ame any amount of the Lord, but that
ever present Spirit of God guided her heart, made her _fix the amount_,
and then touched the heart of the stranger and fixed the amount also in
his mind, and then, by his own guidance saved the letter from being
lost, and behold! when opened the _prayer of the one and the gift of the
other was the same_.

What a comfort, what a privilege, then, it is for the true-hearted
Christian thus to feel, "_There is one who careth for us_."

WHY HE FAILED.

A prominent business man failed in the Spring of 1877. He had been for
years a prominent and consistent member of a Christian church. He had
even supported a church once almost entirely. Nothing was known against
his character, _but he failed; he failed in business_. No one knew the
reason why, but there it was, _failure_.

At last, in moments of bitter repentance before God, he unbosomed
himself to his pastor, and said, "_Long ago I promised to give the Lord
one-tenth of all the profits I gained from my business, and while I did
so, I was immensely prosperous and successful; never did any one have
any such splendid success,--but I forgot my promise, stopped giving,
thought that I did not need to spend so much, and I began to invest my
means in real estate. When I stopped giving I stopped getting. Now all
is gone. I lost my all because I did not keep my promise to the Lord_."

This incident is a practical one, telling how utter is the impossibility
of true success, without the aid of the Lord, and how absolutely
necessary it is to our own peace and comfort of mind to religiously
observe one's promises made to God. The Bible only too truly tells of
the end of those who forget Him.

"_But Jeshurun waxed fat, then he forsook God which made him; and when
the Lord saw it, he abhorred them, and said, 'I will hide my face from
them_.'"

"_Ye can not prosper; because ye have forsaken the Lord_, He _hath also
forsaken you." "There shall be desolation; because thou hast forgotten
the God of thy salvation, and hast not been mindful of the rock of thy
strength_."

* * * * * HOW THE LORD

CONTROLS THE WINDS AND THE WAVES

JOHN EASTER'S PRAYER.

In his "Memorials of Methodism in Virginia," Dr. W.W. Bennet relates the
following incidents in the life of John Easter, one of the pioneer
ministers who labored there nearly one hundred years ago: He is
represented as being the most powerful exhortatory preac