THE COVENANTERS IN SHETLAND. BY THE REV. F. SOUTER, CONNINGSBURGH, DURING the dark days of the persecution For example, Samuel Rutherford of Anwoth was sent to Aberdeenshire; Alexander Smith of Colvend, in the first instance of his labour of love Mr. Black behaved himself wisely. He would undertake to teach no one unless each scholar promised to become teacher in his turn. Thus, by the Divine blessing, he caused the Word to run speedily throughout the district; and in course of time, though the sower was removed, the Lord sent another likeminded servant into this corner of the field, who preached the glorious gospel for the long space of sixty-three years. The descendants of this good man are still to be found in the district. It is sentenced to Leith, having been found speak-pleasing to know that not a few of these ing there on Christ's behalf, was at length banished to the Shetland Islands. These godly men, though much cast down, at once, on being thus unrighteously driven from their pulpits and from their loved work, without delay began to seek the good of those around them. Thus many a dark region was blessed, and "the people that had been sitting in darkness saw a great light." But it was not ministers only who were thus banished. Godly elders and members who were suspected, in many cases shared the like punishment. are giving evidence of possessing the piety, together with a warm, enlightened attachment to the principles, for which their godly ancestor was called to suffer. Thus we have another proof that Jehovah makes the wrath of man to praise him; for though they meant it for evil, the Lord overruled it for the good of Shetland. And are we not, by such examples, afresh exhorted to do good to all men as we have opportunity? LITTLE FREDDY. LITTLE Freddy was born June 23, 18-. In early infancy he had a severe illness, which greatly weakened his naturally strong constitution: after that he was only allowed the plainest food. He knew the necessity of this, and would on no account take anything which he had been told would do him harm. His mother often felt sorry, when the other children were having some good thing that he would have liked, to see him sit without a murmur, looking on, and never once ask if he might have a bit; and when he was allowed to have a share, it was always a very small one, which was received gratefully, and without a grumble at the others having received more. Among these latter there was one Mr. Malcolm Black, who was sent to Shetland. At a place called Channerwick he found a shelter. Though this spot is one of the most beautiful in all the islands, it was truly a desolate heritage" for him. He found the surrounding people very ignorant, scarcely any of them being able to read, and, alas! there is too much reason to fear, leading ungodly lives. He began to read and expound the Word of God on the Sabbath-days—in fine weather gathering the people round his cottage door, and when stormy, admitting as many under his He early showed a love for Bible stories, Often roof as possible. These labours were particularly those about Jesus. when speaking on these subjects, he would blessed. A desire to be able to read the put his arms round my neck and whisper, Bible soon manifested itself. In this part I want to be God's little servant;" and would say he loved Jesus, and would like to go to heaven and live with him. On the Sabbath he was very careful not to touch a toy. They were all laid away on Saturday night, and next morning the Sunday books were brought out. His little sister sometimes got hold of a toy; but he would try to take it away, saying, "Little Mary must not play with toys to-day-this is God's day.' One day after returning from church the sermon was talked about. Our minister had spoken about the power of the Holy Ghost in the heart; and it was explained to the children, that praying for the Holy Ghost was like asking God to help us to be good; that we cannot be good of ourselves, but if we prayed for the Holy Spirit, he would keep us from doing what is wrong. The next morning when I came down-stairs, Freddy came with such a bright, beaming face, pulled me near him, and whispered, "Mamma, I asked for the Holy Spirit." Some time after that, he told me he asked for the Holy Spirit every morning, and not for himself only, but for us all. His favourite book was the "Peep of Day. He often got his sister to read it to him, generally turning over the leaves till he came to the part he liked best, and saying, "Now read to me about Jesus on the cross." Then he would fold his little hands before him, and with fixed eyes and earnest face listen attentively to every word. He would often gaze long and earnestly at the picture of the crucifixion. One day after sitting quiet a long time, he came to me with tears in his eyes, and with faltering voice said, "I would rather have died than let Jesus bear the pain." It must not be thought that little Freddy had no faults. When roused to anger he had a very determined temper; but when the passion was past he looked sorry, and owned that he had been a bad boy. His great pleasure was in attending to his little garden. In it he had a little rose tree, which he tended with the greatest care, often asking the gardener if he thought it would flower this year; when James would reply, "There's no fear of that, it'll be flowered before Maggie's." "Oh, but," Freddy would say, "I want hers to be flowered too." Well I remember the noisy delight with which he ran in to tell me that he had discovered a little rose-bud on his tree. Little did I then think that, ere that bud had grown to maturity, our own precious "flower- bud" would be taken from us, and planted in the heavenly garden. It was the year when scarlet fever spread from house to house, carrying off a little one here, another there. Our little ones were laid up-first one, then another, and last of all Freddy. During his short illness he was very patient, although he often wearied to go and see his little rose-tree. One night he said, "Will I ask God to make me better?" and finished his usual prayer with, "O God, make me better, for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen." But it was soon known to us that his prayer was not to be answered in this world. He was asked if he would be willing to go and live with Jesus, if God wished to take him away from papa and manima. His reply was, "Yes; if God wished it." It was said, "Do you love Jesus?" -"Yes," he replied; "I love him first, and you and papa next." Soon after he said, "I think I have learned to love Jesus so much, by reading about him in my Peep of Day.' His mother felt anxious to know the state of his mind, and to tell him how ill he was, and said, "I think, Freddy, you will see Jesus very soon now." He at once understood her meaning, and with trembling voice and tearful eyes said, "But I must die and be buried in the grave before I can see Jesus." His mother could not say more then. When near the end he repeated one of his favourite hymns. His eyes were half closed, and his voice very weak. seemed to speak with great effort, pausing for breath between each word. He Ꭺ his His mind now began to wander. beautiful expression came over his face. He seemed to think himself with his sister, playing in some delightful place; for he often said, "Come and see this pretty thing, Maggie; isn't it pretty?" voice all the time very gentle and sweet. We could not speak much to him now. Once when asked where he thought he was going, he said, "To heaven. soon his dear voice was heard no more. Early in the morning the spirit of our little Freddy passed away from the pain and sorrow of this world, to the light and joy of the world above, to be "for ever with the Lord." He died in June 18-, just before completing his sixth year. But THE "LAMP FOR LEBANON." MANY, no doubt, of the young contributors to "the Lamp" will be anxious to know how the money is coming in. Although the bulk of it is not usually sent to me until after January, I am happy to say that the sum in my hands at the 16th of this month was £172, 4s. 5d. And the pleasing thing is that the contributions come from all parts of the country-from Orkney and the Solway Firth, from the mouth of the Tay and from the Sound of Mull. The very first, received before New Year's Day, was from Tobermory (how many can tell, without looking at the map, where that place is ?). And to show the spirit in which the young folk have set about this noble piece of work, I shall select a few sentences from letters that have come. Thus, Tobermory sends £1, 2s. 3d., the writer stating that "the school children are getting quite interested in such collections," and that that sum is considered very good, especially when it is remembered that the children are very poor." The superintendent of a school in Aberdeen writes that "the way in which these poorest of the poor children of Aberdeen took up the matter, and the hearty way in which they gave of really their own New Year coppers was very beautiful and encouraging." From Cupar (Fife) I received £4, 7s. 1d, "all collected at a meeting held on the last evening of the year, the scholars having all entered heartily into it." Not the least interesting letter certainly is one from the minister of Cullen, who thus writes:-"The Sabbath-school children still retain a very pleasing recollection of Mr. Elijah Saleebey's visit about three years ago, and, accordingly, Dr. Duff's proposal of a New Year Offering for 'A Lamp for Lebanon' was quite to their mind. So heartily did they act upon it, that within three days a few of them had raised among their friends the sum of £6, 3s. 10d......It is interesting to know that a large proportion of the money was contributed by our Seatown fishermen, one of them giving as much as five shillings for the object. In this we have one of the many pleasing fruits we continue to reap from the work of grace with which the Lord was pleased to bless us about this time last year." While warmly acknowledging thus early what has been already done, I trust these few sentences will encourage those who are still engaged in the work of collecting, and that ere long I will have the satisfaction of reporting that the Thousand Pounds have been provided. FREE CHURCH OFFICES, 16th January 1872. ROBERT YOUNG. THE JEWS. ELIEZER. IN the letter given below, from Mr. Tomory (our Jewish missionary at Constantinople), our readers will see that every effort is being made to get Eliezer set free from being a soldier in the Russian army. We were sorry that the letter reached us too late to be printed in our January number. We hope the Warsaw missionaries have by this time been successful, and that Eliezer is now at liberty. Letter from the Rev. Mr. Tomory. To the Editor of "The Children's Record." GREENOCK, 14th Dec. 1871. DEAR SIR,-As I know that our young friends are anxious to hear how it fares with Eliezer, I hasten to give you briefly the contents of the last letter which I have received from Warsaw. As soon as the friends there got the draft for the £70, they advertised in two Polish papers for a substitute-and two men offered themselves. But the military authorities objected to give their permission, alleging that this could only be done at Mohilew, his native place. A Christian man, high in office, wrote to Mohilew to that effect; but as after a delay of several weeks no answer came, the missionaries got for Eliezer leave of absence for twenty days, and sent him on to Mohilew, either to effect there his liberty, or to bring permission to Warsaw to do it in that place. They hope that he will soon be,-perhaps this month,-a free man. May the Lord bless these efforts, and grant him his heart's desire. I will let you know as soon as I hear. It would be welcome news for the new year. With kindest regards, yours truly, ALEX. TOMORY. FRETTING. "" "I DARE no more fret," said the good John Wesley, "than curse and swear. One who knew him well said that he never saw He him low-spirited or fretful in his life. could not endure the society of people who were of this habit. He says of them: "To have persons at my ears murmuring and fretting at everything, is like tearing the flesh from my bones. By the grace of God, I am discontented at nothing. I see God sitting on his throne and ruling all things well.' THE KARENS AND SINGING. THE Karens are exceedingly fond of music. Heathen women will catch a tune with a verse or so, and sing it as a lullaby to their infants. Little heathen children learn from a travelling preacher, who may perchance stay overnight in the family, a verse or two with some sweet tune, and sing it over long afterwards; or perhaps the tune alone is caught and hummed. PLAY NOT THE FOOL. O THAT ye would reflect that this life is but a span, and the life to come lasts for ever! Do not, I pray you, fling away eternity; play not the fool with such solemn things as these, but ín serious earnestness lay hold upon eternal life.-C. H.Spurgeon. "ATTEND!" HERE is a little word with a wide meaning. It literally means to stretch to. When spoken of coming to school or church, then it is attendance; and after having come into the presence of teacher or preacher, children are required to give attention. In these and other uses of the word you will perceive that we must take heed, or must make an exertion. "Whatever is worth doing, is worth doing well." Therefore, since it is right to come to church and Sabbath school, we ought to be regular in our attendance, and close in our attention. Think you any one can learn well without this? Will a cow grow fat if the grass be at a distance, or if she do not regularly feed? And suppose she has gone to the park, she must do something more. She must put forth her head to eat. Now it is this coming, and putting forth, that we desire to see in you. Come to the Sabbath school, and apply your minds to the lessons. Listen attentively to all that your teacher says; and ever look up to God, saying, "Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law." Attend, then, to prepare the lessons before you come; attend to the hour of coming; attend to your actions when coming and returning; attend to the praise and prayer; attend to the words of the teacher; and, lastly, attend to all God's commands during the week. If you do not, a time will come when you must give both attendance and attention. You will have to appear before the great white throne. While God says, "My son, attend to my words," you are encouraged to ask God to attend to you, like the Psalmist, when he says, "Attend unto my cry." |