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"She is mine own;

And I as rich in having such a jewel,

As twenty seas, if all their sands were pearl,
The water nectar, and the rocks pure gold."

-Shakespeare.

PICTURE.- Jesus Blessing Little Children, Plockhörst, Doré, Rembrandt, Rubens, Schönherr, Eastlake, West.

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"'Mong the people who hung on His teaching,

Or waiting His touch or His word,
Through the row of proud Pharisees listening,
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 to 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 set on His knee.

"And the heavy heart of the mother Was lifted all earth-care above,

As He laid His hand on the brothers,

And blessed them with tenderest love;—

"As He said of the babes on His bosom, 'Of such is the kingdom of heaven '; And strength for all duty and trial

That hour to her spirit was given."

A.D. 30.
Feb.-March.
PEREA.

LAST THREE
MONTHS OF

JESUS'
MINISTRY.
JESUS
AND THE
CHILDREN.

-Julia Gill.

HYMN. "I Think when I Read that Sweet Story of Old."

THE DISCIPLES REBUKED THEM.

"The sages frowned, their beards they shook,

For pride their hearts beguiled;

They said, each looking on his book,

'We want no Child.'

And men of grave and moral word,

With consciences defiled,

Said, 'Let the Truth alone be heard,

We want no Child."

-Mr. Lynch.

CHILDREN'S VOICES.-"The child's need is the supreme need. It is said by balloonists that the voices of children are heard at a

greater height than is any other sound that goes up from the earth. They travel higher than the screech of the steam-whistle, the roar of the cataract, or the shout of a mob. So, to the attentive ear which can estimate the true force of social appeals, the requirements of the younger generation come the first and rise the highest."

Children Joining the Church.

-Sunday-School Times.

14. SUFFER THE LITTLE CHILDREN TO COME unto Me.-" Of the many boys and girls whom we have received into church-fellowship, I can say of them all that they have gladdened my heart, and I have never received any with greater confidence than I have these. And this I have noticed about them, they have greater joy and rejoicing than any others. Among those I have had at any time to exclude from church-fellowship, out of a church of 2,700 members, I have never had to exclude a single one who was received while yet a child." -Spurgeon.

CARING FOR THE CHILDREN.-Mrs. Preston, in one of her beautiful poems, tells of a weary sister who grieved sorely because she had not been able to do any work for Christ. By a mother's dying bed she had promised to care for her little sister, and her work so filled her hands that she had not time for anything else. As she grieved thus once, the little sister sleeping beside her stirred, and told her of a sweet, strange dream she had had. She thought her sister was sitting sad because the king had bidden each one to bring him a gift.

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"There are many for whom this little story-poem should have sweet comfort. There are fathers and mothers who find it hard to

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provide for their children, It takes all their time and strength; and sometimes they say, 'I cannot do any work for Christ because it takes every moment to earn bread and clothing and to care for my little ones.' But Jesus whispers, 'Yes, but your children are mine; and what you do for them you do for me.'"

-7. R. Miller, in Westminster Teacher.

A.D. 30.
Feb.-March.
PEREA.

LAST THREE
MONTHS OF

JESUS'
MINISTRY.
JESUS
AND THE
CHILDREN.

EARLY CONVERSIONS.- -"At a late convention, Mr. B. F. Jacobs said that the triumphs of the church were to be won among the children; and if men and women were to be converted, it was to be when they were children.

"I'll prove that statement to you,' said Mr. Jacobs, and he called upon those in the audience who were converted after they were 50 years of age to rise. An old lady and a venerable-looking gentlemen were the only ones to respond. 'Two,' said Mr. Jacobs. Thank God for that. Now will those who were converted after 35 please rise?' Not more than half a dozen responded; but as Mr. Jacobs called for those who were converted when under 21 years of age, nearly every one in the audience rose to their feet. Mr. Jacobs smiled; and as the audience appreciated the value of the object-lesson he had taught in support of his statement, the applause was spontaneous and hearty."-Boston Journal.

The Apple

COMING TO CHRIST IN CHILDHOOD.—“ On the mantel-shelf of my grandmother's best parlor, among other marvels, was an apple in a phial. It quite filled up the body of the bottle, and my wondering inquiry was how it could have been got into its place. But the apple remained to me an enigma and a mystery. Walking in the garden I saw a phial placed upon a tree, bearing within it a tiny apple, which was growing within the crystal. Now I saw it all. The apple was put into the bottle when it was little, and it grew there. Just so we must catch the little men and women who swarm our streets, and introduce them within the influence of the Church; for, alas! it is hard indeed to reach them when they have ripened in carelessness and sin.”—Spurgeon.

in a Bottle..

CHILDREN AND THE CHURCH.-For many years I kept a strict record of certain facts relating to those who joined the church under

my ministry. Of the 374 whose record I have, 327, or seven-eighths, belonged to families in which one or both parents were Christians, in almost all cases the mother.

HOMES AND The Children.-Col. Gardiner Tufts for ten years had the oversight of all the youth in Massachusetts, under 17, who were sentenced by the courts. Of the 20,000 thus brought under his charge, he told me that not more than one-tenth had any homes that could be called homes.

LIBRARY.—Mr. Kingsmill, in his "Prisons and Prisoners," gives the result of his inquiries as to the origin of the criminal courses of a large number of prisoners. Summing them up, we find that at least four out of five had their origin in bad homes, or the want of homes. (2) The superintendent of the Providence, R. I., Reform School said that such was the case with nine-tenths of those who were sent to his institution.

LIBRARY," For of Such is the Kingdom of Heaven." Wordsworth's Poems "Intimations of Immortality."

"Trailing clouds of glory, do we come

From God who is our home;

Heaven lies about us in our infancy.

15. HE LAID HIS HANDS ON THEM.-"Touch but the heart of a child, and ages hence your finger-marks will be found upon him still."

I took a piece of plastic clay
And idly fashioned it one day,
And as my fingers pressed it still,
It moved and yielded to my will.

I came again when days were past;
The bit of clay was hard at last,

The form I gave it still it bore,

But I could change that form no more.

I took a piece of living clay,
And gently formed it day by day,
And molded with my power and art,

A young child's soft and yielding heart.

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