Let me remind you, for your encouragement, that some of the most eminent men who have adorned the Christian Church, or have guided the destinies of states, received the first impression of their future greatness from a mother's influence. Washington, the founder of a new empire-Morison, who gave to China a version of the Bible-Doddridge, the most useful of Biblical commentators-Whitfield, the prince of preachers, and Knibb, one of the most successful of modern missionaries, among a thousand brilliant names crowding upon the memory, built their greatness and success upon the foundation which a mother's hands had laid. Among the papers of a recently-deceased American statesman of great distinction,* has been found a letter addressed to him by his mother, when yet a lad, and holding an office in an embassy to Europe, which in part reveals the secret of her son's future and unsurpassed eminence. "Great learning and superior abilities," she writes, "should you ever possess them, will be of little value and of small estimation, unless virtue, honour, integrity, and truth are cherished by you. Adhere to the rules and principles early instilled in your mind, and remember that you are responsible to God. Dear as you are to me, I had much rather you would find a grave in the ocean which you have crossed than to see you an immoral, graceless child." Let every mother realise that, to a certain extent, she holds in her

* John Quincy Adams, Ex-president of the United States

Ꭰ

hand the future destiny of her child; that she is the founder of its character, and the architect of its greatness, as she is the author of its being,-and then let her trifle with a responsibility so precious and tremendous, if she can! Oh, who can fully estimate the worth, or unfold the blessing of a PRAYING MOTHER! "If we reflect upon those instances supplied so strikingly in Scripture, of the efficacy of unwearied and persevering prayer, we shall find several, even of the most affecting of them all, such as bear directly on our subject. For whom was it that the Syrophenician woman endured the bitterest humiliations and the most disheartening delays, until at length her faith and fervour called forth so signally the testimony of the Saviour's approbation? -Was it not for a daughter bound and oppressed by Satan? What was the unconquerable impulse which sustained the Jewish ruler when, in spite of its apparent hopelessness, he came and worshipped Him, and preferred, not in vain, this singular petition—' My daughter is even now dead, but come and lay thy hand upon her, and she shall live.'+ It is needless to multiply examples, but there is one so singularly applicable, and which may seem to treat the case of parents agitated by an almost hopeless solicitude for the spiritual welfare of their children in so many separate points, and in a manner of such striking adaptation, that we cannot pass it unnoticed. We refer to that urgent, and

* Mark vii. 25, &c.

† Matt. ix. 18, &c.

as it seemed, remediless extremity, wherein our Lord, descending from the mountain of transfiguration, found His disciples surrounded by the caviling scribes and an incredulous multitude, in the midst of which there stood a suppliant and half-desponding parent with his demoniac son. How great was that parent's disquietude! how heart-sickening his affliction! A fury, altogether uncontrollable, maddened the spirit over which he had watched and wept from its first dawn of intellect. A malignant and resistless influence had bowed even the body to the earth, cast it into the fire, engulfed it in the waters, and sought its destruction in a thousand ways. And now his last dependence seemed utterly to fail. He had brought his melancholy burden to the followers of Jesus-they could not administer relief. The populace, indignant at their incapacity, questioned, upbraided, challenged them to the proof; while every scornful objection and every unsuccessful endeavour brought him nearer to despair. His knowledge was still imperfect respecting the power of that Great Prophet, whose help at length he despondingly implored-'If Thou canst do anything, have compassion on us, and help us.'* Bitter were the tears with which he uttered that memorable confession-than which there is none more consolatory to the afflicted and tempted soul-'Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.' And his cup of anguish appeared to have * Mark ix. 14, &c.

received its last agonising ingredient, when, at the command of the Redeemer, compelled as he was to a surrender, the possessing demon gathered his utmost rage, put forth the last and fiercest demonstration of his energy, and left his prostrate victim convulsed and breathless in the dust, so that a murmur ran throughout the horror-struck assembly that the strife was over, and that life had departed. But oh, how encouraging the issue! Who will any longer despair of the

rescue and salvation of his child? Who will desist from his entreaty because of the confirmation of those evil habits, or the present exasperation and recklessness of that infuriated spirit, whose ravages he can only deplore?"*

We must refer to Elizabeth's love to the Bible as forming a remarkable trait in her Christian character worthy of imitation. She may almost be said to have been the child of one book. The Word of God was the instrument of her conversion; and thus early imbibing a deep reverence and love for it, it became her constant, and indeed her only spiritual companion, and the rich storehouse from whence she daily drew the divine nourishment which sustained the life of God in her soul. An instance of her early attachment to the Scriptures may be mentioned. On one occasion, when her papa embarked for Portugal to join his regiment, her mamma gave him the only copy of the Bible which

* Dr M'All.

Elizabeth possessed, promising to replace it immediately with another. For sometime this promise, despite of Elizabeth's earnest and perpetual entreaties, was unfulfilled and evaded. The sense of her loss was acute. Bereft of her Bible, she was bereft of her most precious treasure. Passing one day near a place where Bibles were sold, she stopped her mamma, and said, with imploring earnestness, "O my Mamma! I will go down upon my knees to you in this square, if you will but purchase me a precious Bible!" "Alas!" says the mother, "I did not then know the value of it myself, but, blessed be the Lord, she did, and felt its power and comfort too." My dear young reader, do you thus prize and read this blessed Book? If you are a believer, aspire to be a diligent and prayerful student of your Bible. Let it model your Christianity. Allow nothing to prevent its daily and devout perusal. No other reading, however spiritual and instructive, can supply its place. No other book can be a substitute for the Book of God. Consult it as the man of your counsel. Carry it with you as you would a lantern in a dark night and along a dangerous path. Let it cast its heaven-beaming rays before and around your uncertain and perilous way. Say with David, "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." Seek to have, by the Spirit's teaching, its divine truths inwrought with your soul's experience, that God's Word may daily quicken and sanctify, comfort, and guide