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PAUL, A TRUE CHRISTIAN.

however, I was compelled to acknowledge the injustice of this judgment.

"Paul's state of health grew daily worse, and the pulmonary affection which had been the cause of his leaving the army, made such rapid progress as to excite the most serious apprehensions of even a speedy termination of his life. In moments of intense suffering he would clasp his hands, and with an upward look of filial submission, murmur out, 'Have pity, oh! my Father, and help me! yet not my will, but Thine be done!' or, 'Precious Saviour! I know and am sure that all things must work together for good to them who love Thee!'

"One day I observed to my wife that Paul's change of character was the most extraordinary thing I had ever met with; more especially the manner in which he spoke of God's goodness towards him at the very time he was enduring such agony of body, and anticipating death, filled me, I said, with astonishment.

"True,' replied my wife; but I'll tell you a secret which accounts for it: Paul is a Christian,— a true Christian!'

"What do you mean by that?' retorted I; 'neither you nor I are heathens, I hope.'

'Ah! my dear husband,' she replied, 'not quite heathens, perhaps; and yet not real Christians! For I put it to yourself: has God been hitherto the chief object of our thoughts; or His law the rule

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of our actions? We scarcely knew the name of Jesus formerly; or, at all events, when we did pronounce it, no sense of benefit derived from Him, or dependence on Him for salvation, accompanied the word! But in my intercourse with Paul I have learned things which constitute my deepest joy!'

"In your intercourse with Paul you have learned new things! and pray, what are they?' asked I. 'Listen,' said she. 'Some little time ago, as I was one day trying to prop up the poor boy in one of his sad fits of suffocation, a little book fell out from beneath his pillow; I afterwards picked it up from the floor, and saw it was a New Testament, of which I had indeed heard, but never before seen one. The following day I mentioned my discovery to Paul. He then related to me that a soldier who had been mortally wounded close beside him, had given him this book, and expired immediately afterwards; that the dying man had bade him read it; that he had done so; and that this legacy had proved to him the treasure of all treasures, the source of his change of character, his peace and his joy.

"Every day since, when he and I have been alone, Paul has looked out passages of the Testament for me to read to him; and he has given me such plain and simple explanations of what I did not understand, that I soon began to believe and love the great good news, that God sent His only

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THE DUMB ELOQUENT WITNESS.

Son into the world, that whosoever believeth in Him might not perish, but receive everlasting life.

"Paul is anxious to speak to you also of these things, but he is afraid; and, indeed, the poor boy blames himself much for this coward fear, which he calls treachery towards his Saviour, and is constantly praying that he may be strengthened to confess HIM, not only before you, but before the whole world.'

"This communication of my wife's," said the landlord, with deep feeling, "made a great impression on me. I went oftener than before to my nephew's sick-bed, and, blessed be God, he soon began to tell me also of the gospel of Christ; and God, who is rich in mercy, bestowed His effectual blessing on Paul's instructions, so that not only my wife, my son, and daughter, but my own hardened self, received the truth, and are able to testify, as the Samaritans did of old: 'Now we believe, not because of his saying, but we ourselves know that this is indeed Christ, the Saviour of the world.'

"Paul is no longer among us," continued the host with a trembling voice, “the Lord has called him home! But," said he, as he laid his hand on the New Testament which had first attracted the traveller's attention, "this is the dumb, and yet most eloquent witness of the immeasurable goodness of God, and the instrument of conveying that goodness to us! From this precious volume, read

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with attention and prayer, we have learned the testimony of God concerning His Son; and the written Word being engraven in our hearts by the power of the Spirit, has become to us the source of unvacillating peace, and of a calm happiness such as the world can neither give nor take away, and for which we have cause to bless God in both time and eternity."

MICHAEL LINNER, of the Moravian Church at Herrnhut, in Germany, in 1738 was in a miserable state of heart because he was nothumble, meek, and pure, as, according to the Word of God, he felt he ought to be. He knew enough of Bible truth to be assured that God would not mock His creatures by His requirements. "I was more than ever convinced" said he "that I was wholly different from what God required me to be. I consulted His word again and again; but it spoke nothing but condemnation; till at last I could not read, nor indeed do anything else, having no hope and no spirit left in me.

"I had been in this state for several days, when, musing by myself, these words came strongly into my mind: 'God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son,' to the end that all who 'believe in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.' I thought, 'All?' Then I am one. Then He is given for me! but I am a sinner,

H

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'HE FOUND ONE, EVEN JESUS."

and He came to save sinners! Immediately my burden dropped off and my heart was at rest.

"But the full assurance of faith I had not yet; but after some time it pleased our Lord to manifest Himself more clearly to my soul, and give me that full sense of acceptance in Him which excludes all doubt and fear."

When engaged in business activities, though an unsaved lad, in 1813, DAVID NASMITH, the future founder of City Missions, was chosen Secretary of "The Glasgow Youths' Bible Association." This was the commencement of a new era in his history. It brought him into acquaintance with a number of pious young men whose walk and conversation were very consistent. This led him often to reflect upon the contents and influence of the book they were giving to others. He found an increasing interest in its communications, and was led to behold himself as a guilty polluted sinner in the sight of a pure and holy God.

"I found my heart desperately wicked, and unable to do anything to satisfy Divine justice, or better its condition. Often, often did I try to improve my conduct; but as often did I find that, as the Ethiopian cannot change his skin, nor the leopard his spots, no more can they who have been accustomed to do evil learn to do well. By con tinuing to search the Scriptures, I FOUND ONE,