Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1883-07-12

Many years ago there lived in Eng.
land little girl who had never seen
the dear home faces, or the brightness
and beauty of the gladsunshine, fol
she was "blind."
Her father was a very poor man
and could hardly buy her bread
enough to eat. He had been brought
up in ignorance, as we'll as poverty
and the only thing he could do Was
to go about the country mending old
kettles and pans
Travelling through green lanes and
across meadows, carrying his scanty
tools in bag over nis shoulders, he
would stop at the cottages or farm
houses, find his way to the kitchen,
and inquire for that kind OF work
and if he obtained 1t, seek some flow
ering hedge, or green spot, where the
daisies and buttercups were noddlng
by his side, and there do his mend
ing; for though he was not Il good
man then he noticed very carefully
every bud, every flower, every cloud
and sunbeam. In fact, everything of
beauty found ii loving welcome in his
heart. He knew that he was very
wicked, and it made him unhappy
because of it, and in that poor, igno-
rant heart of his he was always wish
ing that he might lead Il better life !
How little he could see the working
of Gods WAYS then, or know what a
great man he was to become in God $
hands.
One day, while walking out as
usual in search of work, thinking as
lt went about the sinful heart he
had, 10 came upon II little company
of woMrn who were sitting IN front
of tn, poor house where they lived.
They were Y " old, and had neit..e'
MOI nor lc clothes, but they
seemed so happy that the poor trav-
cIrr determined to hear what they
were talking about, that gave them
SO much peace and comfort. for it was
lust what he wanted himself. And
heart sore, and weary, he drew near
and listened, and found that it was
the love of Christ in their hearts that
made them SO contcntrd. He heard
them say that it could be bought
"without money and without price,
and no matter how poor or how
wicked, if one only asked for it, they
could receive the Saviour's blessing.
The poor man hurried back to his
humble dwelling thtt night, told bis
wife and little blinl daughter the
good newsstand together they prayed
most earnestly that Christ would
come into their hearts, as lie had
come to these aged women ; and G'd
heard and answered the prayer speed
ilv, as he does every heartfelt prayer
Of those who trust in him. And this
peace became to them such a price
less boon that the delighted father
thought he must tell others about 1t !
For a while he was allowed to do
so, but because he was not rich and
powerful some of the enemies OF
Christ's cause put him in prison, just
as they did Peter and John, In the
lesson which we have Just gone over
And there for nearly twelve years,
he sat a prisoner in his lonely cell,
separated from his family and every
thing in nature that he loved SO
we'll.
But was he idle? No for he de-
termined, by the help of God, that II
he could not talk Christ and teach
the way to heaven he would begin to
write books, and tell Of all the beau
tiful things he had in his soul, espe-
ciallv the lesson learned of those poor
but happy women, so that the people
who read them should know the
sweet story of Christ's love for sim
ners
Now you will wonder how he
could do all this, if he was so igno-
rant, but "all things are possible with
Cod and he had given him that
spiritual wisdom and power to work
for him, without which, though we
have all the culture the world can
give, it can avail nothing in this
] calcp