AMY HARRISON

 OR

 HEAVENLY SEED AND HEAVENLY DEW. 

 [Decoration]

 LONDON T. NELSON AND SONS, PATERNOSTER ROW EDINBURGH; AND NEW YORK. 

 [Illustration: A NEW FEELING. _Page 57. _]

CONTENTS. 

 I. THE WALK, 7

 II. AT SCHOOL, 15

 III. AT HOME, 30

 IV. A NEW LEAF, AND HOW IT WAS FILLED, 34

 V. TRY AGAIN, 41

 VI. THE TRUTH SETTING FREE, 46

AMY HARRISON. 

CHAPTER I. 

THE WALK. 

One fine Sunday morning two little girls, called Amy and KittyHarrison, set out from their mother's cottage to go to the Sundayschool in the neighbouring village. The little hamlet where they livedwas half a mile from the school. In fine weather it was a verypleasant walk, for the way lay by the side of a little chatteringstream, which fed the roots of many pretty wild flowers; and then, leaving the valley, the path struck across some corn-fields, whichwere now quite yellow for harvest. And even in wet weather the littlegirls seldom missed the school; for their mother was a careful woman, and they themselves loved their teacher and their lessons. Mrs. Mordaunt, the wife of the clergyman, taught them on Sunday, for bothAmy and Kitty were in the first class. 

Amy was tripping lightly along, enjoying the sunshine. Every now andthen she bent down and gathered a wild flower, --the four-leaved yellowpotentilla, or the meadow-sweet, or a spike of golden rod, or ahandful of forget-me-nots, watered by the stream, to make a littlenosegay for her teacher; for Mrs. Mordaunt loved flowers and wouldsometimes take the lesson for the day from them. And she loved betterstill the affectionate remembrances of her children. 

Kitty, meanwhile, was walking very soberly along, reading herhymn-book. Perhaps from this you may think that Kitty was the moreindustrious and thoughtful of the two; but it was not so. Amy hadrisen early that morning, and got her lessons all ready, and so shecould enjoy the pleasant walk freely; for you know, or if you do notknow I hope you will learn, that it is always those who are busiest attheir work that can be merriest in their hours of leisure. Nothinggives us such an appetite for enjoyment as hearty work. So Amy trippedon, humming a cheerful hymn, while poor Kitty kept on saying over andover again the words of her hymn, and vainly trying to stop her earsfrom hearing and her eyes from seeing all the pleasant sights andsounds around her. But the birds were so busy singing, and the fishkept springing up from the stream, and every now and then a brightbutterfly would flit across, or a little bird perch on a spray closeto her, and everything around seemed trying so mischievously to takeher attention from her book, so that they had reached the gate at theend of the wood before Kitty had learned two verses of her hymn. 

You see, these two little girls were not quite like each other, although they had the same home, and the same lessons, and the sameplays. If you sow two seeds of the same plant in the same soil, youknow they will grow up exactly like each other. The flowers will be ofthe same colour, the same smell, the same shape; the roots will suckup the same nourishment from the soil, and the little vessels of thestems and leaves will cook it into the very same sweet, or sour, orbitter juices. But with little children it is quite different. You mayoften see two children of one family, with the same friends, the sameteaching, the same means of improvement, as different in temper andcharacter from each other as if they had been brought up on oppositesides of the world. Indeed, it is as strange for children of onefamily to be alike, as for flowers to be unlike. Why is this? Amongother reasons one great one is, that God has given to children a_will_--a power of choosing good or evil. Flowers have no will; theycannot help being beautiful, and being what God meant them to be. Theearth feeds them, and the rains water them and make them grow withoutany choice or will of theirs; but with you, children, it is quiteotherwise. God has given you _wills_; and it is in your own power tochoose whether you will be good and happy children, and a blessing toall around you, and turning everything around you into a blessing, every year growing wiser and better; or whether you will yield to theevil within and around you, and turn health, and time, and Christianteaching, and all the good things God sends to feed your souls, intofood for your selfish and idle natures, and so grow every year worseand worse. You must do one of these two things, --you may do the best. Remember I do not say you can do them _for_ or _by yourselves_, butyou _can do_ them. God has said so. The flowers cannot choose or askfor food, and so God chooses for them and gives without asking. Youare higher creatures than they, and can choose and ask, and so Godwill wait for you to ask before he gives; but he is only waiting forthis, and he is always ready to hear. 

Mrs. Mordaunt had told the children something of this last Sunday, andAmy thought of it as she walked, and did ask God to bless herteacher's words to her that day. 

Now you have seen how Amy and Kitty Harrison used their power ofchoice. The sun had beamed into the room for Kitty as well as for Amythat morning. God had given them both the pleasant morning hours ofhis day to use as they liked best. Kitty had chosen to spend them indozing lazily in bed, while Amy had jumped out of bed and dressedquickly, and gone out to her favourite seat under an old cherry treeto learn her lessons. 

So the little girls reached the gate at the end of the wood. Outsidewas a road, across which lay the corn-fields leading to the church, and beside it stood a cottage where Amy and Kitty used to stop to callfor little Jane Hutton, one of their school-fellows. Jane's father wasa blacksmith; and the Huttons were richer than the Harrisons, so thatJane had gayer bonnets and smarter dresses than Kitty and Amy. Thismorning she had such beautiful new ribbons that Kitty's attention wasquite caught by them. And Jane too was not a little proud of them; hermother had given a shilling a yard for them at the next town. IfKitty had found it difficult to learn her lessons before, she nowfound it quite impossible; for in the midst of every line she couldnot help reckoning how many weeks' halfpence it would take, and howmany times she would have to open the gate for travellers who came tosee the waterfall near the cottage, before she could buy a ribbon likethat. 

CHAPTER II. 

AT SCHOOL. 

At length the children reached the school before the hymn was learned, and Kitty felt very much ashamed when, after stammering through threeverses, Mrs. Mordaunt gave her back the book, saying, "I would ratherhave no lesson from you, Kitty, than one learned so carelessly asthis. " However, it was too late to repair the fault, so Kitty resolvedto give her very best attention to the chapter they were going toread. It was the parable of the sower and the seed, in the thirteenthof St. Matthew. I cannot tell you all that Mrs. Mordaunt said aboutit, but it was something of this kind:--

"The Saviour was sitting on a little strip of level land by the sideof the Sea of Galilee. Behind him were high mountains, towering oneabove another to the clouds; before him, the waves came ripplingquietly against the low shore. Around him were crowds of peoplegathered together from the villages and towns many miles around tolisten unto him. Had all these people come to Jesus for the samething, do you think, Jane Hutton?"

Jane Hutton started at the question. She had been playing with her newparasol, and her thoughts were very far from the Sea of Galilee. Mrs. Mordaunt repeated the question in another way. "Do you think all thepeople who came to Jesus came because they loved him, and wanted to behis disciples?"

"No; there were the Pharisees, " said Kitty. 

"Yes; they came to try to find fault with him. "

"And the sick, " said Amy timidly, "who came to be healed. "

"True, " said Mrs. Mordaunt. "And then there were very many, doubtless, who came from mere curiosity, because they had heard their friendstalk of his wonderful power of healing, or the new, wise, and strangewords of him who seemed to them only the son of a poor carpenter ofNazareth. But were there any who gathered close around him, and lovedhis words for their own sake, not because they were new orinteresting, but because they were _true_ and _God's words_, becausethey had sins to be forgiven and Jesus could forgive, and sick soulswhich only Jesus could heal?"

"Yes; there were the disciples. "

"What do you mean by disciples?"

"Does it not mean those who love Jesus?" asked Amy. 

"No; don't you remember it means scholars?" said Kitty, who wasquicker than her sister, and rather proud of her better memory. 

"You are both right, " said Mrs. Mordaunt. "The disciples of Jesus arethose who come to learn of him; and the first lesson every one whocomes to Jesus learns is to love him. Nothing can be learned of Christwithout loving him. 

"Well, " she continued, "our Lord looked round on the crowd: the proudand clever men who stood knitting their brows, and eagerly watchinghis words, and from time to time whispering to one another; the eagermultitude, who listened in mute wonder to his wonderful lessons; thelittle group of disciples who gathered affectionately about him; thesick whom he had healed; the possessed and mad whom he had restored toreason; the despised sinners whom he had received and forgiven; andperhaps there were some pious mothers there with little children whowere not afraid to come close to him, for he loved little children. But he saw more of that crowd than we should have seen if we had beenthere. What was it that he saw which we cannot see?"

The children were silent a minute, and then Amy murmured, "Was ittheir hearts, ma'am?"

Mrs. Mordaunt replied kindly, "Yes; and he saw how differently hiswords would tell on the hearts of the crowd around. And so he taughtthem a lesson in this story which we call--"

"The parable of the sower, " said Kitty quickly. 

Then Mrs. Mordaunt examined the children about the parable, andfinding they had attended to it and understood it, she talked to themabout it. 

"Now, dear children, " she said, "this school-room, with itswhitewashed walls, is a very different place from the shores of theSea of Galilee; and you, little children, with your pleasant Englishhomes, and your Bibles, and your Sunday schools, I daresay thinkyourselves very different from the grave priests, and clever lawyers, and rough Hebrew labourers and farmers, and Roman soldiers, whogathered around the Saviour then. But among you, as among thatmultitude, who have so long since gone the way of all the earth, theeye of Jesus Christ (for he sees here as well as there) sees two greatdivisions, not of rich and poor, or clever and stupid, but of thosewho are his disciples and those who are not. Which class would youlike to belong to?"

Kitty answered eagerly, "His disciples, ma'am. "

Some of the children were silent, and some spoke with Kitty; butlittle Amy said nothing--the tears filled her eyes and choked hervoice. 

"You may all be Christ's little disciples, " said Mrs. Mordaunt. "Hecalls you to him. You may all come to him _privately_, as thedisciples did; pray to him in secret, and have his words made clear toyou, if you will. You may all bring forth fruit to his glory, thirty, or sixty, or a hundred fold. 

"You see, " she continued, "although there are only two great bodies orparties in the world, --those in whom Christ's words _live_, and thosein whom they _die_, --yet there are many smaller differences among eachof these parties. Some of the seed in the parable fell merely on thesurface, and never was seen any more after it was sown: just as, I amafraid, some of you have often left all thoughts of God behind whenyou left the school or the church, and never thought of him or hiswords from one Sunday to another. The fowls of the air--that is, somelight thought or play, or Satan, who goes about to put these in yourheart--come the moment the words die on your ear, and take the goodseed quite away. And then some of you like to hear about Christ, andhis words and works, and are quick, and easily understand and take innew thoughts, and, perhaps, think you would like to be good children, and to love Christ, and be his disciples, and go home and go to sleepfull of good intentions and plans of correcting your faults. But thenext morning other lessons have to be learned, and other things to bethought about, and your faults and bad habits are strong; and so everyday the echo of the Sunday's teaching grows fainter, and at last theend of the week comes, and finds you no nearer God or the fulfilmentof your good resolutions than the beginning. The thorns have sprungup--the cares and pleasures of this world--and choked the good seedthat was beginning to grow. And then, again, perhaps, there are someof you who would like very much to be pious, only you are afraid ofbeing unlike others, afraid of being teased for being strict, orlaughed at; for persecution does not only consist in burning orhurting the body, --little annoyances are often harder to bear thangreat sorrows. But think how very cowardly this would be, how veryungrateful and ungenerous to Jesus. He bore the sneers and taunts ofcrowds for your sake, and bore them too when he was suffering _greatpain_; and can you not bear a little laugh for his sake? Think howhappy it is to be able to bear a little for him who bore so very muchfor us; think what joy to have his eye on us, and to hear his kindvoice saying, 'Blessed are ye, little children, who confess me as yourMaster before men; for I will confess you to be my beloved ones beforethe angels of God. ' And then, dear children, " Mrs. Mordaunt added, "Ihope there are some of you who do love your Saviour, and aretreasuring up his words in your hearts; and to you I would say, thereare differences even among Christ's disciples. Some bring forth fruitthirty, some sixty, and some an hundred fold. Seek, then, not only tobring forth fruit, but _much_ fruit; to be better and happier everyday. God means you to do this; he will certainly enable you to do itif you ask. 

"And before you leave, " she said, "I will first tell you three thingswhich I particularly wish you to remember: the _place_ where the seedis to grow; the _enemies_ which try to destroy its life; and _whatmakes it grow_. First, where is the seed sown?"

"In the heart, " replied all the children. 

"Are your spelling lessons, or your lessons on the multiplicationtable, sown in your hearts?"

The children smiled, and answered, "No. "

"Then you do not expect them to bear fruit in your life. It does notimprove your tempers or your hearts to learn that _h e a r t_ spellsheart, does it? or that 12 times 12 are 144?"

The children thought not. 

"Then all you are expected to do with such lessons is to rememberthem; is it not?"

"Yes, ma'am, " was the reply. 

"Now that is precisely the point where your lessons in reading andspelling differ from your lessons about the Bible. When you sow seedin your memories, it is like laying up grains in a closed box. We donot expect them to grow; we are quite content if we find as many as weleave; we do not expect any fruit or growth. But when I sow seed inyour hearts, it is like putting it into the ground; we want it to_grow_. It is not enough for it to remain safe and sound; we hope thatit will bear fruit in your lives. I do not care only for finding itsafe in your memories the next Sunday. I long to know that it has beenmaking you better and wiser children _during the week_, helping you tofight with faults, teaching you to love God and one another. Andspeaking of your faults leads me to think of the enemies the littleseed has to encounter. Can you think of some of the things which tryto hinder its growth?"

"There were the fowls, " answered Kitty. 

"And the thorns, " said some of the other children. 

"And the sun, " said Amy. 

"You know what the thorns and the scorching heat are?"

"Our faults and troubles?" asked Kitty. 

"Yes. Side by side with the seed, and from the same soil, the heart, spring up thorns and weeds, which try to choke the seed. And thelittle seed has to struggle hard for its life; if it does not chokethe weeds, the weeds will choke it. What must we do with the weeds?"

"Cut them down, " said the children. 

"Yes. We must fight with our faults, and not let one, however small, be neglected, or it will soon cover the garden; for all weeds growfast. But the other enemies, the heat and the fowls, cannot be_destroyed_. The scorching sun--trials and mockery--can only injurethose plants which have no root, those hearts which are not trustingin Jesus, and rooted in him. But the fowls of the air, --those powerfuland wicked spirits who are constantly on the watch to crush all thatis good and encourage all that is evil in our hearts, --what can thelittle seed do against such enemies?"

The children gave no answer. 

"_It can do nothing_, " said Mrs. Mordaunt. "You all see it has nopower whatever; and in this, too, the seed is like us. What then cansave it?"

There was a pause of a minute, and then Amy ventured to ask, "Doesnot God watch over it?"

"He does, my child, " replied Mrs. Mordaunt. "But do you remember why Isaid the plants are cared for without asking?"

"Because they cannot ask. "

"But we can ask. What is it called to ask anything of God?"

"To pray, " said all the children. 

"Yes; that is what you may all do. Our Saviour calls himself the greathusbandman or gardener; and now that he has risen and reigns on high, if you ask him, he will not disdain to watch over the little seed ofgood sown in your hearts. He will send the Holy Spirit, like the rainto young corn, to strengthen all that is good in you; and he willenable you, feeble as you are, to keep down all bad feelings, andtempers, and habits, which would choke the seed. 

"So there are three things for you to remember: the seed is sown inyour hearts, and must bring forth fruit in your lives; you haveenemies within and without to fight with far stronger than any of you;and you have a Friend far stronger than all your enemies, who willgive you the victory if you seek his aid. And shall I give you alittle grain of precious seed to bear home with you?"

The children all wished it. 

"Think, then, on these words, '_By love serve one another_. ' Try to_love_ them, and pray to God for his strength to enable you, for thesake of his Son, our Saviour; for remember, though I cannot go homewith you, _God does_. "

The church bells were ringing, the classes broke up to form intomarching order, and the lesson was over. 

CHAPTER III. 

AT HOME. 

And what did the children think of Mrs. Mordaunt's words? We willfollow them home and see. Little Jane Hutton, I am afraid, forgotthem; for during the service her eyes kept wandering round the churchin search of gay dresses and bonnets, and watching what herschool-fellows thought of her own new ribbons. 

Kitty Harrison had attended to what Mrs. Mordaunt said, and resolvedto do it; so she found out all the places in her prayer-book, and wenthome full of plans of amendment, and in the evening she drew herlittle stool to the window, and began to read her Bible, _not_ somuch because she wished to learn what it said, as because she thoughtit _right_ to read it. But, in the first place, her thoughts wouldkeep wandering to Jane Hutton's ribbons, then she could not helplistening to what her father and mother were talking about, and thekitten would keep playing with her frock; and so she got through achapter without very well understanding it, and then was rather gladthat it grew too dark for her to read any more. Soon after, thechildren were sent to bed, and Kitty went upstairs wondering why shedid not like to read the Bible better, and rather pleased to thinkthat to-morrow was a play-day. 

Kitty had forgotten two great things: she had forgotten that to love_God's Word_ we must first love _God_; and she had forgotten that thelittle seed could not sprout without rain, and that the dew of heaven, the Holy Spirit, must be _asked for_. 

Meantime, Amy was feeling very differently. She thought how good itwas of Jesus, the Son of God, to care about the love of littlechildren, and to watch the good seed sown in their hearts, and nourishit, and water it, and make it grow; and she thought that it would bethe happiest thing in the world to be his disciple, and to do what hewished, and be loved and approved by him; and she resolved to try. Soas they walked home, she planned that she would go into a quiet placein the garden, under the trees, and pray to God. 

But when they reached the cottage, they had to put away their Sundaythings; and when Amy came down her mother desired her to keep the babywhile she got the tea ready. Amy thought it hard to be hindered in herplans; but she remembered the verse, "By love serve one another, " andit came into her mind that Christ might be as pleased at hercheerfully giving up her own way to help her mother, as if she hadbeen praying to him, and the thought made her happy, and she dancedthe baby, and played with it till it crowed with delight. After tea, she could not find any quiet in the room where the family weresitting, so she went into the bedroom and knelt down by the bedside. She had always been accustomed to say her prayers morning and evening, because she had been taught, and because she would have been afraid togo to sleep without; but now it was a different thing--_she wantedsomething which she felt only God could give_. She wanted to be madegood, to have her sins forgiven, to have strength to overcome herfaults, that Christ might love her and bless her; and she asked thisearnestly of him. She felt sure he would hear; and she rose from herknees with a lightened heart, and opened her Bible and read, until itwas quite dark, of the Saviour and his goodness. And that night shewent to sleep happy in the care of God. 

CHAPTER IV. 

A NEW LEAF, AND HOW IT WAS FILLED. 

The next morning Amy awoke early. It was cold and rainy, and she feltinclined to turn on her pillow, but the feeling came strongly over herthat she had something _new_ before her, that this week was to be thestarting-point of a new life; and the verse, too, which had been thelast on her lips in the evening, was the first in her heart in themorning, "By love serve one another. " She remembered that the fire hadto be lit, and the water brought from the spring for the kettle; soshe jumped out of bed, and was quickly dressed and ready to godownstairs. Kitty would not follow her example. She did not forget toask God's blessing on the day, and then she called Kitty again. ButKitty was very sleepy; she only said she was sure it would be time toget up in half an hour, and wrapped herself up comfortably and went tosleep again. Amy thought it was rather selfish of Kitty to leave allthe work to her; but she said nothing, and tripped downstairs. She hadsoon brought the water and lighted the fire, and brushed and dustedeverything neat and bright, and then she found she had a little timeto spare. Near their cottage lived a poor old widow, named Hill. Amyknew she could hardly hobble about her house to do her work, and shethought it would be a nice way of "serving one another, " if she werejust to run down and light Widow Hill's fire, and put her room neat. No sooner planned than done. Away she ran; half-an-hour, with Amy'slight feet and busy fingers, did the work which would have cost theold woman an hour or two; and rich with the widow's thanks, andhungry with work, she tripped back to breakfast, happy to think howher mother would be pleased with what she had done. 

But on entering the cottage, Amy's spirits received a sudden check;the family were all at breakfast, and her father spoke rather severelyto her about her never being in time for anything. Amy did not answer;she felt ill-used, and she was too much hurt to say what she had beenabout; so she sat down in silence to her breakfast. Kitty was besideher, yawning as if she had only just got out of bed. "Yet, " thoughtAmy, "no one ever scolds her; it is no good to try to please people. "So Amy sat, getting angrier and angrier, and not enjoying herbreakfast a bit, and thinking everybody very unkind, although she saidnothing; you might, perhaps, have thought she bore the rebuke verymeekly. Now, I do not mean to deny that this was a trial for poorAmy. It is a very great trial to be blamed and misunderstood when wehave been seeking to please people; but it is the pride of our ownhearts which makes it so trying. If we were lowly, harsh words wouldnot have half the power to wound us. Amy felt this, and she felt shewas doing wrong, but that only made her more vexed; for instead ofacknowledging her fault to herself, and asking God to forgive her andstrengthen her against it, she went on brooding over her wrongs andnursing her anger in silence. After breakfast, Kitty asked her if shehad been working in their garden all this time. 

"No, " said Amy shortly. 

"Have you been learning your lessons for next Sunday, then?"

"No, " answered Amy still more sharply. 

Kitty looked puzzled for a minute, and then she laughed, and said, "Ican't see what good you've got, Amy, by being in such haste to getup. You seem to have done nothing but lose your temper. "

This was altogether more than Amy could bear; she made a bitter reply, and a quarrel began between the sisters, which made their walk toschool very uncomfortable. It was so different from yesterday, Amyfelt ready to cry, but she was ashamed that Kitty should see. Poor Amyentered the school-room with a sore heart. A bad temper is not likelyto get sweet of itself, so Amy went on more and more discontented withherself, and her lessons, and everything else, until the class wascalled to read their morning lesson. The text from the Bible whichstood at the head of the lesson happened to be, "For if you, from yourheart, forgive not your brother his trespasses, how can your heavenlyFather forgive you your trespasses?" Amy had to read these words, andthey struck to her heart; she thought of what sinful and angryfeelings she had been cherishing, and how much she had to ask God toforgive her, and how little she felt inclined to forgive in her sisterand others; and afterwards, as she wrote her copy, hot tears fell onthe page, and she confessed her fault in her heart to God, and beggedhim to forgive her. Then she felt happier at once. After school, oneof her school-fellows was kept in to finish a sum; she was crying, anddid not seem able to do it, so Amy went quietly to her, and showed herthe way, and then danced off to the play-ground. On their way home shehad a harder struggle to make, and that was to tell Kitty she wassorry for her hasty words; but she conquered, and Kitty havingconfessed that she too had been in the wrong, the sisters felt happyagain together. 

This was true repentance; it was a sorrow for and confession of sin, and then forsaking the sin; it was a change of mind. That evening Amyfelt very serious when she thought over the day's doings; she wasweaker than she had thought--it was harder to do right than she hadbelieved; but she resolved to try harder again to-morrow. So she wentto bed hopeful, although rather sad. We shall see how her resolutionswere carried out. 

CHAPTER V. 

TRY AGAIN. 

Amy did try very hard the next day, and she prayed earnestly forstrength from on high. She rose early, she got everything ready intime for her father, and he praised her and called her "a thriftylittle maid;" she never reproached Kitty with leaving the work to her;she went cheerfully through her lessons, and in the afternoon she hadthe delight of being highly commended by the mistress and set to teachone of the younger classes. After school, some of the children wentblackberry-picking, and the Harrisons were of the number. They had amerry time of it; the sun was shining, the birds were singing, andthe thick leaves of the wood where the blackberries grew just letenough of the sunbeams through; and Amy Harrison's heart was full ofpeace and sunshine, and the woods were full of beautiful ripeblackberries, so that in a few hours the little party tripped homewardfull of glee, and with baskets filled to the brim with large ripeblackberries. They were walking on fast, laughing and chattering, whenAmy saw that a little lame girl named Lucy Maitland could not keep upwith the rest, and so she stayed to talk to her. Lucy looked ratherdismal, and her basket was not half full; she could not climb in andout among the rocks and brambles like the others. Amy felt sorry forher; she thought she would give her some from her own basket, but shedid so wish to take it home full, and she did not like Kitty to havemore than herself. But then the words breathed into her heart, "Bylove serve one another, " and she resolved to seize the opportunity;and without another word, she poured out a third of her own littlestore, and nearly filled Lucy's basket. Lucy's eyes glistened, but shehad not time to say much, for the children were comparing what theyhad each gathered, and Amy's basket had to be held up amongst therest. 

"Why, I thought your basket was quite full, " said Kitty. 

"So it was, " exclaimed little Lucy, "but she has half emptied it tofill mine. "

The children all loved Amy for doing this, and wondered how it wasthey had not thought of little Lucy before; so now, many of theminsisted on pouring some blackberries into Lucy's basket, and givingpart of Amy's back to her. In this way Lucy and Amy's stores were soonthe largest of the whole, and the children separated in good humourwith each other and everything. 

As Amy and Kitty entered the garden, the first thing that caughtAmy's eye was her little baby sister sitting on her little chair underthe window. On each side of the door grew a little rose tree, one ofwhich belonged to Amy and one to Kitty. Amy's was a red rose. Theflowers were nearly all gone, but one had lingered behind the rest. Amy had watched it with especial care: she had plucked off all thedead flowers around it, and this morning she had been thinking itwould just be in beautiful bloom by Sunday, that she might take it toschool as a present for Mrs. Mordaunt. And now there sat the baby withthat very bud in her lap quietly picking it to pieces, and holding upthe scattered leaves in Amy's face, she lisped, "Pretty, pretty!" Amywas too angry and too vexed to think, and it was of no use to scoldthe baby, so she snatched the rose from the baby's hands, and said, "You good-for-nothing, naughty little thing;" and then she burst intotears. The baby began to cry too, and their mother came out to knowwhat was the matter. "O mother, how could you?" sobbed Amypassionately. "Why did you let baby sit close to my rose-bush--mybeautiful rose? I had been saving it all the week for Mrs. Mordaunt--and it was my last. "

Mrs. Harrison tried to comfort Amy; and Kitty offered her the bestflower in her garden. They both felt very sorry for her. But Amy wasnot to be comforted, and so they gave up trying. Poor Amy's eveningwas quite spoilt, --not so much, I think, by the loss of her rose as bythe loss of her temper. 

CHAPTER VI. 

THE TRUTH SETTING FREE. 

The next day she awoke, out of spirits and out of temper. She did notsee why she should always work, while Kitty was enjoying herself inbed. She forgot the joy of serving others, and thought it very hardothers should not try to serve her. We are apt to be very strict aboutother people's duties when we forget our own. So Amy lay in bed untilthe last moment, and then hurried on her clothes, and hurried over herwork, and what was worse, hurried over her prayers, and thus went outto meet the day's temptations unarmed. 

It never improves the temper to be hurried; and Amy was still furthertried this morning by her father, who was in haste to be off to hiswork, and wondered why she was so slow. 

"It's of no use, " grumbled Amy to herself, "to try to do right andplease everybody. The more one does, the more people expect. Nobodythinks of scolding Kitty for being slow. "

A day so begun seldom grows bright of itself. There is a sunshinewhich can scatter even such clouds, but Amy did not look up to that;it did not seem to shine for her; it never does, _if you will not lookup_. She felt very discontented and ill-used; it seemed as if no onecared for her, and everything worked together to torment her; and sothings got darker and darker, and Amy's temper more bitter and herheart sorer every moment. 

At last her mother went out, and Kitty was sent to the bakehouse, andAmy was left alone to rock the cradle and watch that the kettle didnot boil over. 

Amy had much rather not have been left alone just then; her ownthoughts were not at all pleasant; but as she was alone she could nothelp thinking. At first she thought how unkind every one was, and ofall the wrongs she had had to bear, --of Kitty's laziness, of hermother's rebukes, and then of her beautiful rose, and the naughtybaby. "Kitty and the baby might do just what they liked, but if shedid the least thing wrong she was scolded and punished. " But thisthought of the rose led her back to Mrs. Mordaunt's lesson on Sunday. Had the good seed borne good fruit this week, --this week that was tohave been the beginning of a new life? Had it led her to overcome onefault, to be a step nearer to God and goodness than before? Yet shehad prayed and tried. What was then wanting? She was afraid she nevershould be God's happy child, she was so full of faults, and no onehelped her to overcome them; and yet it was wretched to be as she was. What should she do?

So she sat rocking the cradle, and thinking of her resolutions and herfailures until the tears rolled fast over her cheeks, and all theproud heart within her was melted into sorrow. As she sat thus, herelbows on her knees and her hands hiding her face, she heard a gentlevoice at the door. She looked up. It was Mrs. Mordaunt asking for hermother. Amy was ashamed to be seen crying, and rose quickly, andanswered as briskly as she could. But Mrs. Mordaunt saw she wasunhappy, and she came forward, and laying her hand kindly on hershoulder she asked what was the matter. 

Amy's tears flowed faster than ever now, and as soon as she couldspeak she sobbed out in a faint voice, "O ma'am, I cannot do right, --Icannot be good. " Mrs. Mordaunt sat down beside her and said, "Don'tdespair, my child; you know the little song you sing in school. Tryagain and again until you succeed. Every one succeeds who goes ontrying. "

"But I have tried again and again, " said poor Amy, "and I only getworse and worse. In the very moment when I want it, the strength goesaway. "

"Our own strength always will, " said the lady. "Have you remembered toask God for his strength? Do you remember what I told you about thelittle seed? its enemies are stronger than itself, but God is strongerthan its enemies. "

"I have prayed, ma'am, " said Amy mournfully, "but I am ashamed to askGod any more. I have done what he tells us not so very often, I amafraid he never can love me;" and Amy cried bitterly. 

"My child, " said Mrs. Mordaunt, taking her hand, "if you had disobeyedyour mother, and she were angry with you, would you run away from thehouse in the night, and choose rather to starve or die of cold thanask her forgiveness?"

Amy was silent. 

"And if your mother could not bear to see you in want, and were tocome out to you in the cold night with food and kind words, would youturn away from her and say, 'I know she can never love me, I have beenso naughty;' and would you refuse to receive her kindness, and ask herforgiveness?"

Amy bent down her head. 

"Or would you say, " continued Mrs. Mordaunt, "as you saw her coming, 'I will not go to meet her now; I will go and try to earn a few pence, and then I will come back to her and say, "Mother, I am very sorry, but here are some pence I have earned. Will you take them and forgiveme, and let me be your child again?"' Would that be _humility_ and_gratitude_, or _pride_ and _ingratitude_, Amy?"

"Pride and ingratitude, " said Amy in a low voice. 

"And when the Lord Jesus says to you, 'You have sinned against me andwronged me, and broken my laws; but I have come down from heaven toearth to seek you; come back to me, and I will receive and forgiveyou, ' would it be humility or pride to say, 'Thou canst not forgiveme, I am too sinful; but wait a little while, and I will do somethinggood, and make myself better, and then I will come back to thee'?"

"_Pride_, " said Amy. "But I thought God only loved good children, ma'am; and I am not good. "

"God does only love good children, Amy, " said Mrs. Mordaunt veryseriously, "and God knows you cannot be good. " Amy looked up inwonder. 

"Who was Jesus Christ, Amy?"

"The Son of God, " said Amy. 

"And what did he become man and come into this world for?"

Amy answered as she had been taught, "Jesus Christ came into the worldto save sinners. "

"To save whom?"

"Sinners. "

"Not those who _thought themselves good_, but those who _knew_ theyhad been _sinful_. What did he save them from?"

"From punishment, " said Amy thoughtfully. 

"Yes, " said Mrs. Mordaunt, "from punishment, and from sin. He came tosuffer, that we might be delivered and freely forgiven, and to make usholy. Did it cost him nothing to do this, Amy?"

"He died for it on the cross, " said Amy softly. 

"He did indeed. And did he suffer all that pain and anguish of mindfor nothing?"

Amy did not answer. 

"It would have been for nothing, " said Mrs. Mordaunt, "if we had stillto earn forgiveness for ourselves. Jesus bore the punishment for usjust because we could not have borne it; and he has borne it so thatwe shall never have to bear it now. If, then, you go and _giveyourself up_ to the blessed Saviour as _He calls you to do_, God willreceive you for his sake, as if you had been always a good andobedient child, and Jesus will give you his Holy Spirit to abide withyou always, and to make you good and obedient and happy. "

"I must not wait until I am better for God to love me, then, " said Amydoubtfully. 

"Again, do you obey your mother in order to become her child; or doyou obey her because she loves you and is your mother, Amy?"

"Because she is my mother, " said Amy. 

"And will your obedience make you more her child than you are, Amy?"

"No, ma'am. "

"But because you are her child and she loves you, does that make youcareless of obeying her?"

"If I only could be a better child to please her!" said Amy, the tearsgathering in her eyes. 

"It is so with God, my child, " said Mrs. Mordaunt. "He loves you, notbecause you are good, but because he is good--because he is love, andso loved you that he gave his Son that you might be saved. Before youcan love him, you must believe his word--that he loves you; andbelieving he loves you, he will make you good and happy. God has giventhe Bible to _tell of his love to you_. Read it, my child; believeit. "

Mrs. Harrison came in just then, and Mrs. Mordaunt, after saying a fewwords to her, rose to leave. 

That evening Amy took out her Bible with a new interest. "Can it bepossible, indeed, " thought she, "that God has written in this bookthat he loves me--_me_, a little sinful child! I will look and see. "She read some of the passages she had learned before for Mrs. Mordaunt: "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and hethat hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine andmilk without money and without price" (Isa. Lv. 1). "May I, indeed, come without anything to offer, and will God give me all I want?"Then: "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so mustthe Son of man be lifted up: that _whosoever_ believeth in him shouldnot perish, but have eternal life" (John iii. 14, 15). "He thatheareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlastinglife, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from deathunto life" (John v. 24). 

"Can I not _now_ hear his words, " she thought, "and _do I not_believe?" She had read the words often before, but now a new lightseemed to stream forth from them. She wanted forgiveness, and here wasforgiveness offered; she wanted God to love her, and here in everypage was some message of love from him. The Spirit of God opened thelittle child's heart to the Word of God, and she read on as if shenever could hear enough of this blessed news. "We have known andbelieved the love that God hath to us; we love him because he firstloved us. "

"I do believe!" she thought; and that evening, as she fell on herknees, she felt for the first time what it was to call God Our Father. Her whole heart glowed with gratitude and love to him who had so lovedher. She laid her down to sleep with the eye of her heavenly Fatherupon her. She awoke in the morning and felt that he was near. Everything made her happy, because God sent everything, and God lovedher. The streams, the woods, the flowers--they had never looked halfso bright, for she felt that God had made them, and God had so lovedher. At school, at her tasks, --everywhere she was happy as a bird, forGod was everywhere. She could not feel cross, for God was near, _andhe loved her_. She could fight with her faults now, for the Almightywas by to help her. 

Little children! thousands of little children have had their heartschanged and made happy, just as Amy's was; and _so may yours_. Onlybelieve the love that God has to you, and you must love him; and behis dear and happy child. 

Transcriber's Note

Minor punctuation errors have been repaired. 

Hyphenation has been made consistent. 

The author uses both "a hundred fold" and "an hundred fold". Theseinstances have been preserved as printed.