the joy of the boy when he and his father went together to pull
that nail out. With great glee the claws of the hammer were fastened
about the head of Mr. Nail and, jerk, out he came. "Oh," exclaimed the
boy, "the marks are left." Yes, it was true, for every nail driven in
and pulled out a mark was left, and it was an ugly looking door. "That
is the sad thing about it all," said the father, "every time you do an
evil deed a mark is left upon the life. It is never the same as if the
evil deed had not been committed. It is fine that we have all the nails
out, but it would have been much better had they never been driven in."

MEMORY VERSE, _Jeremiah_ 2: 22

"For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much sope,
yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord God."

MEMORY HYMN [348]

_"Take my life and let it be
Consecrated, Lord, to thee."_

A BLIND MAN WHO SAW

Once upon a time there was a boy who had a call to be a preacher. Now
this boy was Scotch, and the fondest ambition of a Scotch mother is that
her son shall become a minister. You may believe that this particular
lad's mother was very, very happy. So George (George was his name) went
to school. He was not a brilliant student, but he was faithful, he did
his work well and passed his grades. One day he noted some difficulty
with his eyes. The trouble increased rather than diminished. Before he
had finished his education, while he was yet a young man, he became
totally blind. He was greatly discouraged. He was tempted to give up
entirely, stop trying to do anything. Certainly he could not be a
successful preacher if he was blind. Who would listen to him? How could
he do his work?

However there was another voice inside him, the voice of courage, hope
and faith. It was the voice of the Lord that bid him go right on with
his plans. He heeded the urge of the inner voice. He was ordained.
People loved him, and flocked to hear him preach. Though his natural
vision was darkened, his spiritual vision was so much brighter. Though
he could not look upon the beautiful sights of the world, he had eyes to
see more clearly the wonderful things of the soul. His fame spread
throughout Edinburgh, Scotland, England, and all the English-speaking
world, and everywhere he was known and loved as the blind preacher.

This blind preacher wrote many hymns. The greatest hymn he ever wrote,
and one of the finest in all the English language, i