reason. But there are others which are questionable. In my father's parish there was a lovely Christian woman who had never made a profession of her faith, though her friends often tried to persuade her to do so. Her husband, who had for twenty years seen her daily life of humble trust in Christ and obedience to him, begged my father to talk with her, and, if possible, overcome her reluctance to join the church. He found that she was so humble that she could scarcely lift up her eyes to behold Christ. He talked with her many times, however, and at last persuaded her that looking unto Jesus' was as much her duty as looking at her sinful self, and she came forward and acknowledged him as her Lord, to the great joy of all, herself included."

6

"But we are told in Corinthians," said Cyrene, "that a man must examine himself; For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself.'”

"Yes; we are to examine ourselves, but to find what? Perfect purity and sinlessness? No one who loves Christ will claim a place on account of his own intrinsic merits. Christ calls those who feel their sins, not their worthiness. No; we are to examine ourselves to see what are our desires, our purposes-whether we are truly resolved to follow our Master. If we are, then it is a duty and privilege to accept his invitation, 'Take, eat; this is my body,' and to drink from the cup when he commands, 'Drink ye all of it.'"

"But supposing one becomes a stumbling-block to others by uniting with the church," said Elizabeth.

"How does one become a stumbling-block?"

"By doing wrong."

"Whether members or not, have we any right to do wrong?" Elizabeth looked me full and thoughtfully in the face and answered, "No."

"Who can help us avoid sin ?"

"Jesus Christ."

"Will He help us more readily when out of the church, and disobedient to his command, than in the church, and trying to obey him in all things? We must fight sin, at all events; and it seems to me that we can fight better in the way he himself has appointed. If I am cold, shall I stay away from the fire? No. If I am spiritually weak, I shall try to get as near my Saviour as possible; I shall seek all the human aid within my reach; I shall accept any help that is offered, if it has his sanction."

"But I see that people make the failings of a church-member an excuse for doing wrong."

"We must simply seek to know our duty, and do that regardless of what others say or do Of course I do not mean that we are to be careless of their welfare; indeed, we cannot be, if we are really anxious to do right. When it is a question of our own feelings or wishes, merely, then we should be influenced by the effect on others: but I notice that it does not generally arise in that connection; it is when a question of duty is up that we begin to be troubled about the effect on others. The second of the two great commandments, by which Christ summed up the law, enjoins loving our neighbor as ourselves; and we can best do that by obeying our Lord, and seeking to please him in all things. Your joining the church may be a stumbling-block to some, and a great blessing to others. It may be, also, that just in this matter we may find the cross we are to carry-being willing not to seem a model to others, and bearing their sneers and fault-finding.”

Later, Elizabeth came alone.

"I have decided not to join the church at present," she said. "What has brought you to this conclusion ?" I asked.

"My feelings are not what they ought to be. I do not love God as I should."

"Do you wish to live for the world, or for eternity?"

"Oh, for eternity!"

"Is it your purpose to obey your Saviour and please him, or not?"

"Yes; I do wish to live for him; I am determined to, with his help."

"Then it seems to me that you have made a mistake. Don't look at your feelings - or only to pray God to give you what you lack. Feelings may lead one wildly astray. What is your determination? — that's the question.

"It seems to me better to wait till I leave school. I am afraid the girls will think I am setting myself up as a saint."

"It will be no easier out of school. There will be the same, or equally strong, objections. I am afraid you will do yourself harm rather than good by deferring this indefinitely-or till you are satisfied with your feelings. My father persuaded me into the church almost against my will. I had all the objections you have, and more. I lacked the firm faith and ardent love of the ideal Christian; I was full of faults, and he knew it as well as I; but he seemed to see in me an honest purpose to serve my Master. Since then I have been very grateful to my father. The bond of Christian fellowship was many times like an anchor, holding me to my Lord. Think the matter over, and may the Lord himself be your guide!"

Some days later, immediately after hearing a clear exposition of the origin, object, and use of church organization and membership, Cyrene came to ask that I would remind the pastor of her wish to profess her faith.

Soon afterward Elizabeth came to me. "I have decided," she said. "Will you please tell Pastor T. that I would like to join the church?"

BLUE RIBBONS.

INSTEAD of jumping the rail she sat down on it, her flowers and vines gathered in her hat, her face dreamy with thought.

"If we could only raise some money to begin on," she said to herself, "after awhile we could get the girls into it, and plan ways to raise more. Just think how splendid that mission band was out there in Greenfield - a little bit of a place, and not half a dozen girls to do anything! And here we have never tried. I am just ashamed. But I don't know how to begin. We must have a little money to start with. Ten cents a month is little enough. All of us could earn that, if we could only think of ways. We could have a sewing society, and make aprons and holders, and such things. They would sell, I guess. But aprons can't be made without money. I wish I had just a little to start the thing. If I had a dollar I would spend it in cloth and things, and get mamma to cut it out, and invite the girls, and talk it all up while we sewed. Things always go after they once get started. But, then, I haven't a dollar; and I certainly can't ask papa for any more money, after what he said last night."

Just at that moment our young dreamer started, and a pink flush came on her cheek. She had placed her hand in her pocket to get her handkerchief, and it came in contact with something hard. She knew what it was,,-a silver dollar, her own, too. What if she should use that to start a mission band with? But the dollar was to have bought blue bows with which to trim the new suit that was getting ready to be worn at Laura Stevens' birthday party. Every one knew that blue was just the color to match that soft, delicate goods; and a dress didn't look complete nowadays without bows of ribbon on it. Besides, she told the girls just what she was going to have. What would they think? "I don't see why I should give up everything to the missionaries, any more than other people," she said at last; and she felt as though she would like to be angry at somebody for thinking of such a thing-though, to be sure, no one had thought any such thing, or at least said it, save herself. She jumped the rails after

a little and went home, thinking all the time about the blue ribbon.

"Dear me! How they are dying off in China!" said her mother that evening, laying aside her paper as she spoke. “One can't help wondering whether the poor things who are the victims in this famine have ever heard of Jesus, and whether we have done all we could to get the gospel to them." Then she went to sewing on her daughter Claire's new suit, and the very next thing that she said was, "Blue ribbons will look pretty on this goods."

"I do not believe they will," said Claire, promptly-"that is, if you are willing, mamma, that I should change my mind. Papa gave me the money, but I have decided that I would like to spend it in another way."

Then, with some questioning, the story of the hoped-for mission band was told. In view of the hundreds starving in China, and the remark that she had just made, what could the mother say but, "Well, dear, just as you think best; but I am afraid your dress will look rather bare without any ribbon!"

Nevertheless, Claire, being a strong-hearted girl when her mind was fully made up, held to her resolution, and started her "band " with that silver dollar.- Light in Many Lands.

Our Work at Home.

MAY MEETING.

BY MRS. S. B. PRATT.

To the Woman's Board alone, this year, seemed delegated the burden of sustaining the glory of the May anniversaries—at least so far as the Congregationalists were concerned. Even the oldtime rain, so essential to a true observance of the meetings, was withheld.

The women proved equal, however, to the task laid upon them, and Mt. Vernon Church, though not crowded, was well filled with ladies who listened with interest to the missionary addresses.

The meeting was called to order at 10 o'clock by the President, Mrs. Albert Bowker; and after singing, scripture reading from the tenth chapter of John, with appropriate comments, Mrs. Lemuel Gulliver led in prayer.

Mrs. Bowen, from Smyrna, and Mrs. Greene, from Constantinople, both gave sprightly addresses, proving by facts that even Turkey is surely though slowly making progress toward a higher intellectual and spiritual life.

Mrs. Pease, on the eve of sailing for Micronesia, said a few good-bye words, expressing her joy that three young ladies stood beside her on the platform who were going to the work in Kusaie, and her sorrow that no one was found for Ruk.

The young ladies were Miss Hemingway from Springfield, Miss Crosby from Georgetown, and Miss Sarah L. Smith from Newton Centre. These, together with Miss Keyes, under appointment for Mexico, were all introduced by the President, and Miss Halsey, the New York Secretary, led in a special prayer for them.

A fresh and unusual interest was felt when a small figure, clothed in the soft, white drapery of a Brahman widow, stood on the platform and was introduced as the Pundita Ramabai.

In very pure English she told the sad story of the lives of widows in India, her own pathetic eyes giving point to the tale; and very forcibly she plead for the many millions of her countrywomen who are sitting in darkness.

The last speaker was Layyah Barakat, whose burning words always strongly move an audience. She knows but two classes, Christian or heathen; and "how can one be a Christian who does not care for foreign missions ?"

The prayer of consecration was offered by Miss Child, and with the old Doxology, which is ever new, the meeting closed.

PRAYER FOR MISSION-FIELDS.

MRS. S. W. HOWLAND, who has left behind her so many pleasant memories in this country, has also left a special request for prayer for all mission-fields. It is arranged as follows:

List of mission-fields, with day of prayer for each

SUNDAY - CHINA. Foochow, Hongkong, North China, Shanse. MONDAY. Spain, Austria, European Turkey.

TUESDAY-TURKEY. Western Turkey, Central Turkey, East

ern Turkey.

WEDNESDAY-INDIA. Maratha, Madura, Ceylon.

THURSDAY- AFRICA. Zulu, East Central Africa, West Central Africa.

FRIDAY. Northern Mexico, Western Mexico, Micronesia.
SATURDAY. Sandwich Islands, Japan, Northern Japan.

We would like to add to this a remembrance for those who are trying to carry on the work in this country, that they may have