(Continued from Jan. No.)
ANY have doubtless read with interest the little record contained in the January number of our periodical entitled “The Two Friends,” which tells of the happy consequences of the meeting, after many years, of two schoolfellows. To such the following brief extracts from the letters of one of them will be welcome, telling, as they do, their own story in their own simple way. The reader may remember that Mrs. W., after a time of deep distress of soul, was so filled with joy, when God gave her grace to believe His word, that her very countenance shone, and her friends marveled at its brightness.
“Last evening,” writes the friend, whose confession of the happiness she had found in knowing the Lord first awakened in her old schoolfellow the desire to seek Him, “I went to call on Mrs. K. Scarcely was I seated, when she said that Mrs. W. had just left her, looking as happy as a bird; she had been to tell her of her conversion. I heard all she had to say, and then, on my way back, called on Mrs. W. When she recognized my voice, she came bounding downstairs, exclaiming, ‘I am glad to see you; I have so much to tell you!’ And soon her arms were thrown around my neck.”
It appears that the story of her conversion told to her sister and her sister’s friend, in answer to their exclamation of astonishment on seeing the face, long clouded with sorrow, lit up with a new joy, so touched the former, that she burst into tears, saying, “Oh, that I were saved!” Her friend also became anxious about his soul.
The letter goes on to describe an interview which Mrs. W. sought with one to whom she had thought the history of the dealings of God with her would be cause of deep thankfulness, and her disappointment when, in answer to her saying how happy it made her to know that her sins were forgiven, he warned her against such confidence as presumption. “She felt surprised that he did not rejoice with her,” continues the writer, “and so my visit was grateful to her.”
But there was yet another to whom the joy of salvation shining on the face of Mrs. W. had been telling its own tale, and we must again quote from the letter before us.
“On Saturday morning Mrs. W. called, bringing with her the resident governess. Her face was lit up with smiles as she said, ‘Oh, dear Harrie, I have brought this dear soul, that you may rejoice with us—she is born again!’ Mrs. W. then told me that last Wednesday, after she had retired to rest, hearing a knock at her bedroom door, she said, ‘Who is there? Come in!’ A voice, choking with sobs, replied, ‘Do pardon my intrusion; I cannot rest, my sins press so heavily upon me! I can’t bear the weight even of the bedclothes. Oh, do not let God go till He has blessed me, too!’ She got out of bed, and by the light of the moon she saw the pale, anxious face of the governess, who said, ‘Oh, Mrs. W., that afternoon when you rejoined us after your friends had gone, you looked so happy; and when you told us the cause, and asked me if I was saved, I could only slink up to my room and sob; and oh,’ she added, ‘the sadness over my spirits gets worse every hour—I am wearied of life, where shall I get rest?’
“Mrs. W. clasped her hands in hers; then, pointing to the words, she read by the moonlight the words, ‘Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.’ A long, long silence followed, broken now and again by a heavy sigh. Again Mrs. W. repeated the sweet words, ‘Come unto Me’; then, kneeling down, she earnestly that to this weary one also rest might be given. When they rose from their knees, the governess, smiling through her tears, said, ‘I’ve got it,’ and together they thanked God, the hearer and answerer of prayer. No sleep visited either that night, their joy was too great; and when school re-assembled in the morning, both were in their places, with glad looks, which were noted by the little scholars. one of whom went home and said, ‘Mamma, you can’t think how pleased Mrs. W. looks now, and she talks to us all so sweetly of Jesus; I believe she is a Christian, like you.’”
We give one extract more, for the sake of the picture it gives of an aged father’s joy over the news of his many prayers for a beloved child having been answered.
“When out with some of the children yesterday, I met Mrs. W. Her face was radiant with smiles, as she said, ‘Oh, Harrie, at school your joys and sorrows were mine, and mine yours. It was my dear old father’s birthday last Sunday, so I wrote to congratulate him, and then I told him of my spiritual birthday.’ He says, ‘The contents of your letter made the tears trickle fast down my cheeks, and, like Simeon, I could only say, “Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation;”’ and then goes on to say how he forgot to eat his breakfast for very joy that God had answered his prayers for his dearest child.”