into the workhouse the next Friday. It was the day before we were to go; all day long I bore up pretty well for the sake of the children, but the evening came; they were all in bed sleeping sweetly, I was alone, and in despair; I had not found a Friend in Jesus then, or I should have known, what I have since found to be true, that in no circumstances can one be utterly miserable if He is with them; but I was alone then. The darkness of night came on, still I sat up, I could not go to bed, I was too wretched. Suddenly the tempter came to me with a fearful, terrible temptation. What was life worth to me or to my children? he suggested; why not take away theirs and my own too, and so put an end to my misery? I hailed the thought, and again and again turned it over in my mind. Yes, I determined to

do it. Starting up, and taking the carving-knife in my hand, I rushed up stairs; but the sight of my little ones overcame me, I could not touch them; I went down again, and sitting over the fire, tried to work myself up to do it. It was just midnight, the tempter came again: "Think what they may have to suffer, to bear,' he said; 'better do it, yes, better do it.' And once more I caught up the knife, and had reached the top of the stairs, when I seemed to hear a voice speaking to me, as distinctly as yours speaks to-day; it said, " Call upon Me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me.' Who can it be? I thought. Surely there cannot be any one in the house; and yet I was persuaded there must be. Quickly going down again, I searched the room, and then the house in every part, but there was no one there. And then the thought came, it must have been God's voice to me: I was very ignorant, could scarcely read at all, and knew but very little about God; but the words seemed to draw me to Him; falling on my knees, I repeated over and over again, Lord have mercy upon me, Lord help me. A long time I thus remained, then a strange calm came over my spirit; I felt as if He had heard me, and would help. I put away the fearful knife, went up to bed, fell asleep, and slept soundly.

Early in the morning there came a knock at the door; I went down and opened it; it was my husband's brother. 'Mary,' he said, 'I've been walking half the night, so as I might get here early, to tell you that some further application was made to the guardians for you yesterday, and they have agreed to allow you so much a week, and you can stay in your own home.' I could hardly speak, my feelings overcame me; the neighbours came in, they had been very kind, and were glad to hear the good news, and we rejoiced together. But I longed to be alone, to think over my wonderful verse; I felt convinced now that it was the Lord who had put it in my heart to keeping one of the neighbours behind, who was a good scholar. I asked her whether she could find that verse for me? Oh, yes,' she said. Reaching down my mother's old Bible, which had not been used for many a long day, she opened it where you see it to-day, and I turned down the leaf. I could not read it, but I did not tell her so. When they were all gone, and I was left alone again, my heart did praise Him who had so wonderfully helped me in my trouble. I determined from henceforth I would seek to serve Him, and also to learn to read. The next Sunday I took my Bible, and the children with me, to God's house; I asked some one next me to find the chapters that were read, and the hymns I knew a little, and carefully following the words, I soon got to know them, and being very regular in my attendance, thus learned to read. Very soon after, I found Jesus as my Saviour, my Friend; and felt that the guilt, even of the terrible crime I had contemplated, was cleansed in His precious blood.

"But my faith was often sorely tried. Again and again I had need to call, for many a time I have been in the greatest straits. More than once I have gone to bed without a penny in the house; but I have never called in vain, my wants have been always supplied. Once you came to see me, now many years ago; I had not tasted food that day, but I did not tell you my need, and you went away without giving me anything; and then, if you

remember, you turned back again, and brought me a shilling."

Yes, I well remembered it; something seemed to impel. me to go back again and give help.

"Ah," she said, "I had told the Lord it was He who sent you. Well, after awhile, I took to cleaning straw bonnets, and then to making them, and so was able to earn quite a comfortable living, and saved enough to buy this house; but I think the Lord must have wished to teach me I must trust Him all the way; for the gentleman, to whom I entrusted the money to complete the purchase, failed, and I lost the whole of it. Ah! God has been true to His promise in the first part of the verse; but the end of it Thou shalt glorify Me.' I haven't I am ashamed to think of it; but I know when I get to heaven I shall say, 'Father, there is no one in all heaven has so much to praise Thee for as I have.'

troubles me sometimes.

done that as I would.

The old disciple was full of joy and thankfulness in her ninetieth year, a living testimony to the faithfulness of God's word: "Call upon Me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me."

Trust in God.

E were in difficulties, and in order to meet them we had moved out of our house into an inexpensive cottage, when to our dismay the agent of the house sent us word that he considered us liable for six months' more rent than we had expected. There was little hope of finding a tenant for the vacated house, for the agent would not put it in repair till it was finally off our hands.

We knew that it was impossible for us to meet his demands, and that our only alternative would be to give up

the cottage also, and let its humble furniture go in order to satisfy them.

I went to the home of a godly woman, whose children and grandchildren were rising up to call her blessed, and unburdened to her the care that was pressing on my heart. She listened awhile; then stirred up the fire, set the kettle on, brought out her white cloth and spread the tea. After we had enjoyed our simple repast she said, "Let me tell you a story about my own house-rent!"

"It was years ago, soon after we were married, when my children were quite young; my husband had been ill and out of work, and we could not make the rent up. Mr. Bwhen he called pressed for it, and said it must be made up by a certain day. I knew it was impossible: what to do or where to turn I did not know; and when I looked at my dear little children, the sight of them seemed more than I could bear.

"One evening they were all sitting round the fire; the youngest was in a high chair, looking over a scrap-book, and as I passed by to reach something from the cupboard, my heart still aching with its load of sorrow, I saw printed in large letters at the top of the page the child was turning, these words, 'TRUST IN GOD.' If they had not been very large I should not have seen them, for my eyesight was not very good, but they struck me forcibly, and I thought, 'Trust in God?-yes! I will trust in God!'

"I left the room; knelt down and told God all the sorrow, as I had often done before, but this time I seemed enabled to leave it with Him, and to trust. My heart grew light and peaceful, yet the circumstances remained unchanged, and the dreaded day I knew was drawing nearer.

"Before my marriage I had worked in the manufacture of needles, and I seemed to have a natural aptitude for it, but work was very scarce and difficult to obtain at the time I am speaking of.

"However, the next morning after my trustful prayer I thought, 'I will go up to the Fish (a noted needle manu

factory in Redditch) and see if they can give me a little work to do at home.'

"I dressed and hurried to the manufactory. waiting to speak to the foreman, Mr. B―

B

While I was entered, and seeing me standing there, he said to him, 'Have you any ?' 'I don't know,' he replied. 'Well,

work for Mrs. W

if you possibly can, give her as much work as she wants,' said Mr. B.

That

"I came forward and said, 'Mr. Ball that I earn shall go to the rent, or can be put by for you here.' will do, Mrs. W ; do what you can, and I will take it out that way.' He was in a high position in the same manufactory, being the superintendent of its scouring mills at some little distance, and through his influence the foreman at once plentifully supplied me with work.

"How light-hearted and happy I returned to my little home with the burden gone, for the rent was as good as paid. Now you must trust in God, and He won't forsake you."

I did trust in God, and one evening the agent's son came down to say that some one so urgently needed a house for a short period that his father would take it off our hands, provided we would sign an agreement to pay a much smaller sum at the end of the six months. The next morning a cheque which had gone astray in the post reached me, more than enabling us to do this, so that we were able to purchase several things sorely needed besides, and, to crown all, a few posts after came another sum from the Religious Tract Society for a small paper, written, sent and entirely forgotten, so that all our needs were supplied, our heavy burden lifted off, and our hearts filled with praise, while we acknowledged that it was no vain thing to

Trust in God.

K. G.