The haar from off the German Sea, On all the street was seen. For such as called some home their own And homeless ones in nooks and stairs Only one little waif stood still "Only a penny, matches, sir, I saw him as I hurried past, A child in years, his pale thin face "Give me a box," I said, 66 of those Wax matches that you sell. Not change a shilling? Bring the change Around to my hotel." The hours passed by, no boy returned Not strange that such a waif as he "Poor child! he knows no better; born Late in the evening came a knock He spoke; his voice was very sad, There's fourpence of your shilling, sir, That's a' that's left, I've brocht it you, He would hae come himsel' to you, For him and me is honest, sir, A cart ran o'er him, and he lost His legs are broken, and he'll dee, And there's your pennies, a' that's left." He laid them on the tray, And with a great heartrending sob He turned to go away. "Stay, little man. What is your name? You're hungry, that I know, And very cold your little feet With trudging through the snow. O, Reubie, is it? That's your name." And set before him everything He tried to eat, but scarce the child Then started up-"I maun gang hame, I rose up also. Then I said, Upon the road he told me they His father and his mother both We found poor Sandie on the floor, "I got the change, was coming back, But Reubie, little Reubie, oh! When I am gone? When I am dead, "I will provide for him," I said, A smile broke o'er his cheek; he gave And all was o'er, the light of earth And I once thought the boy a thief A small Barabbas, when the child With duty seen to mid his pains, A bright example for us all With sorrows many, many a care, Though tempted upon every side A manly heart was in the child, And tell the young in happy homes To tread the path of helpfulness, And seek the Spirit of the Lord For God hath sent His Spirit down And in the blood for sinners shed He cometh with the grace of Christ The dead in sin to life He brings, All for the sake of that dear Lord That all the sins that we have done By God may be forgiven, And we, clothed in His robe of white, Find entrance into heaven. By the Author of 'Little Will,' The Blind Man on the Bridge,' &c. of Protestant Beaconesses. OME years ago, when staying at Jerusalem, the writer had the pleasure of an introduction to the widow of Pastor Fliedner, who was then residing at the Deaconesses' Home in the outskirts of the city. The name of her revered husband had long been familiar as the originator of that work, which, commencing in 1833 in a room ten feet square with an attic above, in a summerhouse at Kaiserwerth, has sent out fruit-bearing branches not only into more than a hundred towns or villages in Germany, but also into Italy, Egypt, Turkey, Palestine, and North America. When we consider that the work was of a very multifarious kind, ultimately embracing schools, hospitals, orphanages, care of prisoners, &c., we may well ask how so small a seed could produce so great a harvest. The answer is to be found in the words which its founder took for his life-motto, "He must increase, but I must decrease." The Master whom he delighted to serve, abundantly blessed his labours, and bestowed upon him the "Well done," even here. Theodore Fliedner was born at Epstein in Germany, January 21st, 1800, and died at Kaiserwerth, October 4th, 1864. Within the comparatively short space of thirty years, the sapling he had planted at Kaiserwerth had become a great tree, and its offshoots were flourishing in four continents! The son of a poor pastor he was early thrown upon his own resources, and manfully, while yet a child, battled with the trials and difficulties of life. Reading was his only luxury, and schemes of future usefulness formed his fairyland. At twenty years of age he became tutor in a gentleman's family at Cologne, and afterwards was ordained pastor of Idstein, an obscure village on the Rhine, where he had only £27 a year, the parsonage to be shared with the aged widow of a previous pastor! Still, nothing daunted, he threw his whole energy into the work, visited the schools, and opened |