"Don't He?" asked Frank, wonderingly.

"No indeed," answered Nelly; "and you ought to think how good He is, and how He loves us, and gives us good things, while the poor little beggars go from door to door." Then she continued, "Franky, shall I tell you a story about praying? Once there was a little boy, and his mother was very poor and had no bread, and he said, 'Mother, I'll get some bread.' And he went in a corner and kneeled down and prayed, 'Please, Heavenly Father, give us some bread.' And he thought about what he was saying, Franky; and Heavenly Father heard him, and put a great big basket-full in a good woman's heart, and she took it to the poor people, and they had plenty to eat. So you see, Franky," she moralized, "we must always think about what we say."

Her exhortations seemed to be understood by little Frank, and he asked, "Do you think about yours?"

"Oh, yes," replied Nelly, "always. Let me show you." And she repeated her little prayer very solemnly, saying at the end, "There, Franky, I thought about that."

Frank's sense of condemnation for his own formal prayer was by this time thoroughly aroused, and he called out at the top of his voice, "Mamma, mamma, come back; I want to say my prayer over again, and think about it."

And his thoughtful little voice and manner, as he repeated his childish requests, showed how effectual the lesson had been.

What such a companionship would have been to

him as he grew up, we cannot tell; for a few months after this time, on Christmas morning, 1857, our darling Nelly was taken home to heaven, at the age of five years and five months; and as no more children were added to the family for eight years, Frank was for all that time an only child. He was also the oldest grandchild in the families of both his grandfather Smith and grandfather Whitall, and was an especial joy and delight, petted by all around him.

A very sweet, fascinating little fellow he was, full of gentle and generous impulses, and developing daily many winning little traits. But he had also a naturally obstinate, wilful temper, and until he was between four and five years of age, the peculiar circumstances by which he was surrounded made him quite naughty at times; and his fits of loud crying, followed by long sullen spells, were very much dreaded by his mother and aunts.

About this age, however, a great change took place in him. His father and I, who had long been seeking the truth, while absent from one another, were both brought on the same day, during the summer of 1858, to a knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ as our allsufficient Saviour, bearing our sins in his own body on the tree; and by faith in Him were "born again" into the family of God. Almost at once we began to wonder whether Frank could understand this blessed gospel. He seemed too young. We thought it almost useless to try; and yet the news of salvation was too good to be kept from our child, and we told him as simply as possible the story of Jesus and his love. To our

amazement,—so ignorant were we then of the meaning of those words of our Lord, "Suffer little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of heaven,"-Frank seemed to understand. The blessed Holy Spirit carried home the truth to his little heart. His soul was brought under a real conviction of his sinfulness and his need of a Saviour, and in his gentle, childish way, easily and simply, he too believed, and was born again.

Among my old papers I find the following account, written at the time, and as I have read it over and over since his death, every scene it describes comes up before me with intense vividness.

"Our little boy, only four years old, has been converted this past winter. We had never taught him anything about trusting Jesus, because we did not know it ourselves. And we had contented ourselves with general instructions about God as a Father in heaven, and about his moral law as the rule of life. And even after we had learned the truth for ourselves, it seemed to us for a while that it was impossible for one so young to understand anything about it. But having heard the story of a very little girl who had been saved through some open-air mission work in which we were engaged, our eyes were opened to the fact that even little children could come to Jesus and find forgiveness. And with earnest prayer that the truth as it is in Jesus might be blessed to our child, we began to tell him the blessed story. He listened to it wonderingly and gladly. The Holy Spirit made him feel himself to be a sinner needing a Saviour, and

at once he seemed to open his gentle heart to admit the gracious Lord who was knocking for entrance.

"The fruits of the Spirit at once began to show themselves in him very manifestly. He loves to talk of Jesus, and to hear stories about Him, and repeats over and over again, Mamma, I love Heavenly Jesus best of all.' He has become gentle and yielding, and full of love, even his little face shining often with a real heavenly light, and all his old sullen tempers seem to have disappeared almost entirely. This change is so striking that even our casual visitors cannot but notice it, for he was formerly one of the most obstinate and difficult of children, so that we at times almost despaired of conquering him. Now, when he is tempted to be naughty, he runs away by himself for a little while, and then comes back with a bright smile on his face, and in gentle tones makes a pleasant remark, watching eagerly to see how it will be received. Several times when this has occurred I have said, 'Frank, did you ask Heavenly Jesus to send the good angel into your heart?' and he has answered, 'Yes, mamma, I said it in my heart, and right away He heard me, and sent the good angel to drive the naughty one away.' But sometimes his answer has been, 'No, mamma, I did not ask Him, for He sent it right in Himself, quick before I had time to ask.'

"He loves to talk about our spirits going up to heaven, and seems fully to realize that the spirit is the part of us that loves and trusts Jesus, and wants to please Him. Once when we had been talking together on these things, his face lighted up with a

lovely, enthusiastic little smile, and he said, 'Oh, mamma, I do love Heavenly Jesus so! If He was standing here by me, I would kiss and hug Him all the time.' Then, after a pause, he added, ‘And, mamma, I will save ever so many hugs on my hands to give Him when we go up to meet Him in the clouds.'

"The darling child seems to have no fear of death, but rather to desire it, and sometimes he will say in the morning, 'Oh, mamma, may-be it will be Heavenly Father's time for me to go up to heaven to-day, and then I will be so glad.'

"A short time after his conversion, he taught me a lesson I shall never forget. I had been teaching him to pray every evening 'O Lord Jesus, please give me. a new heart that will love Thee. He was for a while very earnest in praying, saying it two or three times in the evening, and asking us to remind him to say it in the morning; and it was very sweet to see him, his little hands clasped, and his eyes closed, pausing reverently a moment in silence, and then saying the few simple words so confidently, as though sure of a speedy answer. But one night, after I had read his usual little story to him, and had tucked him up comfortably in bed, as I leaned over him to listen to his last prayer, he said, Mamma, I want to pray, but I don't know what to pray for.'

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Why not say your usual prayer for a new heart?'

I asked.

'Oh, mamma,' he answered, 'I can't say that any more, for I did ask Heavenly Jesus for a new heart,