A. L. O. E.

“ Do you not speak to her of the Saviour?" cried Nelly.
"I have spoken, and our worthy clergyman has spoken; for, strange enough, Goldie sent for him. But it seems as if religion rather added to her pain; for when she hears of the mercy and goodness of God, she sobs out, 'Why did my poor boy never know Him!'"
"And Goldie," said Viner, "how does he bear up?"
"He looks much as usual, perhaps a little thinner; but he does not give way like his wife. I think that his heart is hardened by selfishness; and yet it has its warm corner too. ”

“ From how slight a cause men's ruin may spring! At a place of amusement, I once met with a youth. I found him pleasant; we conversed—met again and again; he became my companion—most dangerous companion! He was one who despised religion, and laughed at the word conscience; he gained an influence over my young mind, and made use of it to ruin his so-called friend!"
"As you love your peace—as you love your own soul," continued the stranger, addressing himself earnestly to Walter, "oh! Avoid the society of such! ”

“ In this shop now stood Nelly with her father, awaiting the arrival of their expected guest. Viner was a man still in the prime of life, though care and poverty had made him look older than he really was, and had streaked his hair with many a bright silver line. But the expression of his face was serene, even happy, especially when he looked upon his darling only child, the image of a wife whom he had tenderly loved, and for whom he had mourned—but not as one without hope. ”

“ He seemed almost beaten back by the pelting hail, and stopping as he reached Viner's little shop, leaned on the gate as if for support.
"Let us ask him to come in to shelter," whispered Nelly—and Walter immediately invited him to step in.
The gray-haired man obeyed in silence—with a step so faltering, a look of such emotion, as though the voice of kindness were strange to him, that the hearts of the young people were touched with compassion. They had not read in vain the injunction in the Bible—"Use hospitality without grudging: be not forgetful to entertain strangers;" ”

“ Viner was kneeling upon the shingle, supporting on his bosom the head of a youth, into whose colourless lips he was pouring some spirits, and Nelly, at his side, with trembling eagerness, was watching the signs of returning animation. Mrs. Goldie gave one wild, searching look, and passed on—the face was not that of her son. A little farther on lay a corpse, in which life had for some time been extinct. ”

“ We were by nature, my Nelly, the children of wrath. Adam, our first father, had offended the Lord, and we are born into the world with a nature like his, bearing his sinful likeness, even as Walter Binning bears the name of his father. Man was not only a stranger to, but a rebel against God—he had no right to expect anything but punishment and pain from the hand of his offended Maker. ”

“ Only think of the glory and the crown! It is better to walk barefoot on a thorny way, and know that we will come to a kingdom at the end of our journey, and be happy for ever and ever, than to roll along in a golden carriage, and to feel that every minute brings us nearer and nearer to misery that never will end! We never can be really happy but when we do God's will like the angels!"
"How do the angels do God's will?" said Viner. ”

“ But the large shop on the opposite side of the street is standing yet, and looks more flourishing than ever, with its baskets of ripe plums and tempting peaches, decked out with branches of cut flowers in the windows. A young woman is within, engaged in tying up nosegays, herself fresh and blooming as the flowers. Her own little blossom, her first-born child, is perched upon the counter beside her; and often the mother stops in her pleasant employment to imprint a fond kiss on his dimpled cheek, or bid her little one try to call "Father!" ”

“ There are times when even the true Christian feels his faith weak. Viner had found it difficult to strengthen his heart in the Lord; he seemed like Peter when sinking in the waves.
"Lord, help me!" was his silent prayer. He came back in sorrow, he was met by joy. The little seed which, ten years before, he had sown in faith, had sprung up to bear a thousandfold; the voice of thanksgiving was in the dwelling of the righteous; the Almighty had not been trusted in vain.
Oh! What a blessed answer to Walter's prayers! ”

“ When the Christian suffers, he can look to Heaven, and comfort himself with the thought that his portion is not here; but when the worldly man loses earthly joy, he is losing his all, his only treasure, he has nothing to hope for beyond! The only comfort to Goldie's mind in his distress was the prosperity of Aleck, his favourite son; and even in the midst of his sorrow for the two others, it was a proud feeling to the father that he was going for the first time to see him settled in a home of his own, a wealthy man, a distinguished man, one who could help to raise the whole family. ”

“ It was at this period, when to win money for Nelly was almost the first desire of Walter's heart, haunted his dreams by night, was his first thought on waking, that a thin old gentleman, in a snuff-coloured coat, that looked a good deal the worse for wear, flourishing in his hand a little carved stick, passed along the street of E—. He stopped opposite Goldie's shop, and looked in, as if studying the prices on the fruit, then turned round and glanced at Viner's humble window, hesitated, twisted his stick round and round, and then chose the poorest and cheapest-looking shop. ”

“ Goldie said a word which I thought meant that, something about your ad—I cannot just remember the word."
"Adopting, I suppose."
"Yes, that was it exactly! I think," added Nelly, with a graver air, "that there is some word like that in the Bible."
"There is, my Nelly, and a blessed word it is! All Christians are the adopted children of God; it is from His gracious adoption alone that we dare to address Him as 'Our Father, which art in heaven.'"
"To adopt is to take some other person's child, and call it your own, and love it as your own, end feed it, and care for it, as you will for Walter. ”

“ So small and unpretending was the shop—such a contrast to Goldie's large one opposite—that visitors seldom thought of entering to buy, and it was chiefly frequented by the people of the village, who knew the character of the man who kept it, and who never doubted, when they purchased a basket of fruit from Viner, that the lower ones were as good as those at the top. ”

“ The village has grown into a town: tall rows of houses stretch along the coast, on one side a square is commenced, and though "the season" is now nearly over, enough of life and bustle remain to denote a flourishing watering-place. There is, however, little change to be seen in the small humble dwelling of Viner, and almost as little alteration in the appearance of its master, who, save a few more gray hairs, a few more furrows on his cheek, looks much the same as when he appeared before us last. ”

“ Do you call it nothing to have a character unstained, to hear the voice of an approving conscience, and to be able to ask in prayer for those blessings which we have taken no guilty means to obtain?
The thoughts of Walter were full of new plans of industry, while he more slowly returned to his home. As he approached the little gate of Viner's shop, some one came out of it into the street, bidding a cheerful good-bye to those within. It was with a feeling of annoyance that Walter saw the only being on earth whom he really disliked—Ned Goldie, the fruiterer's son. ”

“ You have behaved very well, young man, very well; will you accept—" the miser hesitated, fumbled with money, seemed to find difficulty in making up his mind, and then, as if quite with an effort, held out a sixpence to Walter!
The convict's son stepped back, a half-smile on his face, and, bowing to the miserable old man, left the room with this reflection, "It is better to want money than the heart to spend it." ”

“ To evening meeting for prayer Walter had, till now, been entirely a stranger. He was not altogether ignorant on the subject of religion; in the strange unsettled life which he had led in London with his father, he had met with a variety of characters, and gathered up knowledge upon many different subjects, but there was nothing clear, nothing defined, nothing holy. Yet it was with no irreverent manner that Walter listened to the Word of God, or the prayer from the lips of his benefactor. The conduct of Viner insensibly connected in his mind kindness and goodness with piety ”

“ Winter had given to watching the sick-bed of a neighbour.
While the baker's wife was drawing forth the biscuits, Goldie entered into conversation with the little girl.
"So you're going to have a treat for once in a way, Nelly Viner. You don't trouble Mrs. Winter often for sweet biscuits, I should say."
"My new brother is coming home to-day," replied the child with a beaming look of pleasure.
"Your new brother! Who's he?"
"I do not exactly know, sir; but he is some one that we are to love, and be kind to. I shall be so glad to have a brother!" ”

“ Those who love their Father in heaven will love His children on earth also, and form one blessed family of love."
"I never thought before," said Nelly, thoughtfully, "when I repeated the Lord's Prayer, why I should say 'Our Father,' instead of 'My Father;' but now I will try to remember every time, that I am one of a great family of love!"
Few more words passed between Viner and his daughter, until Nelly suddenly exclaimed, "Who is that stranger-boy coming this way with a bundle hanging by a stick over his shoulder, who looks up at the name over every shop, and seems so tired and sad? ”

“ Father has so often told us that the adopted children of God must struggle against and overcome their evil nature, must try, with God's help, to gain a likeness to their Father—to be merciful as He is merciful, forgive as He forgives; if we do not try this, with faith and with prayer, we have no right to think ourselves God's children at all."
"Can you prove that from the Bible?" said Walter.
"I think that I can," replied Nelly, after a moment's thought. "It is written, 'If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His. ”

“ We shall, however, scarcely recognise Nelly in the tall, delicate girl, who has almost grown into the young woman; or the convict's son in the powerful youth, who still serves in the shop of his benefactor.
How has time passed with them during these long years? They seem to have made little progress in the road to fortune—has the promise of the Lord been to them in vain? No; though life has been a struggle with poverty and care, it has been a struggle cheered by love and hope; the bread earned by virtuous industry has been so sweet, the sleep after labour so calm ”

“ With regret for the past, disappointment in the present, and no hope to brighten the future—only age, and the grave, and the judgment before him—he, indeed, is tasting of the dregs of life—is reaping a harvest of woe! Poverty may rouse industry, sickness show forth patience, sorrow increase submission—death lead to glory—Sin is the one great evil to be feared. ”

“ From this hour resolve which path you will choose—life or death are now set before you. If you choose the world and its pleasures of a season, oh! Remember that the wages of sin is death. Youth must pass, strength must pass, life itself must pass away, with all that it could give here below; but the Christian shall dwell in the mansions of light—shall rejoice in unchangeable bliss with his God—
"FOR EVER AND EVER. AMEN!"
THE LORD'S PRAYER.
Our Father in heaven,
We hallow Thy name,
May Thy kingdom holy
On earth be the same ”