon the day, and the very hour, making allowance for the distance—a thousand miles away—that the preachers were engaged in prayer at this conference. The physician left his room and said to his wife, 'It is useless to do anything further; the Bishop must die.' In about an hour, he returned and started back, inquiring, 'What have you done?' 'Nothing,' was the reply. 'He is recovering rapidly,' said the physician; 'a change has occurred in the disease within the last hour beyond anything I have ever seen; the crisis is past, and the Bishop will recover.' And he did."

The doctor was puzzled; it was beyond all the course and probabilities of nature and the laws of science. What was it that made those ministers so sure—what was it that made the patient recover, at the exact hour that they prayed? There is only one answer, "The ever living Power of a Superior Spirit which rules the world."

THE SEVEN LETTERS.

The following incident is given by "The Presbyterian," on the authority of a private letter from Paris:

"At a Bible reunion, held at the house of an English Congregationalist minister, where several colporteurs, teachers and others meet for devotional reading and conversation, a brief anecdote was related by a clergyman living in La Force, who established there an institution for epileptics, where he has now three hundred, supported entirely on the principle of faith, like Muller's orphanage.

"At one time, he found himself in debt to the amount of five hundred pounds. After a sleepless, anxious night, he found, on his table, seven letters. Opening five, he found them to be all applications, some of them most painful in their details, for the admission of new inmates. His excited mind could not bear it. Without opening the other two letters he threw them to his wife. 'Put them into the fire,' he said, and turned to seek relief in the open air. 'John,' said a sweet voice, 'this won't do. Come back.' So he did, taking up the sixth letter, which proved to be from a stranger, enclosing a check for three hundred pounds. The other envelope gave him just what was needed, just that and no more. He thanked God, and took courage. Will he ever again hear the sweet, sad voice, 'Wherefore didst thou doubt?'"

THE LORD DID NOT FORGET THE POTATOES.

"A correspondent of Arthur's Magazine tells of a poor woman who had been washing for us, who said: 'Seems as if the Lord took very direct ways to reach people's feelings sometimes. Now, I was astonished once in my life. I lived away out West, on the prairie, I and my four children, and I couldn't get much work to do, and our little stock of provisions kept getting lower and lower. One night, we sat hovering over our fire, and I was gloomy enough. There was about a pint of corn-meal in the house, and that was all. I said, 'Well, children, may be the Lord will provide something.' 'I do hope it will be a good mess of potatoes,' said cheery little Nell; 'seems to me I never was so hungry for taters before.' After they were all asleep, I lay there tossing over my hard bed, and wondering what I would do next. All at once, the sweetest peace and rest came over me, and I sank into such a good sleep. Next morning, I was planning that I would make the tinfull of meal into mush, and fry it in a greasy frying-pan, in which our last meat had been fried. As I opened the door to go down to the brook to wash, I saw something new. There, on the bench, beside the door, stood two wooden pails and a sack. One pail was full of meat, the other full of potatoes, and the sack filled with flour. I brought my hands together in my joy, and just hurrahed for the children to come. Little dears! They didn't think of trousers and frocks then, but came out all of a flutter, like a flock of quails. Their joy was supreme. They knew the Lord had sent some, of his angels with the sack and pails. Oh, it was such a precious gift! I washed the empty pails, and put the empty sack in one of them, and, at night, I stood them on the bench where I had found them, and, the next morning, they were gone. I tried and tried to find out who had befriended us, but I never could. The Lord never seemed so far off after that time,' said the poor woman, looking down with tearful eyes."

THE PRAYER IN THE WOODS.

A friend relates the following incident, as received from the lips of a poor afflicted, crippled orphan boy, whose own experience is a practical illustration of the words: "When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up." Ps. xxvii 10.

"Out of many instances of answered prayer I will tell the following one: In August, 1874, I wished to go to Lowell, a distance of some thirty miles, or more. I had no money, and did not know how to get there. I asked the station-agent and the conductor, but each refused, saying it would not be consistent with their duty. Knowing of no human help, I left the depot and went into the woods, some ways from the station, where I could be alone, and tell that Friend who is able to provide, and who is rich unto all that call upon Him. I knelt down beside the stump of a tree and prayed, and told the Lord all about it, and asked Him either to give me money, or provide some way that I could go where I desired. I felt that the Lord heard and answered me, and filled my soul with praise and joy. The language of my heart was, 'Bless the Lord.'

"As I turned and was going out of the woods, I heard a voice saying, 'Halloo.' As I had seen no one, and knew not that any human being was near, I was surprised at this greeting. 'Halloo!' said the stranger,' I never heard such a prayer in my life. Why did you go and pray?' I told him that I felt heavy, burdened, and I took the burden to the Lord. He said, 'I heard you pray—you want money, do you? The Lord has opened the way; here is five dollars. It is the best way to go to the Lord, and trust Him to open the way. Go and use the money.' I thanked him, and I thanked the Lord, and went oh my way rejoicing in Him whose promise is,' My God shall supply all your needs,' and who himself had heard and answered my request."

THE LORD CAN DO IT.

"In one of the mountainous towns—says The Christian—in the north- western part of Connecticut, there lived, some time since, an aged couple who had seen some eighty years of earthly pilgrimage, and who, in their declining days, enjoyed the care of a son and daughter, who resided with them at their home.

"In process of time, the son became sick, and drew nigh the gates of death. The doctor pronounced him incurable, saying that one lung was consumed, and that he could live but a short time.

"The fear of her brother's death, and the thoughts of being left alone to bear the responsibility of the aged parents' care, burdened the sister's heart exceedingly, and led her to cry mightily to the Lord, to interpose for his recovery, and spare him still to them; and her importunate supplications ascended to God, until the answer came to her heart as a sacred whisper,—'I have heard thy cry, and have come down to deliver thee.'

"Comforted by this sweet assurance, she rejoiced exceedingly, knowing that what our Heavenly Father promises he is abundantly able to perform, and that He will fulfill his word, though heaven and earth shall pass away. But her faith was destined to be tried, and, on the very day after she had obtained the assurance of her brother's recovery, in came some one, saying, 'The doctor says S—— can live but a little time.' For an instant, these words were like a dagger to the sister's heart, but she still held fast her confidence, and replied: 'If men can't cure him, the Lord can.'

"From that very moment, the brother began to amend. On the next day, when the physician came, he looked at him, commenced examining his symptoms, and exclaimed in astonishment: 'What have you been doing? You are evidently better, and I don't know but you will get up, after all.'

"His recovery was so rapid, that in two weeks' time he was out about his customary duties on the farm; and that in weather so damp and foggy that it would have kept some stronger men in-doors. But he was well; the prayer of faith was answered, and it had saved the sick."

ANSWER TO PRAYER IN ALL THE LITTLE TEMPORAL ANXIETIES OF LIFE

The question having been asked, "Does God answer Prayer, in even all the little anxieties and cares of daily life." The Illustrated Christian Weekly, called in 1876, for testimonies of the surety of God in fulfilling his promise, and giving answer in little things as well as great things. Many, even good Christians have believed that they should not pray for anything for themselves, but only for those things which were to be used for God's work. The following instances show that those who are devoted to God's good work and helping in his service can ask for anything needed for their personal comfort, and expect the Lord to grant them. In truth the Lord has commanded all his disciples, "Ask and receive, that your joy may be full." "Anything that ye shall ask in my name, I will do it."

BREAD TO THE HUNGRY.

"God was pleased to deprive me totally of my hearing in early boyhood. By the late war I lost all of my earthly possessions. I have a wife and family totally dependent on me for a support. A man employed to attend to my little manufacturing business as manager, by imprudent management, deprived me of every earthly dependence for a support. I had no refuge but God. This feeling was intense beyond expression—God was my only hope. I laid my case before him. Then this came to me, 'Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.' 'Now,' I said, 'I am deeply conscious that I and my wife seek and desire the kingdom of God above all things; God then will give us temporal help.' Then a feeling came over me, a feeling of waiting upon God. It was sweet waiting. I was at rest. I had thought frequently if I could get two hundred dollars I could start my little business again. While thus trusting, and waiting, and praying, a package was handed to me by the express-agent containing $200 from a stranger in a distant county, against whom I held an old note dated 1856; and for many years I had forgotten the note, and would have taken twenty-five cents for it any time. The man was bankrupt, and did not fear the Lord, nor know anything of my situation in life. He was under no legal obligation to pay the note."

NO "IFS."

"A number of years ago I went West to better my condition.... After a little time I went into business of my own, had but little capital, and my good name to be punctual in paying for what I bought on credit was of great importance to me. I had promised to pay on a certain day a note of about $60. I thought I was sure to get the money, but was disappointed; I went to the Lord for help, not knowing how he could send me the money, but convinced that he was able to do it. At about noon the same day a man inquired for me. I knew him by sight; he had the name of being a hard man, took all the interest he could get, and never put any money out without security. He had not the note, but he asked me if I wanted to hire any money; if so he had sixty dollars he would like to let me have. The man took my note and never did ask for any security.

"At another time, being away from home some 2,000 miles, was at the house of an uncle; same evening I received a letter from my wife that the children were very sick and but little hope of recovery. The letter had been written for over a week. I communicated the contents of the letter to my aunt; went up in my room and prayed the Lord to be their physician. I felt so sure that my prayer would be answered that I could not help singing; when they heard me they thought what a cold-hearted man I must be to sing if the children were dying at home. But from, that day the children did get better, and in a short time were out of danger.

"In my younger years I had a good many ifs, but those are all gone; I know that the Lord has the means at his command to answer all my prayers if I come believing, asking in the name of Christ."

THE HORSE IS HIS.

"The writer was preaching Sundays at a little country church, about 70 miles by rail from the institution where he attended. He went Saturday, returning on Monday. One Saturday the train ran off the track. All day long they worked at the wreck. At last, finding it too late to make connection with the other railroad, he took the down train back to the institution. What should be done? A promise to preach forty miles across the country had been made. There was also an appointment six miles beyond for an afternoon service. It was now night. To drive across the country was the only way open, or stay at home. Two disappointed congregations the result in the latter case. But the roads were heavy from recent rains. 'Twill be so late that none can direct. Friends said, 'Stay; you can't go forty miles across, to you, an unknown country.' But the writer felt it duty to go. Hiring a horse noted for endurance, at nine o'clock at night—dark, threatening—he set out. As he headed the horse in the direction of the village—for he could find none who could tell him the exact road—he prayed: 'O God, starting out to preach thy word to-morrow, direct the way—guide this horse.' The night wore on; as cross-roads came, dropping the lines over the dashboard, the same prayer was offered. When the horse chose a road, the driver urged him on. As day began to break, emerging from some wood in an unfrequented road, they entered the village they sought. The sermon that morning was from the text, 'Son, go work to-day in my vineyard.' The largest congregation of the Summer had gathered. It will not do to say that the horse knew the road. Returning in broad daylight the next day, though directed and directed again, we lost the way and went seven miles out of our course. A scientist might laugh at this way of driving, or at asking God to guide in such trivial matters. But we shall still believe that God led the horse and blessed us in our attempt to serve him."

ALL OUR NEEDS.

"About eight years ago, while a Student in college, I became embarrassed for want of funds. Debts began to accumulate. Anticipating money from usual sources, promises had been made to pay at a certain date.

"The time to make these payments approached. The anticipated money did not come. A student in debt is most dependent and hopeless. In great distress, locking the study-door, I sat down to think. First came visions of an auction sale of a few books and scanty furniture; then of notes and protests; finally the promises of God came into mind. I knew he had promised to supply my wants. 'All things whatsoever ye have need of,' came home in great power. I am needy, I have given up business, all, to preach the gospel. I remember as 'twere yesterday the feelings, the struggles, of that hour. With all earnestness I asked for help in my hour of distress. At last I felt confident that the aid needed would come in time, Saturday; this was Monday. I thanked God for the answer— and being questioned by a needy creditor of that afternoon, assured him that his money would be ready.

"Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday passed—no sign, but faith said God will not fail. Friday morning—heart beat fast as I went to the post-office—it seemed as if through its agency the help would come. Nothing. But it must be here to-day. Returning from the office Friday evening, wondering how God would send deliverance, I saw on my table a long official envelope. A classmate preceding me at the office had brought it. A letter from a gentleman in Wall street whom I have never seen. On Monday, he casually asked of a tea-broker, an acquaintance, if he knew of any one in H——. The broker mentioned, after a little thought, my name.

"The letter contained a request for service of a peculiar sort, connected with some legal matters, contained money and promise of more. Over three times the sum I asked God for was finally given. More than enough for a term's expenses.

"I never mentioned the matter of my need at that time to a human being, nor spoke of the prayer. I have always thanked God for that, and am sure he provides for me in accordance with his promise."

HE HEALETH THE SICK.

"The wife of Deacon W. was sinking rapidly with pneumonia. Friends gave up all hope of her recovery, and even the hopeful physician felt that he was hoping against hope. In his despair the husband bore the case directly to God; he sought the prayers of his minister and of the church; and he asked all Christians to pray that the mother of his little children might be spared. She lingered between life and death for several days, when unexpectedly to many, she began to gain strength, and in due season was about again. This was several years ago, and she has been an active worker in the church and Sunday-school ever since."

A POWERFUL DREAM.

"My father, a minister of the gospel, was prostrated by sickness. A large family of little ones was dependent upon him for support. Funds ran low. One evening my mother remarked that she had broken the last dollar. My father lay awake most of the night, praying to his God for help in this emergency. That same night a man in a parish not many miles distant was much impressed by a dream. He dreamed that a minister who preached in his church not long before, was sick and in want. He knew neither his name nor his place of residence. He arose at the first dawn of day, and going to his own pastor inquired the name and address of the stranger who had recently preached for them. These obtained, he mounted his horse, and knocked at our door just as my mother drew up the window-shades. She answered the knock, when, without a word, a stranger placed an envelope in her hand and immediately rode away. The envelope contained a ten-dollar bill, which we all believed was the Lord's answer to our father's prayer. Afterwards these facts were disclosed by the pastor to him whom the Lord chose to disperse his bounty."

ASK AND YE SHALL RECEIVE.

"In 1874, through Providence, I became sore pressed to provide for myself and family; two of my children had just begun to learn to read. I was desirous to procure for them the 'N.—-,' (a children's journal,) but I could not see how I was to pay for it and meet other obligations. So I carried it to our Father in heaven, asking if it was best and according to his will my children should get the 'N.—-.' In about ten days afterward I received a note from a lady friend, with whom I or none of our family had had any communication for weeks, and in that note she advised us that her little daughter, the same age as our second, had sent as a Christmas gift a subscription for the 'N.—-,' to be sent to our Mary's address. 'If ye abide in me, and my words in you, ye shall ask what ye will and it shall be done unto you.'"

CASTING ALL YOUR CARE ON HIM.

"Once, soon after the death of my husband and the loss of all his large property, I had a bill of fifty dollars to pay, and was notified two weeks beforehand that not a day's grace would be given. Besides what I was earning by my pen, I had due me, in a neighboring city, just the amount I should need—the income on my only remaining piece of real estate; and, as my tenant was always prompt, I wrote to him where to send me the money, and gave the subject no farther thought. But, when the time for his response was already past, and I heard nothing from my debts, and but a few days to the time of my own need yet remained, I felt anxious and sought divine direction as to the course I ought to pursue. Rising from my knees, I took up my Bible, and the very first words my eyes rested upon, were these: 'Casting all your care upon Him, for he careth for you.' All anxiety from that hour left me; but I felt impelled to apply to a certain editor for the payment of twenty dollars he owed me, and I felt sure the other thirty would come from somewhere.

"So the days passed until the morning of the day upon which I should be called on for the fifty dollars, and still I had not a single dollar on hand to meet the claim. At ten o'clock my creditor came, but half an hour before him the postman had put into my hand a letter containing a check for fifty dollars, the exact amount I needed. It had come from the editor to whom I had applied for twenty dollars, and lo! he had sent me fifty. The thirty advanced he said I could give him credit for on my next MS. He did not know my need, but God did, and thus He had answered my prayer."

IN EVERYTHING MAKE KNOWN YOUR WANTS.

"Six years ago, on the low country of South Carolina, a friend asked me to go with him to a camp-meeting. I was delighted with the idea, for, in my estimation, a good camp-meeting comes nearer heaven than any other place on earth.

"Just three days before we were to go, an unexpected circumstance connected with his business, made it impossible for him to leave. It was with real heartfelt sorrow I heard of it. The day before we were to have started, as I saw another member of the family, who was going with a friend, packing her trunk, it seemed to me I could not bear it. I carried my trouble to my dear heavenly Father, begging him to send me a way to go.

"I rose from my knees with the sweet assurance in my heart my prayer was heard—packed my trunk and waited patiently. When night came and the men came home, in the place of the expected buggy came a small spring-wagon, and a seat for me. What may seem more remarkable, the change between buggy and spring-wagon was made ten miles away, while I was praying.

"I believe I enjoyed the meeting more for the feeling of thankfulness that pervaded my whole being while there."

THE GREAT PHYSICIAN.

"Nearly five years ago, after a decline of almost two years, I was brought very near to the grave. Medical aid availed nothing. I was fearfully emaciated, and my death was daily expected. A devoted mother and a sister, who had watched over me tenderly during my long illness, were completely exhausted.

"I determined to apply to the Great Physician, as directed in James 5:14. As I united with others in prayer, unconsciously I uttered these words, 'I shall yet praise Thee in the great congregation.' All present felt assured that it was the will of God to restore me to health. Appearances were against me; for some time I could sleep but very little, and there was no perceptible gain. But trusting in the sure promise, the next Sabbath I rode a short distance to church, and, as I thus ventured out little by little, my strength gradually returned. A few months later, my mother, who through disease had been in a state of despair for some years, was enabled again to hope in God's mercy."

SHALL SAVE THE SICK.

"I was desperately ill. My physicians had done all in their power, without success—and yet I lived! For my father's sake, the hearts of hundreds waited the issue, and prayed for me! For his sake, the bells in the neighborhood were tied—the criers did not come within sound of the house—nor was the sound of wheels heard upon the street. There was a death-like stillness without and within.

"The physicians sat with folded hands and wept, because the blow seemed too heavy for my father to bear—the thought that I was going to die without any assurance that I trusted in my Saviour!

"'It cannot be,' he said, 'I will wrestle with my God until He hears me!' Sunday came. In almost every church a special prayer was offered for my recovery. After morning service, a band of devoted women met, and offered fervent prayers that God would spare my life. Evening came—the weary doctors went home, leaving the last sacred moments to my parents. Early next morning they came again, and exclaimed, as they entered the room, 'She is better! Prayer has saved her!' I still live, 'a spared monument of God's mercy.'"

ALL-SUFFICIENT FOR ALL NEED.

"I am a mother of seven children. By the help of our Father in heaven, we have all of us gone regularly to church and Sunday-school. We are poor; and at length the time came we were not clothed so we could comfortably go to church. I earnestly asked our Father to show me, within a week, which was right for us to do: to go in debt for clothes, or stay at home. Within that week, I received a large package of ready-made clothing. The clothing came from a source I never thought of receiving anything from."

A VERY PRESENT HELP IN TROUBLE.

"At one time, during a season of adversity, there was urgent occasion for a certain sum beyond the income of the family, and there was no way of borrowing it. I took the matter to the Lord in prayer, asking Him, if the money were really needed, as it appeared to be, to send it, and, if it were not, to remove the distressing circumstances. The answer came in a sum five times the amount asked for, and in a manner totally unexpected."

* * * * *

"At another time, the mother of the family was very ill, and, when apparently near death, the physicians had ordered a remedy which was to be constantly employed, as her life, so far as they could judge, depended on its use. One night, her symptoms became so alarming as to compel the writer (who had charge of the nursing) to use this remedy more freely than ever, and, about midnight the supply was exhausted. There was no possibility of obtaining any more before morning, and the rest of that night, while attending to the other directions of the doctors, I spent in one earnest, agonizing prayer that God would so overrule natural causes that death would not occur in consequence of what I felt to be my own culpable carelessness in not having provided a larger quantity of an article so necessary. In His great mercy, He granted the prayer, the dangerous symptoms did not increase during the seven or eight hours that intervened before the remedy could be procured. One proof that it was a special mercy, is found in the fact that there was no other such standing still of the disease, either before this or afterward. And the doctors were astonished when they saw that the disease had made no progress, under conditions that rendered that progress inevitable in the usual law of cause and effect. And when, on her final recovery, Doctor Parker told her that she owed her life to the good care I had taken of her, my thoughts went back to the long hours of that night of anguish, and I said, 'It was the Lord that took care of her.' 'I meant your care, under Providence,' was the reply."

HE SHALL DIRECT THY PATHS

"I am a teacher by profession, and, a few years ago, I found myself placed in a school whose every surrounding was utterly repugnant to my tastes, and to all my ideas of right and wrong and what good teaching should be. At first, I kept hoping that things would grow better, and that I should, at least, be able to have some influence on the modes of teaching; but I soon found that everything connected with the establishment was directed by the iron will of an unscrupulous and tyrannical woman, whose laws were as irrevocable as those of the Medes and Persians. I at once decided I could not stay there long, but I had no other position in view, and it was not easy to secure one in the middle of the term. As usual, I made it a subject of prayer, and the result was that, in a short time, I was most unexpectedly, and without the least solicitation on my part, offered a much better position, in every respect, which, of course, I was only too thankful to accept. That is only one instance, out of thousands I could name, where God has heard and answered my prayers, and I believe He will do so to the end."

HOW THE LORD IS CONSTANTLY CARING FOR HIS TRUSTING POOR.

A city missionary recently found, in this city on the streets, a refined Englishwoman with her children, who had been turned out of her home for non-payment of rent. With the aid of a few friends he installed her in a new domicile, and procured work for her. From time to time he visited her, and rejoiced with her that God had sent him to her in the hour of extremity. At length, pressure of business kept him away for some time, until, one evening, he started out to look up a few dollars owing him, in order to procure some delicacies for a sick wife. One dollar was all he could procure, and with that in his pocket he was returning homeward, when he became so impressed with the idea that he should visit the Englishwoman that he turned aside and did so. He found her in tears, and asking the cause, heard the sorrowful tale of no work, no food in the house for to-morrow, which was Sunday. He was in doubt whether to give her the dollar and suffer his sick wife to go without something palatable, but in a moment, "Blessed is he that considereth the poor; the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble," presented itself to his mind, and—the dollar dried the widow's tears.

Upon reaching his home he found a lady had called on his wife and brought with her three or four kinds of jellies, fruit, home-made biscuit, various relishing things; three times more than the dollar would have purchased.

The same gentleman, while calling on a poor family one day, discovered a little house in the rear, which he visited, finding a neat, cleanly room, occupied by an old lady, crippled with rheumatism. He found she had no one in the world but a sister, a monthly nurse, to care for her. When first setting out on his tour that morning, the missionary had fifty cents given him by a gentleman, who expressed the hope that "it might do some good during the day." Although a number of visits had been made, he had not felt called upon to bestow it until then, nor could he tell why he should want to put it in the old lady's hand at parting, but he did so.

She was too much overcome by her emotions to speak, but she took his hand and led him to a little table, on which lay a Bible, opened at the passage, "Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, He will give it you." She said, "Please tell me if any one sent you here?" "No." "Did you ever hear that I lived here?" "I did not." "Then the Lord sent you in answer to my prayer this morning. For the first time in my life, I am without food. My sister was to have come home yesterday, but has not. I was just asking the Lord to provide for me when you knocked at the door."

Such scenes as these amply repay our missionaries for all the toils and weariness, all the anxieties and perplexities of the work.

A PRAYER FOR BREAD.

"Washington Allston, who stood at the head of American artists a half century ago, was, at one time, so reduced by poverty, that he locked his studio, in London, one day, threw himself on his knees and prayed for a loaf of bread for himself and wife. While thus engaged, a knock was heard at the door, which the artist hastened to open. A stranger inquired for Mr. Allston, and was anxious to know who was the fortunate purchaser of the painting of the 'Angel Uriel,' which had won the prize at the exhibition of the Royal Academy. He was told that it was not sold. 'Where is it to be found?' 'In this very room,' said Allston, producing a painting from a corner and wiping off the dust. 'It is for sale, but its value has not been adequately appreciated, and I would not part with it.' 'What is its price?' 'I have done affixing any nominal sum. I have always so far exceeded any offers, I leave it to you to name the price.' 'Will four hundred pounds be an adequate recompense?' 'It is more than I ever asked for it.' 'Then the painting is mine,' said the stranger, who introduced himself as the Marquis of Stafford, and, from that time, became one of Mr. Allston's warmest friends and patrons."

THE DAUGHTER'S PRAYER.

The late Doctor Krummacher, chaplain to the king of Prussia, in referring to faith and prayer, writes as follows:

"A little incident occurs to me which I can hardly withhold, on account of its simplicity and beauty. The mother of a little girl, only four years of age, had been, for some time, most dangerously ill. The physician had given her up. When the little girl heard this, she went into an adjoining room, knelt down, and said: 'Dear Lord Jesus, O make my mother well again.'

"After she had thus prayed, she said, as though in God's name, with as deep a voice as she could: 'Yes, my dear child, I will do it gladly!' This was the little girl's amen. She rose up, joyfully ran to her mother's bed, and said: 'Mother, you will get well!'

"And she recovered, and is in health to this day. Is it, then, always permitted for me to pray thus unconditionally respecting temporal concerns? No; thou must not venture to do so, if, whilst you ask, you doubt. But shouldst thou ever be inclined by God's Spirit to pray thus, without doubt or scruple, in a filial temper, and with simplicity of heart, resting on the true foundation, and in genuine faith, then pray thus by all means! None dare censure thee; God will accept thee."

THE LORD WILL PROVIDE.

"A city missionary, one Saturday night, was going home with a basket of provisions on his arm. Meeting a policeman, he asked him if there had any families moved in the bounds of his beat during the week. He answered, 'Yes,' and, pointing to a building up an alley, said, 'a woman and some children are living there now.'

"The missionary went to the house, rapped at the door, and was admitted. The woman was sitting by a small light, sewing. In the corner of the room, were two little girls, apparently from nine to twelve years of age, playing.

"The missionary said, 'Madam, I am here to see if you will allow your girls to attend Sunday-school to-morrow morning.' 'I would, sir; but what you see on them is all the clothing they have, and you would not wish them to go as they are now.' 'The Lord will provide, madam. Have you no money?' 'Not yet, but I have committed my case into the hands of the Lord.' 'Have you anything to eat?' 'Nothing, sir!' 'What will you do for breakfast?' 'O, sir, I once had a husband; he provided when he could. These children had a father; he supplied their wants; but he is dead now. Yet my Maker, even God, is my husband, and He has promised to be a father to the fatherless. We have committed all to Him, have called upon Him in this our day of trouble. I am trusting in God to take care of a poor widow and her children in a strange place, and I know He will provide.' 'Thank God for such faith,' said the missionary; and, handing her the basket, said 'here is your breakfast, and you shall have the clothing for your children.' With tears streaming down her face, she replied: 'Oh, thank God for his faithfulness! He heareth and answereth prayer. May He bless you!' And, said our dear brother to us, 'I felt the promise was sure, for she was blessed in receiving, I was more so in giving.'"

A PRAYER FOR A LOAD OF WOOD.

Here is an illustration of the way in which God sends relief in trouble. The story is told by the Christian woman to whom it happened, in her own language:

"About the month of January, 1863, I was living in Connecticut, alone with two little boys, one of them four years old, and the other about a year and a half old. My husband was away in the service of his country. When the coldest weather came, I was nearly out of wood. I went down into the village, one day, to try and get some, but tried in vain; so many men were away in the army that help was scarce. Very little wood was brought into market, and those living on the main street, got all that came, while those who lived outside the village could get none. I tried to buy a quarter of a cord from two or three merchants, but could not get any. One of them told me he could not get what he wanted for his own family. Another said he wasn't willing to yoke up his team for so small a quantity; but, as I only had a dollar and seventy-five cents, I could not buy any more, and so I was obliged to go home without any. I went back to my little ones, feeling very sad. But while I sat there, almost ready to cry, the words of Abraham came into my mind, 'Jehovah- Jireh, the Lord will provide.' Then I went up to my chamber. There I knelt down and told God of my trouble, and asked him to help me and send the relief that we needed. Then I went to the window and waited, looking down the street, expecting to see the wood coming. After waiting a while, without seeing any come, my faith began to fail. I said to myself, 'The Lord did provide for Abraham, but He won't provide for me.' Our last stick of wood was put in the stove. It was too cold to keep the children in the house without fire. I got the children's clothes out, and thought I would take them to the house of a kind neighbor, where I knew they could stay till we got some wood. But, just as I was going out with the children, in passing by the window, I saw the top of a great load of wood coming up the road towards our little house. Can that be for us? I asked myself. Presently I saw the wagon turn off the road and come up towards our door. Then I was puzzled to know how to pay for it. A dollar and seventy-five cents I knew would only go a little way towards paying for all that wood. The oxen came slowly on, dragging the load to our door. I asked the man if there wasn't same mistake about it. 'No, ma'am,' said he, 'there's no mistake.' 'I did not order it, and I cannot pay for it,' was my reply. 'Never mind, ma'am,' said he, 'a friend ordered it, and it is all paid for.' Then he unhitched the oxen from the wagon, and gave them some hay to eat. When this was done, he asked for a saw and ax, and never stopped till the whole load was cut and split and piled away in the woodshed.

"This was more than I could stand. My feelings overcame me, and I sat down and cried like a child. But these were not bitter tears of sorrow. They were tears of joy and gladness, of gratitude and thankfulness. I felt ashamed of myself for doubting God's word, and I prayed that I might never do so again. What pleasure I had in using that wood! Every stick of it, as I took it up, seemed to have a voice with which to say 'Jehovah-Jireh.' As Abraham stood on the top of Mount Moriah he could say, 'The Lord will provide.' But every day, as I went into our woodshed, I could point to that blessed pile of wood sent from heaven, and say, 'The Lord does provide.'"

A REFRACTORY MAN COMPELLED TO PAY A DEBT.

A refractory man who owed a small debt of about $43, refused to pay it all, but offered to do so if ten dollars was taken off. His creditor, feeling that it was just, declined to abate the amount.

For more than a year the creditor waited, after having no attention paid to his correspondence or, claim by the debtor, who exhibited unmistakable obstinacy and want of courtesy. At last it was put into the hands of a lawyer. The lawyer, too, was fairly provoked at the faithlessness of the debtor in his promises or his attention to the subject; thus matters dragged wearily for months, yet exercised leniency in pressing the claim.

The creditor, whose forbearance had now reached the extremity of endurance, at last was led to take it to the Lord in prayer; saying he would "willingly forgive the whole debt if in anything he was wrong, but if the Lord thought it was right, hoped that his debtor might be compelled to pay the amount he so obstinately withheld."

To the astonishment of all, a letter received from the lawyer four days after, informed him that his debtor had called and paid the claim in full with interest to date. "In doing so, he said he paid it under protest," thus showing he was compelled by something he could not resist to pay it all.

A HURRICANE PASSES AROUND A SHIP.

A Sea Captain relates to the editor of the Christian, a remarkable incident, whereby in one of his voyages his ship was unaccountably held still, and thereby saved from sailing directly into the midst of a terrible hurricane:—"We sailed from the Kennebec on the first of October, 1876. There had been several severe gales, and some of my friends thought it hardly safe to go, but after considerable prayer I concluded it was right to undertake the voyage. On the 19th of October we were about one hundred and fifty miles west of the Bahamas, and we encountered very disagreeable weather. For five or six days we seemed held by shifting currents, or some unknown power, in about the same place. We would think we had sailed thirty or forty miles, when on taking our observations we would find we were within three or four miles of our position the day before. This circumstance occurring repeatedly proved a trial to my faith, and I said within my heart, 'Lord, why are we so hindered, and kept in this position?' Day after day we were held as if by an unseen force, until at length a change took place, and we went on our way. Reaching our port they inquired, 'Where have you been through the gale?' 'What gale?' we asked. 'We have seen no gale.' We then learned that a terrible hurricane had swept through that region, and that all was desolation. We afterwards learned that this hurricane had swept around us, and had almost formed a circle around the place occupied by us during the storm. A hundred miles in one direction all was wreck and ruin, fifty miles in the opposite direction all was desolation; and while that storm was raging in all its fury, we were held in perfect safety, in quiet waters, and in continual anxiety to change our position and pursue our voyage One day of ordinary sailing would have brought us into the track of the storm, and sent us to the bottom of the sea. We were anxious to sail on, but some unseen power held us where we were, and we escaped."

The Captain was a prayerful man, trusting in his Lord, though his faith was tried, and he thought the Lord was not helping him. Yet the Lord was keeping his promise to him, "The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by him, and the Lord shall cover him all the day long."

RECOVERY FROM SPINAL DISEASE.

"Miss M—— is the daughter of a respectable farmer, an elder in a Presbyterian church in Western Pennsylvania. When a young girl her spine was injured while nursing her aged and helpless grandmother, and she has been a great sufferer for many years. For eleven years she has not been able to attend church nor to go from home, and for a long time was unable to leave her chamber or her bed. Two years ago she was so ill that hopes of her recovery were abandoned, her mind was thought to be seriously, even hopelessly impaired. Her physician acknowledged that her disease baffled his skill.

"A few months ago, being near her residence and hearing that her health was better, I called on her, and to my surprise, found her able to sew, walk about, and even go down stairs. She informed me that she suffered so intensely from the remedies used for her cure, and constantly grew worse, that she determined to do nothing more; it seemed like fighting against God; she would put herself into His hands to do with her as He pleased. Then it seemed to her that the Saviour came to her and said, 'M——, what aileth thee?' She told Him all her case, and He soothed and comforted her. From that time she began to improve; the paroxysms of pain grew less, and disappeared; her nervousness was relieved, she could sleep, her mind was full of peace. She said, 'I am not cured, and do not expect to be well, but I can bear what I have to suffer, and am willing to depart whenever it is the Lord's will to take me away to himself.'"

PRAYER FOR A PAIR OF BOOTS.

In the Fall of 1858, H——, a student in the Theological Seminary at Princeton, N.J., was in great need of a new pair of boots. His toes were sticking out of his old ones, and he had no money to purchase new ones. All the money he could command was barely enough to pay his fare to his home, where be had promised a dear friend to be present on the approaching communion Sabbath.

H—— was a man of great faith, and was accustomed to carry all his wants to God in prayer. To God he carried the present emergency, and earnestly importuned Him, that He would send him a pair of boots, and that He would do it before the approaching Sabbath. He was persuaded that God heard, and would answer his petition, yet his faith was sorely tried. Saturday morning came and still there was no answer; he resolved, however, to go to his home, fully persuaded that God would in good time grant his request. He took the morning train at the Princeton depot, and reached home about eleven o'clock. It was a hard trial for him to go to "Preparatory Lecture" with his boots in the condition they were in; yet at two o'clock he went, still praying that God would send him a new pair of boots. During the service, a merchant in the town took a seat in the same pew with him, and at the close of the service, without a word being spoken on the subject, the merchant, after shaking hands with H—— and inquiring of his welfare, asked him if he would do him the favor of going down town to a certain boot and shoe store and select from the stock as good a pair of boots as he could find, and, said the merchant, "have them charged to me." It was, as, H—— said to me on his return to the seminary, a direct answer to prayer. Indeed, it might be said of H—— that he went through college and seminary on prayer. He laid all his plans before God, pleaded his promises, and never was disappointed.

UNDER GARMENTS IN ANSWER TO PRAYER.

Among the students in the Theological Seminary at Princeton, N.J., in 1860, was my intimate friend L——. He was at the time poorly clad, but was a devoted Christian, and is at present a successful foreign missionary.

One day when on the Seminary campus, I heard two of the students very thoughtlessly criticising the exceeding shabbiness of L——'s wearing apparel, his short pants, old shoes, and socks with no heels in them. At almost every step L—— took when playing ball, his bare heels could be seen. That day, after evening prayers, I took L—— by the arm, for a walk to "Orthodox point," a tree about a mile distant from the Seminary. During our walk, I gently told him of the criticisms I had heard, and learned more fully than I had ever done of his destitution of wearing apparel, especially of under garments. I offered him a share of mine, or the loan of money, so as to meet his present wants, but this he declined to receive, saying, that he "would take it to the Lord in prayer," and that God would in good time supply all his wants. I, too, bore his case to the throne of grace. The next day after this, on going into his room, he laid before me an empty envelope, and a five dollar bill, and asked me the question, "Did you throw that envelope with that bill in it, through that ventilator?" I assured him that I did not. "Well," said he, "when I came in from recitation a short time ago, I found this envelope on the floor and that five dollar bill in it. It has evidently been thrown in through the ventilator." We both recognized God's hand in the provision made and mentally gave thanks to our Heavenly Father. Soon after this, "a missionary box" was sent to the Seminary, and my friend was therefrom well supplied with under garments. Frequently afterward did he say to me, in substance, "Prayer is the key to God's treasury. Trust in Him and the Lord will provide."

UNEXPECTED RELIEF.

Henry Badgerow was a man about seventy years of age at the time of the incident, and a resident of Steuben county, State of New York. This was in the year about A.D. 1830-31. He had been for many years an invalid— so much so that he couldn't walk—the result of a horse running away with him. In a forest, isolated from neighbors, the old man resided alone with an aged wife. They were quite poor, and wholly dependent upon the labor of a son who worked away from home for others. This son was at length taken sick with a fever, and unable to minister to his parents' wants. This was in mid-winter, when storms were frequent and the snows deep and lasting. One evening when the storm was at its highest, this old couple found themselves without a particle of food in the house. Matters were desperate with them. They could see but starvation staring them in the face. They resolved upon prayer, having a firm trust in their Heavenly Father, whom for many years they had been humbly serving. They did not retire, but continued in fervent prayer that God would send them food. About two and a half miles distant lived a young married man in comfortable circumstances, by the name of Joseph Clason (the author of the story). He was not at this time a Christian, although it was not long after this he was converted, and has since lived an eminently active and godly life. About 12 o'clock on the night of the snow storm above mentioned, young Clason awoke. His first thoughts were of old Mr. Badgerow and his condition in that storm. His mind became so impressed with the thought of him, and so wrought upon that he could not again go to sleep, although trying so to do. At length he awakened his wife, told her that he was in trouble about Mr. B., for fear he and his wife were starving. She replied that if he would get right up and make a light, she would prepare something, and that he had better take it right down. Young C. did so, taking with him a pail of provisions. After a jaunt through the storm and snow in the dead hour of night, he reached the old man's cabin. There he found a light burning. He knocked; the door was opened by the wife. The old man was fervently praying; but when he saw young C. with the pail of provisions, he held up both hands and said, "Now I know that God heareth prayer. Not one mouthful have we in the house to eat. I know that God sent you here." Young C. staid with the old couple until daylight. The conversation revealed that about midnight the old man perceiving that a storm had arisen, and that unless relief came, which was not likely, they would starve, resolved to appeal to his Heavenly Father, saying that God who sent the ravens to feed Elijah would feed him if he went to him in faith, and now God had heard his prayer, and he blessed God that he could do so in all trouble and trial.

The old man having asked C. how he came to visit them, he replied he didn't know, but supposed God had sent him, as he had awoke and couldn't again sleep on account of thought of him.

The incident made a serious and lasting impression on young C's mind.

In the morning, as C. was returning home, he came by his father's house; his mother, espying his pail, wished to know where he had been. He replied, "To feed the hungry." His father spreading the incident, the neighbors all turned out and brought in enough provision to last them during several weeks, the old man being greatly loved and respected by his community, on account of his sterling Christian life and character.

Mr. Joseph Clason is still living, now seventy-five years of age, in Bazine, Ness county, Kansas.

THAT BEAUTIFUL CHRISTMAS GIFT. HOW THE LORD USED IT.

A lady and gentleman were walking up Madison avenue, New York City, from church, when incidentally the lady said, "We are trying to get up Christmas decorations and entertainment for our Mission School."

"Well, put my name down for anything you like," and then came into his mind a certain sum to give.

A day passed on, it seemed forgotten; but a note from the lady reminded him of his promise, and he responded, giving the exact sum originally thought of, $25. Notice, now, the most singular disposition of it, which, by the hand of Providence, was made to go on its circuitous way to meet those who needed it most.

The next Sabbath, the lady and gentleman again meeting each other, she said, "Your gift was too large. I cannot take so much from you. I shall give you back part."

"But I won't take it."

"Well, you must. I can't keep it."

It resulted in the lady taking $15 from her muff and forcing it back into the gentleman's hand.

The gentleman felt badly. "I intended this for the Lord, and now it is refused. It is the first time I ever heard that money ever given to a Sunday school was not wanted. I meant the whole for the. Lord. If she don't want it and wont keep it, I will give the rest away. It does not belong to me." Before night he had enclosed it in a letter and sent it out of the city to an invalid as a Christmas present. He had occasion not long after to visit the invalid, and was fairly astonished at the extraordinary circumstances connected with its use; and this is his story, told in his letter to the lady who returned the $15.

"The sequel to the $15 is far more beautiful and wonderful than anything I have ever known. This invalid had been praying for some money for a needed article of dress to protect her from cold. The $15 came the very next morning in answer to her prayer. But it was more than enough. As a consistent Christian, having asked the Lord only for enough to meet but one need, she felt as if the rest belonged to the Lord and must be used for Him. So in wondering how to use it, she thought of a poor woman who needed a new calico dress, and at once bought it and gave it to her. She had but $5 left. A dear friend was in distress; his horse and carriage had been seized for failure to pay the livery bill of their keeping; he could not collect any money of the debts due him, to pay his bill, and had nothing. His wife and children were in New Britain, and here he was, no means to get there. The little Christian invalid sent him her $5, the last money she had, not knowing where her next was to come from, with these words: "The Lord has sent you this," and though he offered to return, or use only part, she said, "No, the Lord meant this for you. You must keep it, I will not take it back." Now see how beautifully all these incidents have been made to work for the good of many, by the managing hand of Providence.

"My original gift of $25 to you was more than enough. You did not need it all for your Sunday-school, and the Lord made you force back the $15 upon me. I could not keep it, because I felt, it belonged to the Lord. So I sent it to the little invalid.

"She, too, had only needed a part, and used only what she asked the Lord for, and then she, in her turn, gave the rest away. The most wonderful part of it is, that the money you gave back to me, and I gave to the Lord, was three-fifths of the amount you received, and the money the little invalid gave away to the Lord was also three-fifths the amount she received. The money which you kept for your use was just two-fifths, and the money that the invalid kept for her own use was just two-fifths also. The very next day after she had given her money away, a lady called and gave her some money, which was precisely the same amount which the poor woman's calico dress had cost, (though she knew nothing of the circumstances), and in return for the $5 which she gave her friend in distress, and refused to take back, the Lord remembered her and gave her a good home.

THE WIDOW'S WOOD AND FLOUR.—THE UNBELIEVING ONES MADE SPEECHLESS.

The following instance is known to The Christian as true, and to a remarkable degree indicates how thoroughly God knows our minutest needs, and how effectively He makes those who ever reproach his name ashamed of their unbelief.

"A friend and relative of the one who was 'a widow indeed,' one who trusted in God, and continued in supplications and prayers day and night, was once brought into circumstances of peculiar straitness and trial. She had two daughters who exerted themselves with their needles to earn a livelihood; and at that time they were so busily engaged in trying to finish some work that had long been on their hands, they had neglected to make provision for their ordinary wants until they found themselves one Winter's day in the midst of a New England snow storm, with food and fuel almost exhausted, at a distance from neighbors, and without any means of procuring needful sustenance.

"The daughters began to be alarmed, and were full of anxiety at the dismal prospect, but the good old mother said, 'Don't worry, girls, the Lord will provide; we have enough for to-day, and to-morrow may be pleasant,' and in this hope the girls settled down again to their labor.

"Another morning came, and with it no sunshine, but wind and snow in abundance. The storm still raged, but no one came near the house, and all was dark and dismal without.

"Noon came, and the last morsel of food was eaten, the wind was almost gone, and there were no tokens of any relief for their necessities.

"The girls became much distressed, and talked anxiously of their condition, but the good mother said, 'Don't worry, the Lord will provide.'

"But they had heard that story the day before, and they, knew not the strong foundation upon which that mother's trust was builded, and could not share the confidence she felt.

"'If we get anything to-day the Lord will have to bring it himself, for nobody else can get here if they try,' said one of the daughters, impatiently, but the mother said, 'Don't worry.' And so they sat down again to their sewing, the daughters to muse upon their necessitous condition, and the mother to roll her burden on the Everlasting Arms."

Now mark the way in which the Lord came to their rescue, and just at this moment of extremity, put it into the heart of one of his children to go and carry relief. Human Nature at such a time would never have ventured out in such a storm, but waited for a pleasant day. But Divine Wisdom and power made him carry just what was needed, in the face of adverse circumstances, and just at the time it was needed.

"Mr. M. sat at his fireside, about a mile away, surrounded by every bounty and comfort needed to cheer his heart, with his only daughter sitting by his side.

"For a long time not a word had been spoken, and he had seemed lost in silent meditation, till at length he said, 'Mary, I want you to go and order the cattle yoked, and then get me a bag. I must go and carry some wood and flour to sister C.'

"'Why, Father, it is impossible for you to go. There is no track, and it is all of a mile up there. You would almost perish.'

"The old man sat in silence a few moments and said, 'Mary, I must go.' She knew her father too well to suppose that words would detain him, and so complied with his wishes. While she held the bag for him, she felt perhaps a little uneasiness to see the flour so liberally disposed of, and said, 'I wish you would remember that I want to give a poor woman some flour, if it ever clears off.' The old man understood the intimation and said, 'Mary, give all you feel it duty to, and when the Lord says stop, I will do so.'

"Soon all things were ready, and the patient oxen took their way to the widow's home, wallowing through the drifted snow, and dragging the sled with its load of wood and flour. About four o'clock in the afternoon, the mother had arisen from her work to fix the fire, and, looking out of the window, she saw the oxen at the door, and she knew that the Lord had heard her cry.

"She said not a word—why should she? She was not surprised!—but, presently, a heavy step at the threshold caused the daughters to look up with astonishment, as Mr. M. strode unceremoniously into the room, saying, 'The Lord told me, Sister C, that you wanted some wood and flour.'

"'He told you the truth,' said the widow, 'and I will praise Him forever.'

"'What think you now girls?' she continued, as she turned in solemn joy to her unbelieving daughters.

"They were speechless; not a word escaped their lips; but they pondered that new revelation of the providential mercy of the Lord, until it made upon their minds an impression never to be effaced.

"From that hour they learned to trust in Him who cares for His needy in the hour of distress, and who, from His boundless stores, supplies the wants of those who trust in Him."

A PAIR OF SHOES.—THE LORD'S REBUKE TO THOSE WHO "DIDN'T BELIEVE."

The following incident occurred in Connecticut: In an humble cottage two sisters were watching over and caring for a much-loved brother, who, for many long months had been upon a bed of sickness. At length, the younger of them began to be discouraged. She was dependent, for her clothing, upon her labor; her shoes were worn out, and how should she get another pair, unless she could leave the sick bed and go away from home and work and earn some money.

"Well," said the mother, "I know you need a pair of shoes, but don't worry, the Lord will provide."

"Do you think that THE LORD will come down from heaven and buy me a pair of shoes?" said the younger sister, with an expression of discouragement and vexation on her countenance.

"No," said the mother, "but perhaps he will put it into somebody's heart to buy you a pair."

"Perhaps He will, but I don't believe it," said the discouraged girl.

"Well," said the other sister, who was a little more hopeful, "you won't get them any quicker by fretting, so you might as well be quiet." Then the subject dropped and the day passed as usual.

As the shades of evening were gathering, a brother who lived at some distance, and who knew nothing of their previous conversation, called to inquire after their prosperity. After the customary salutations he said, "You have been sick here a long time, and I thought I would come round and see if I could not do something for you; thought perhaps by this time the girls needed something." Then turning to the younger sister, he said, "How is it, aren't your shoes worn out?"

She dropped her eyes, blushed deeply, and, perhaps, a little conscience-smitten, answered not a word. Nothing was said of the previous conversation, though it was not forgotten by those who heard it. The brother soon saw for himself enough to satisfy him, and said no more, but went away. The next day two pairs of shoes were sent around to her, and with them came to her heart a lesson which she never forgot.

She lived many years after that, but was never heard to murmur in that way again, and often said that the two pairs of shoes taught her to wait, hope and trust, and thereby learn implicit confidence in Him who sendeth all blessings. The last time she alluded to the occurrence, she said, "I was speechless then, but, by the grace of God, I will not be in the world to come."

THE LAME HEALED.

Rev. Charles G. Finney, during his life-time, was familiar with the circumstances connected with the remarkable healing of a sick lady in Oberlin, O., the wife of Rev. R.D. Miller, and these facts were vouched for as unquestionably authentic. Mr. Finney says:

"Mrs. Miller is the wife of a Congregational minister, and a lady of unquestionably veracity. However the fact of her healing is to be accounted for, her story is no doubt worthy of entire confidence, as we have known her for years as a lame, suffering invalid, and now see her in our midst in sound health. This instantaneous restoration will be accounted for by different persons in different ways. Mrs. Miller and those who were present regard the healing as supernatural and a direct answer to prayer. The facts must speak for themselves. Why should not the sick be healed in answer to the prayer of faith? Unbelief can discredit them, but faith sees nothing incredible in such facts as are stated by Mrs. Miller. Mrs. Miller's own statement is as follows, and it is fully endorsed by the most reliable citizens and members of the First church at Oberlin:

"From my parents I inherited a constitution subject to a chronic form of rheumatism. In early life I was attacked with rheumatic weaknesses and pains, which affected my whole system. For nearly forty years I was subject to more or less suffering from this cause, sometimes unable to attend meeting for months at a time. For seven years, until the last three months, I have been unable to get about without the aid of crutch or staff, generally both. I have used many liniments and remedies, but with no permanently good result. I have been a Christian from early life, but last Spring, in our revival, I received a spiritual refreshing from the Lord, which gave a new impulse to my faith. Since then my religion has been a new life to me.

"Last Summer, several of us Christian sisters were in the habit of spending short seasons of prayer together, that the Lord would send us a pastor. Some of our number had read the narrative of Dorothea Trudel, and had spoken to me on the subject of healing in answer to prayer. My faith had not then risen to this elevation. I had in fact accepted what I supposed to be the will of God, and made up my mind to be a lame and suffering invalid the rest of my life. I had long since ceased to use remedies for the restoration of my health, and had not even thought of praying in regard to it, for I regarded it as the will of God that I should suffer in silent submission.

"Notwithstanding what had been said to me, I remained in this opinion and in this attitude until the 26th of September, 1872, when several ladies met at our house, by appointment, for a prayer-meeting. I had been growing worse for some time, and was at that time unable to get out to attend a meeting. I was suffering much pain that afternoon; indeed, I was hardly able to be out of my bed. Up to this time none of the sisters who had conversed with me about the subject of healing by faith, had been able to tell me anything from their own experience. That afternoon, one lady was present who could speak to me from her own experience of being healed in answer to the prayer of faith. She related several striking instances in which her prayers had been answered in the removal of divers forms of disease to which she was subject. She also repeated a number of passages of Scripture, which clearly justified the expectation of being healed in answer to the prayer of faith. She also said that Jesus had shown her that he was just as ready to heal diseases now as he was when on earth; that such healing was expressly promised in Scripture, in answer to the prayer of faith, and that it was nowhere taken back. These facts, reasonings, and passages of Scripture, made a deep impression on my mind, and, for the first time, I found myself able to believe that Jesus would heal me in answer to prayer. She asked me if I could join my faith with hers and ask for present healing. I told her I felt that I could. We then knelt, and called upon the Lord. She offered a mighty prayer to God, and I followed. While she was leading in prayer I felt a quickening in my whole being, whereupon my pain subsided, and when we rose from prayer I felt that a great change had come over me, that I was cured. I found that I could walk without my staff or crutch, or any assistance from any one. Since then my pains have never returned; I have more than my youthful vigor; I walk with more ease and rapidity than I ever did in my life, and I never felt so fresh and young as I now do, at the age of fifty-two.

"Now, the hundred and third psalm is my psalm, and my youth is more than renewed, like the eagle's. I cannot express the constant joy of my heart for the wonderful healing of my soul and body. I feel as if I was every whit made whole."

The testimony of eye-witnesses to this healing is as follows:

"We were all present at the time of the healing, and know the facts to be true. We are all Christians, and have no interest in deceiving anybody, and would by no means dishonor God by stating more than the exact truth. Since the healing, Mrs. Miller is still with us, and in excellent health. Neither the severe cold of last Winter, nor the extreme heat of this Summer, has at all injured her health. From our first acquaintance with her, she has been so lame as to be unable to walk, except by the aid of crutches. Since which time she has been able to walk without help, and appears perfectly well."

Her husband, also adding his testimony, says:

"She has been unable to walk without crutches for a series of years. A long time ago, we tried many remedies and physicians, with no lasting good results, and were expecting she would remain an invalid. Of late, she had applied no remedy, nor taken any medicine. At the time of her cure, she was much worse than for a long while before, being in great pain continually, until the moment she fully believed, and, in an instant, she was restored to perfect soundness. From that moment to this she has not felt a particle of her former complaint.

"She can now walk for miles as fast as I wish to, without feeling very much fatigue, does all her own housework, and attends seven meetings during the week. In short, she is stronger, and seems as young and spry, as when we were married, thirty-two years ago. The work of the dear Savior in her cure seems to be perfect, and she is an astonishment to all who knew her before and see her now. To His name be all the praise.

"Another lady, the same week my wife was healed, a member of the First Congregational Church, confined to her bed with a complicated disease, was prayed for, and restored at once to soundness."

THE WONDERFUL CURE OF MRS. SHERMAN.

Although there are so many cases of healing in answer to prayer, yet the incident of the healing of Mrs. Sherman is so minute, and resulted in such a radical change of the physical constitution, that it is necessary to relate it in full detail. It is too well proven to admit the possibility of a doubt.

"Mrs. Ellen Sherman is the wife of Rev. Moses Sherman, and, at the time of this occurrence, in 1873, they were residents of Piermont, N.H. She had been an invalid for many years. In the Winter after she was fifteen, she fell on the ice and hurt her left knee, so that it became weak and easy to slip out of joint. Six years after, she fell again on the same knee, so twisting it and injuring the ligaments that it became partially stiff, and, the physician said, incurable.

"The next Summer, by very fast walking, one day, she brought on special weakness, which no physician was able to cure. From that moment she was subject to severe neuralgia, sick-headaches, at least monthly, and sometimes even weekly.

"In December, 1859, while stepping out of doors, she slipped, by reason of her stiff joint, and fell, striking near the base of the spine, directly across the sharp edge of the stone step. This caused such a sickness that she was obliged to leave the school she was attending.

"Three years after (in January, 1862), she fell at the top of a stairway, striking just as before, and sliding all the way down to the foot. This nearly paralyzed the spinal cord, and caused deep and permanent spinal disease. After this she was up and down for many years, attended by various physicians, yet nothing bettered, but, rather, growing worse. It may be said, for short, that every organ of the lower body became chronically diseased, and that the headaches increased in violence.

"In September, 1872, through a severe cold, she took her bed, where she lay, except when lifted from it, till the night of August 27, 1873. She was unable to walk a step, or even stand. She could sit up only a short time without great distress. The best medical skill that could be procured gave only temporary relief. The spine grew worse in spite of every appliance, and the nervous sensitiveness and prostration were increasing. During the two or three weeks immediately preceding her cure she was especially helpless, two persons being required to lift her off and on the bed. On the Monday before, one of her severest neuralgia sick-headaches came on. During Wednesday she began to be relieved, but was still so sick that when, in the evening, she tried to have her clothes changed, she could only endure the change of her night-dress."

It will be seen from this her utter physical helplessness, and not the slightest hope of any amelioration. During the night of August 27th, she enjoyed a blessed time of communion with her Lord, giving herself, in all her helplessness, wholly to Him to do as he wills.

With feelings beyond all expression, she felt the nearness of her mighty Savior, and the sense of receiving a new and most delicious pulsation of new life. At last, though she had been bed-ridden for twelve months, and incapable of any bodily assistance, she felt an uncontrollable impulse to throw off the clothes of the bed with her left arm, and sprang out of bed upon her feet, and started to walk across the room.

"Her husband's first thought was that she was crazed, and would fall to the floor, and he sprang towards her to help her. But she put up her hands against him, saying with great energy, 'Don't you touch me! Don't you touch me!' and went walking back and forth across the room speaking rapidly, and declaring the work which Jesus had been working upon her.

"Her husband, quickly saw that she was in her right mind, and had been healed by the Lord, and his soul was filled with unutterable emotion.

"One of the women of the household was called, also their son, twelve years old, and together they thanked God for the great and blessed wonder he had wrought.

"In the morning, after a sleep of several hours, she further examined herself to see if entirely healed, and found both knees perfectly well; and though for sixteen years she had not been able to use either, now she lifted the left foot and put it upon the right knee, thus proving the completeness of her restoration.

"At the end of two years from her healing, inquiry having been made as to how thorough had been the work, Mrs. Sherman gave full and abundant evidence. 'I cannot remember a Summer when I have been so healthy and strong, and able to work hard. I am a constant wonder to myself, and to others, and have been for the two years past. The cure exceeded my highest expectations at the time I was cured. I did not look forward to such a state of vigor and strength. No words can express my joy and gratitude for all this.'

"The parents of Mrs. Sherman also testify of the wonderful change physically which occurred with the cure.

"Before, her appetite was always disordered, but on the very morning of the healing it was wholly changed, and her food, which distressed her formerly, she ate with a relish and without any pain following; and she so continues. For years before a natural action of the bowels was rare. From that day since, an unnatural one is equally rare.

"For fifteen years, with few exceptions, she had had severe neuralgic sick headaches monthly or oftener. From that time she has been natural and without pain, with no return of the headaches, except a comparatively slight one once, from overdoing and a cold taken through carelessness.

"There was also at that time an immediate and radical change in the action of the kidneys, which had become a source of great trouble before. Moreover the knee which had been partially stiff for so many years was made entirely well. In fine, her body, which had been so full of pain, became at once free from pain, and full of health.

"The week after she was healed she went fifty miles to attend a camp-meeting, riding five miles in a carriage, the rest by cars. A near neighbor said, 'She will come back worse than ever.' Though the weather was especially bad, she came back better than when she went."

These are but few out of many expressions respecting her extraordinary recovery, which fully satisfy the believing Christian that the Great Physician is with us now, "healing the lame," and curing the sick. It is faith only, unyielding, which the Lord requires ere he gives his richest blessing.

The unbelieving one simply sees in it "something strange," which he can not understand, but the faith-keeping Christian knows it is the sign of his Precious Lord, in whom he trusts and abides forever.

DR. NEWMAN HALL'S TESTIMONIES TO THE VALUE OF PRAYER.

Dr. Newman Hall, of London, in his wide experience has met with many incidents of answered prayer, and thus relates several:

A PRAYER FOR THIRTY POUNDS.

"On a recent evangelizing visit to Newport, one of its citizens said to me, 'In yonder house dwell a man and wife, who recently needed a sum of L30 to meet some payment the next morning. Having failed in their efforts to collect it, they earnestly prayed God to provide it. The store was being closed for the night when a sea-captain knocked at the door and asked for some seamen's clothes. The gas was relighted, and various articles were selected; the purchaser then asked for the account, and the money was paid—a little more than L30. The man and his wife thanked their Heavenly Father for sending it in this way in answer to prayer.'"