And then it is said, one came to the Bible, and looked in the Book of Ruth, but could not gather anything; and Christians cannot gather anything from God's Word unless God opens it to them; and if they do not get good out of one part of the Bible they go to another, and would be glad to glean in either field of Ruth or Esther. In the end, the labourer directed the gleaner to the forty-second field, and he gathered handfuls (Luke xi. 9-13), and then he told others where to go to find plenty of food.
Mary Willerton
(Aged 11 years).
Corby, Grantham.
[This is the most correct answer received up to the time of going to press.—Ed.]
BE GENTLE.
There is a plant that in its cell
All trembling seems to stand,
And bends its stalk and folds its leaves
From each approaching hand.
And thus there is a conscious nerve
Within the human breast,
That from the rash and careless hand
Shrinks and retires distressed.
The pressure rude, the touch severe,
Will raise within the mind
A nameless thrill, a secret tear,
A torture undefined.
Oh, you whose nature is so formed
Each thought refined to know,
Repress the word, the glance, that wakes
That trembling nerve to woe!
And be it still your joy to raise
The trembler from the shade;
To bind the broken, and to heal
The wound you never made.
Whene'er you see the feeling mind,
Oh, let this care begin!
And though the cell be e'er so low,
Respect the guest within.—L. H.