"Nay, do not hinder me, Nathan,
I feel such a burden of care;
If I carry it to the Master,
Perhaps I shall leave it there.
If He lay His hands on the children,
My heart will be lighter, I know,
For a blessing for ever and ever
Will follow them as they go."

So over the hills of Judah,

Along by the vine-rows green, With Esther asleep on her bosom,

And Rachel her brothers between;

'Mong the people who hung on His teaching,
Or waited His touch and His word,
Through the row of proud Pharisees hastening,
She pressed to the feet of her Lord.

"Now, why shouldst thou hinder the Master,"
Said Peter, "with children like these?
Seest not how, from morning till evening,
He teacheth, and healeth disease ?"
Then Christ said, " Forbid not the children;
Permit them to come unto Me!"

And He took in His arms little Esther,
And Rachel He placed on His knee.

And the heavy heart of the mother

Was lifted all earth-care above,
As He laid His hands on the brothers,
And blest them with tenderest love;
As He said of the babes in His bosom,
"Of such are the kingdom of heaven;"
And strength for all duty and trial

That hour to her spirit was given...

MY FIRST MISSIONARY MEETING.

OULD you like to hear about the first Missionary

Meeting I ever remember to have attended? Well, I will try and tell you about it: but first let me say that I cannot remember the time when I did not like to hear about missionaries and their work; and I used to like to sit and hear the "Night of Toil" read, for hours together. Before I can remember, good Mr. Williams took me in his arms, and perhaps he prayed that the little child might learn while young to feel an interest in the poor benighted heathen; but, however that may be, I must try and tell you about this meeting. I was promised, as a great treat, to be taken to a Missionary Meeting in a city ten miles from where we lived, and I was delighted at the thought of hearing about missionaries, and perhaps seeing some; but, alas! when we reached the place of meeting it was very full, and we could only get standing-room, and that where we could neither see nor hear much of what was going on. It was a great disappointment; for we had to remain for some hours, but I am glad to say it did not check my interest in Missionary Meetings. Some time after that we went to live in a fresh place, and when we had been there a short time we were told there was to be a Missionary Meeting, and that two missionaries were coming, and were to stay with us; and very glad we were, and looked forward with great pleasure to the time. I must tell you that before this there had been one meeting, attended by one of the secretaries of the Society, and this we liked very much; but we were anxious for the real

missionaries to come. Well, they arrived, and interested us much with what they had to tell us about the South Seas and Demerara; and then they went away, and we had to work and wait for a whole year before we could have another Missionary Meeting. And the time passed away, and then another missionary came and told us about other parts of the world, and we were able to send more money up to London than we had the year before, (and we hope that more prayers had gone up to heaven for the conversion of the heathen); and so it went on, and every year we were anxious to get more, and sometimes our hopes were realised and sometimes disappointed; but generally more was raised, and we had the pleasure of listening to missionaries from various parts of the world. Some told us about India, and the many missionaries that are wanted there; some about the South Seas, and how God has blessed their labours there. We also heard about Jamaica, Mongolia, Madagascar, and other places; and the accounts they gave us sometimes made us very glad to think of how God is blessing the labours of His servants, and granting them much encouragement; and then, again, we have been made sad by hearing of the gross darkness that yet covers so much of the land, and of the comparatively few who have yet gone out to seek, by God's help, to dispel that darkness. The first collection made in the place I am telling you about amounted to 13s., but that was many years ago, and no other meeting was held for several years; then they were held every year, and a little increase was visible yearly in the receipts for several years; at one meeting the sum realised was nearly £40.

Now you must

not think this was raised by rich people; oh, no! it mostly came from the pence of the poor. Shall I tell you about some of the boxes? One used to belong to a servant, whose master employed many men, and when they were paid she would take her box and ask for something, and in this way she generally gathered £5 or £6; but she went away. However, she gave her box to some one else, and, though it did not realise quite as much, it used to bring in a good large sum. I should have told you that the usual boxes belonging to the Society were not large enough for her, and so one had to be made on purpose. How glad the Directors would be if the boxes were too small for a good many people, and larger ones were needed, or two were filled instead of one! At first only a few took boxes; now a good many take them, and a good sum they bring in too. Big children and little children have them, and 'try to do what they can. One poor family, where there are ten children, and the father receives low wages, was persuaded to take a box and do what they could; so the eldest boy took it the first year, and then the next boy, and then it went to the eldest girl, and they did well with it, getting a little more each year, until it had reached more than 5s.; and they exercise real self-denial, for every penny or halfpenny she earns or gets given her, this little girl puts into the box; and one evening before the last meeting, after she had retired to rest, she remembered that a penny had been promised her for her box, and she had not gone for it; so up she got and went for it, and when she had slipped it in the box she went happily to bed again. Now I have tried to tell you a little about our Missionary Meetings, and some

of those who have tried to do what they could. Some of the good missionaries who have visited us have gone home to their reward, others have returned to their foreign homes, and some are labouring in the colonies or at home. And we will earnestly hope that at last they may meet, at God's right hand, not only those among whom they have laboured abroad, but many of those who have listened to the statements they have made about their labours. And now I must close this little account; but I want you all to try to do all you can for Missions, and to get your companions to do what they can, and get all the missionary information possible, so that you may know what is going on; and above all, pray that God would greatly bless the labours of the good missionaries already out, and raise up many more to go to teach the heathen that "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." M. S. D.

A MEETING 1800 YEARS AGO.