THE LOST FOUND. 165 from being the highest in the world. There are many in America, and elsewhere, whose summits have never been reached, the cold being too great and the air too rarefied and dense for any human being to exist in. We know not whether any of our young friends have ever been troubled with thoughts as to how and when mountains were placed upon the earth; but this is a question that has caused much dispute and argument amongst the wise ones of the world. It is a subject that has produced many learned theories, and little practical knowledge. Some have attributed their rise to earthquakes, some to the fluctuations of the sea, which they suppose to have covered the whole earth at one time; others argue that they have existed from the Creation; while others have supposed that they were formed by the earth's broken crust at the time of the Deluge. That this latter theory is incorrect is, we think, sufficiently proved by the Bible itself, for was it not from a mountain that the dove, sent forth from the ark, first brought back the branch to those within? And was it not on Mount Ararat that the ark itself first rested? But be that as it may, mountains are in many ways of service to man, and in knowing this we should be content. Mountain travelling is not always the safest or most pleasant travelling in the world. It is always arduous, often dangerous. Yet many attempt it in search of pleasure; others are forced to it by the call of duty. Napoleon the First found it no easy task to lead his troops across the Alps; and Hannibal found it necessary to blast the rocks by pouring boiling vinegar upon them ere he could cross with his mighty army. THE LOST FOUND. ONE night, a few months ago, a friend of ours was passing along the streets of London on his way home. Looking down on a dark door-step, he saw three poor girls 166 THE LOST FOUND. crouching together on the damp stones. Poor things! they were cold and hungry, and it seemed as if they had taken up their abode there for the night. Hundreds of people were passing by, cabs and carts were rumbling in all directions, the doors of the public-houses were blazing ith light all round them, and yet theirs was a lonely lodging. Homeless and friendless, none of all the happy and the gay cared a straw for them. Why should any one care for them ?--so the world says-poor, dirty, and ragged, perhaps wicked, girls. But there was One who cared. The eye of Him who is a Father to the fatherless was upon them, and he brought his servant that way, like a good Samaritan, to bind up their wounds. The gentleman stopped, spoke kindly to them, and seeing they were destitute, he took all the three to a Girls' Refuge. How strange it seemed when they got into their new home, with kind friends to comfort and cheer them. The teachers talked to them as gently, and smiled upon them as sweetly, as if they had known them all their days. Poor girls! they did not know whose love it was that made them so happy-that it was the love of Jesus in the hearts of those kind friends that flowed out upon them so unexpectedly. One of them was a little Jewess. Her father was an Italian Jew; he once had a comfortable home, but things went against him; he had no Saviour to go to, and in a fit of despondency, a few months before, committed suicide, leaving his poor children destitute. Being a Jew, he had taught his little daughter to dislike the Saviour, and at first, true to her father's faith, she would not even read the Testament. By-and-bye, however, her obstinacy gave way, and before long she was lying a poor broken-hearted sinner at the feet of that same Jesus whom her fathers slew, crying, "Lord, save THE LOST FOUND. 167 or I perish." The Lord heard the cry of this poor orphan, and in a still small voice he said to her, "Thy sins, which are many, are forgiven thee." And they were and are forgiven; and now she rejoices in his love. Assisted by the Committee of the Refuge, this poor girl has now gone out as an emigrant to a place called Tasmania. You will know best how she was getting on when she left London if you read the following letter, which she wrote to the gentleman who found her on the door-step, from on board the ship at Gravesend. She says: "DEAR, KIND SIR, "I hope you will excuse the liberty I have taken in thus addressing you. I felt very dull after you left us until about a quarter to ten in the evening, when a few of us met together, and held a very nice prayer-meeting on deck by the light of the moon. After that I was very happy. The men are very busy at work this morning, and every one seems to forget that it is the Sabbath-day. I asked the matron if we might go to chapel, but she said we had better not leave the ship; so I distributed a a few tracts, and while doing so some children came and asked me to give them some; so I gave them some Children's Magazines, and then I began to talk to them. I asked them if they knew who Jesus was, and one boy, twelve years of age, said, 'No, ma'am, who is that?' I told him he was the Son of God; that he loved little children, and wanted them to pray to him. Oh, how thankful I felt that I could tell them! But while telling them how Jesus loved them, some of the men stood laughing at me, and I began to be ashamed, and left them. But I have since prayed to God that he would 168 LAST WORDS OF A CHINESE CHRISTIAN. give me more courage, for I thought how wrong I had acted in going away. Oh, sir, what would have become of me if you had thus left me? Oh, I feel that God has been so good to me when I think how he directed you where I was. That is indeed a day long to be remembered by me in thankfulness to God. I cannot express the gratitude I feel for all that has been done for me. "Give my love to all the dear children, and I hope they will pray that God will give me strength and grace to continue to love and serve him. We may never meet again here, but I hope we shall all meet where our Saviour has gone to prepare a mansion for all those who love him. "Your affectionate scholar, "JEANETTE ASCOLI." : Reader, have you courage to speak for Jesus, even when the world laughs at you? LAST WORDS OF A CHINESE OUR missionary, Mr. Douglas, tells us of the death of one of the native Christians at Amoy. He had known the Lord for some years, and He did not forsake the poor man at last. He was insensible during a great part of his illness: but his last words were such as any Christian might wish to say when dying. "Jesus calls me, and I follow," said he, and away his spirit went into the arms of its God. Reader, Jesus calls you too, not to die, perhaps, but to give yourself up to him, that you may be saved. Will COUNTING THE COST. 169 you? Or do you mean to put it off a little longer? Death will decide the business for you by-and-bye. Better do it yourself-now. Jesus calls you. Be it yours to say, "Lord, I follow. What wilt thou have me to do ?" PEACE. THE peace which this world can bestow, The pleasures that wicked men know In peace In sin they may slumber away; The peace of the Christian is sure; His spirit true joy can impart, COUNTING THE COST. "D. G." LIVING in the neighbourhood of the school-house was a very wealthy, proud infidel. Some of his family were inclined to go to the prayer-meeting. He called his family together, and told them, that if any of them went to that prayer-meeting and "got religion," as he called |