"Well," exclaimed Mrs. Sayers, "if we all had such a self-denying spirit,
we might fill another box at once. I will never again think that I am too
poor to give."--_Our Young Folks_.
ONLY A BOY
More than half a century ago a faithful minister coming early to the kirk,
met one of his deacons, whose face wore a very resolute expression.
"I came early to meet you," he said. "I have something on my conscience to
say to you. Pastor, there must be something radically wrong in your
preaching and work; there has been only one person added to the church in a
whole year, and he is only a boy."
The old minister listened. His eyes moistened, and his thin hand trembled
on his broad-headed cane.
"I feel it all," he said; "I feel it, but God knows that I have tried to do
my duty, and I can trust him for the results."
"Yes, yes," said the deacon, "but 'by their fruits ye shall know them,' and
one new member, and he, too, only a boy, seems to me rather a slight
evidence of true faith and zeal. I don't want to be hard, but I have this
matter on my conscience, and I have done but my duty in speaking plainly.
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