66 A HAPPY DEATH. "RUTH ELLIOTT " is a name which will be familiar to many of our readers, as the author of "Little Ray and her Friends," and Margery's Christmas Box." This, however, was a nom de plume; her real name was Lillie Peck, and she was a daughter of the Rev. W. P. Peck, Wesleyan Minister. This gifted and amiable young lady, who delighted so many by her writings, died last October. There is in the Wesleyan Magazine for this month an interesting sketch of her life, and the books she has written, and of her beautiful Christian death. It is the account of the latter we wish to present to our young friends, in the hope that it may awaken the desire in the minds of some of them, to be the true disciples of Jesus, which this lady was. She was not naturally gifted with physical strength, and in her youthful days the delicate state of her health awakened anxiety in the minds of her friends. This delicacy of constitution she did not outgrow, but still was enabled to employ her pen for the purpose of interesting and benefiting the young. In the autumn of last year, she was attacked with spitting of blood; still no alarm was created, and the day before she passed away, her medical attendant was hopeful of her recovery; but about an hour after he had left her, a change came, which was the precursor of her end. Instantly medical assistance was obtained, but it was of no avail. It soon became evident that her beautiful, loving, earnest life was drawing to its earthly close. All then that remained was to watch for, and witness that close. From the beginning of this attack, she felt how it would end; but till the end came she was all peace and triumph. The very thought that she was now so near her heavenly home and her Saviour, brightened her countenance and called forth the most emphatic expressions of inward thankfulness. "To her, death had no dread; there was no shrinking from its approach; but a joyful feeling, that at last the messenger was come for whom she had been preparing, and for whom she was ready. I am dying now, and I know it,' was one of her earliest utterances, as dear ones gathered round her bed. All is right:' then, after a few moments' silence, she began to speak of her peace, her joy, her prospects. Heaven itself seemed to be opening to her vision, and conscious that she was on its threshold, she could not restrain the ecstasy which she felt. And while she told of what at that moment she experienced, every one present seemed to feel as if heaven itself were near. She said, to comfort those around her, 'It is so easy to die, so easy to die;' and, after a pause, ‘I am so happy, and quite safe;' laying a special emphasis upon the words' quite safe? After a little while she said, 'Jesus is close to me here in this room. You cannot see Him, but I can clearly, and He is touching me. He is holding me up so strongly, I fear nothing. I have no terror. Don't be afraid for me. Jesus is near, so near, and it is beautiful to have Him. It is all right.' Then a change came over her whole countenance, which appeared to be beaming with joy. It was clear to those who watched her, that she was under the influence of the most ecstatic emotions, and soon the cause of that joy was known. 'O! I can see it all now,' she said. I can see inside, and it is lovely, lovely!' And knitting her brows with the emphasis which she threw into the words, she added, 'I never saw anything so lovely! It is beautiful to see Jesus. Heaven below, heaven below! It is so easy to die; I am so happy! It is the easiest thing in the world to die. I wish I had gone long ago for such happiness as this.' 'The everlasting arms are around you,' said one. 'Yes, and under me too;' she replied. Jesus is with me, and I am quite safe. It is such peace! All of you believe me. Oh, it is most lovely! I want to go. It won't be long, will it ? No pain, no pain, not any more pain. O Jesus, keep me close till I get right in! There is nothing like this beautiful heaven. I am nearly there.' Her last words were, 'I can see Jesus close by me, and shall soon be with Him now.' And so it was: there was no battling for life, no struggle with the great destroyer. There was a gentle sigh, and her spirit passed from her earthly to her heavenly home. It was a beautiful ending of a beautiful life." A LITTLE BOY'S REASONS FOR ABSTAINING.* I abstain from intoxicating drink— 1st. Because I am well without it, and I believe I shall be better if I never touch it. 2nd. Because if I take drink I might become a drunkard, and I want to be a sober man. 3rd. Because the drink causes disease, and I want to be healthy. 4th. Because the drink fills our workhouses, and prisons, and mad houses, and I want to keep on the outside of such places. 5th. Because it is expensive as well as useless, and I don't want to waste my money on it. 6th. Because drunkards have bad characters, and I want to be quite sure of a good one. 7th. Because drink makes people wretched, and I want to be happy and see other people happy. 8th. Because I wish to go to heaven when I die, and God tells me that no drunkard shall inherit the kingdom of heaven. Hulme. CHARLES OGden. *A short prize paper read by a little boy at the Boston St. Band of Hope meeting. SUNDAY-SCHOOL DEPARTMENT. SCRIPTURE LESSONS FOR SUNDAY-SCHOOLS. MORNING SUBJECTS. SUBJECT. Third Quarter. 3 David and Jonathan 10 David sparing Saul 17 Saul and his sons slain 24 David established King GOLDEN TEXTS FOR REPETITION. FOR READING. 1 Sam. xx. 16-23,32- Prov. xviii. 24. 2 Sam. v. 1-5, 17-25 Psa. xxi. 1. 31 The Ark brought to Zion.. 2 Sam. vi. 1–15 .. AFTERNOON (International) SUBJECTS. SUBJECT. Third Quarter. FOR READING. 3 The Ministry of Reconciliati on 2 Cor. v. 10–21. 10 The Fruit of the Spirit Gal. v. 22; vi. 10.. 17 The Christian Armour Ephes. vi. 10-24 24 The Mind of Christ 31 Practical Religion. .... Phil. ii. 1-16...... Psa. cxxxii. 13. GOLDEN TEXTS FOR REPETITION. ver. 20. vi. 7. ver. 11. ver. 5. ver. 23. 7 God's Covenant with David 2 Sam. vii. 1-11, 18 14 Absalom's Rebellion.. 7 The Coming of the Lord.. 1 Thess.iv.13-18,& v. 14 The Christian in the World 1 Tim.vi. 6-21.[1-10. 21 The Christian Citizen .... Titus ii. 11, iii. 9. Review of Quarter's Lessons 28 BIBLE QUESTIONS. A CHARACTER. GOLDEN TEXTS FOR REPETITION. Acts xiii. 23. GOLDEN TEXTS FOR REPETITION. iv. 17. A man who lived when idolatry was supreme in Israel, and Baal the acknowledged God at the court of Samaria. He did a work expressly forbidden by God five hundred years before, when the judgment that would come on the doer of the work was particularly mentioned. The entire narrative, giving the reign in which he lived, his name, place of abode, work and punishment, is presented in one verse cf Scripture. A SUBJECT. 1. Give three instances of the humility of John the Baptist. A PUZZLE. 1. The city whose valiant men buried Saul. 2. A letter of the Greek alphabet used as a name of Christ. 3. A man of great strength. 4. A man punished for not rightly training his children. 5. A deaconness of the church at Cenchrea. 6. One of the rivers of Eden. The initials give the patriarch, and the finals the prophet, most famed for chastity, temperance and firmness. ANSWERS TO THE JUNE QUESTIONS. A character-John the Baptist. A subject-The Nile. A puzzle -1. Ashdod, 1 Samuel v. 1. 2. Beale, 2 Samuel, vi. 2. 3. IshbiBenob, 2 Samuel xxi. 16. 4. Nebo, Deuteronomy xxiv. 1. 5. Ophir, 1 Chronicles xxix. 4. 6. Agrippa, Acts xxvi. 28. 7. Machpelah, Genesis xxiii. 9. Initials: Abinoam. Finals: Deborah. Judges iv. 4, 6. NEVER FORGET TO PRAY. NEVER, my child, forget to pray, The time will come when thou wilt miss And then, my child, perchance thou❜lt see Some who in prayer ne'er bend the knee; And ne'er, my child, forget to pray. "Mary," said a mother to her little girl, "if I was a little girl like you, I should pick up all those chips." "Well, mamma," answered Mary, are not you glad you are not a little girl!" 66 JUVENILE MISSIONARY MEETINGS. ASHTON-UNDER-LYNE.-The annual Juvenile Missionary meeting was held in the chapel on Sunday afternoon, April 27th, 1879. Mr. J. S. Pendlebury occupied the chair, and very excellent addresses were delivered by Messrs. Wrigley, of Hasleyhill, J. W. Ashton of Dukinfield, and J. Wilde of Waterloo. Miss Maddock, of Ashton, also contributed to the enjoyment of the meeting by reciting a very beautiful poem, entitled "Freely ye have received, freely give." Our work during the past year has been a very pleasant and a very successful one. There have been an earnestness and an enthusiasm exhibited in many of the classes, such as we have never seen before. The boys of the school deserve special mention, their praiseworthy generosity and honest rivalry have resulted in an increase on their last years' amount of 150 per cent. Our young folks, the infants, have made their first effort, and have contributed £1 4s. 2d., and our two little friends, Miss May Kelsall, and Miss Sissie Addyman have collected by box 11s. 3d. and 10s. 4d. respectively. Altogether the year has been one of unprecedented success; the total amount contributed by the whole school is £41 7s. 8d., or an increase of £11 19s. 11d. on last year. This result, considering the depressed state of trade, is exceedingly gratifying.-H. G. COOKE, Secretary. ARDSLEY.-On Sunday, April 27th, 1879, we held our annual Juvenile Missionary meeting in the chapel. The Rev. J. Gibson opened the meeting by singing and prayer. Mr. H. Wilkinson was chosen to preside. After thanking our Juvenile friends who had elected him to the chair, and making a few remarks on Mission work, he called upon the Rev. J. Gibson, who gave an able and excellent address. The secretary then read the report. The following sums have been collected by the scholars. Laura Harper, £1 5s.; Esther A. Wilson, 9s.; Emma Robinson, 7s. ; Jabez A. Cartwright, 5s. 3d.; Fanny T. Butler, 3s. 6d.; Catherine Jones, 3s.; Levi Hudson, 2s. 8d.; Selina Hancock, 2s. 3d.; Mary E. Harper, 2s. 2d.; Mary A. Wake, 1s. 6d. : £3 1s. 4d. Collection, £2 5s. Total, £5 6s. 4d. ; less expenses, 5s. 6d.—£5 Os. 10d., being an increase of £1 15s. 10d. over last year. The chairman then called upon the Juvenile speakers to address the meeting, as follows: Josh. Gladwin, Annio Brook, Geo. Johnson, Gertha Sanderson, Samuel Robinson, Geo. E. Thompson, Eliz. Jones, Sarah J. Owram, Jno. R. Maddison, Chas. Kenyon, Luke Cummings, Esther A. Wilson. The Juvenile addresses were interspersed with singing. Our worthy chairman then called upon our young friends to make the collection. A vote of thanks was given to the chairman, and the meeting closed by singing, "All hail the power of Jesu's name." During the year a committe has been formed for carrying on the Mission work here. It is also proposed that two voluntary offering boxes be placed in the school for the coming year. Seeing that the Lord hath blessed cur labours, we are encouraged to renew our efforts |