Chapter 5

"If you'll excuse me, Miss Layton, I'll just leave Ella to entertain you, as I have an errand out, but I'll not be gone long," said Miss Prudence Clinton, one evening, soon after Miss Layton had taken up her quarters with her.

"Don't hurry on my account, Miss Clinton; I have no doubt that Ellie and I can entertain each other very well, until you return," replied Miss Layton.

"Very well then, Ella, I shall expect you to do your best," said aunt Prudence, as she went out of the door.

"Will you take a walk with me, Ella?" asked Miss Layton.

"Oh yes, ma'am, I should love to, dearly! I'll get my bonnet in one minute!" exclaimed Ella, bounding out of the room. In less than the specified time she returned with her bonnet in her hand.

"Where shall we go, Ellie?" said Miss Layton; "the sun is nearly down, so we cannot take a very long walk before it will be getting dark."

"Will you come with me to see my mother's grave, Miss Layton? it isn't very far, and the grave-yard is very pretty; there are so many trees, and bushes, and flowers planted round the graves."

"Yes, Ellie, we will go there, if you wish it."

"I love to come here since mother died," said Ella, as they stood by Mrs. Clinton's grave. "Sometimes I sit down on the grass, and lay my head on the grave, and talk to mother, and it seems as if she could hear me; but Oh, I wish she could speak to me! Oh, if I could only put my arms round her neck once more, and give her just one more kiss!" and Ella burst into tears, and laid her face against the cold tomb-stone, while the tears fell like rain on the grass that covered her mother's breast. Miss Layton's tears were falling too.

"Your mother is not here, dear child," said she. "'Tis only the senseless body that lies there, but your mother lives in heaven."

"Yes, I know she does, because she was so good, that I am sure God would take her there."

"You don't mean, my dear child, that God would save her because she was good?"

"Why, yes, Miss Layton; it's the good people that go to heaven, isn't it?"

"My dear Ella, there is none that doeth good and sinneth not; 'they are all gone out of the way; they are altogether become filthy; there is none that doeth good—no, not one.'"

"But you said my mother was in heaven!"

"Yes, my dear, but not because she was good, but because Jesus died to save her. 'This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners.' If we were able to save ourselves by our own good works, then Jesus need not have died. No, Ella, we cannot do anything at all to merit salvation, but must accept it as God's free gift, 'not of works, lest any man should boast.' 'By their fruits ye shall know them;' it is not said they shall be saved by their fruits, but by them they are to be known; they are the evidence of their acceptance with God. 'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved:' we are to be saved by faith, not by works; but unless we do good works, unless we love God's commandments and try to keep them, we have no reason to think we have any faith, for it must be a living faith that saves us, and the apostle James tells us that 'faith without works is dead.' Your mother professed to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and she showed by her works that hers was not a dead faith, and therefore we may rest assured that she is in heaven; but if she had expected to be saved on account of her own good deeds, we could have had no such assurance concerning her."

"I think I understand it now, Miss Layton," said Ella, "and I remember that mother always seemed to think herself very wicked, though I don't think I ever saw her do anything wrong; but she said she was not afraid to die, because Jesus had died to save her."

"Yes, Ella, this is the experience of all true Christians. But come, it is time for us to be going; it is growing quite dark, and the stars are beginning to come out in the sky."

"How pretty the stars are! Miss Layton," said Ella, gazing up into the sky; "I love to look at them. Mother used to like to look at them too, and she told me that some of them were great large worlds, a great deal bigger than ours, and some were suns with worlds moving around them. Miss Layton, what is that white streak up in the sky, that they call the Milky-way? I asked aunt Prudence the other evening, and she said, 'Nonsense! go away, and don't bother me with such silly questions.' Do you think it's a silly question, Miss Layton?"

"No, my dear, not at all silly. The Milky-way is said to be composed of millions of stars, which, though they are very large indeed, are at such an immense distance from us as to appear very small, and though they are at great distances from each other, so much farther are they from our world, that they look to us as though they were quite close together, and the rays of light coming from such a multitude of stars, mingle together, and cause that white appearance."

"How very great and wise God must be, to be able to take care of so many worlds at once!" said Ella.

"And remember, Ella, that he not only keeps all these worlds in their orbits, but takes the same care of each one of the innumerable beings which inhabit them, as though there was but that one for him to watch over and protect. You recollect that Jesus said, 'Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall to the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.' Then we need not fear that we are too insignificant for God to notice, or that he will forget us, because he has so many creatures to care for."

"How strange," said Ella, "that God can see everything, and take care of everybody, when he has so many, so very many people to watch!"

"There is another thing I want you to think of, Ella," said Miss Layton. "Our little world, compared with the millions of other worlds, is but as one leaf compared to all the leaves on all the trees of the forest, or as one grain of sand to all that are on the sea-shore; and yet the great God, who is the Creator and Ruler of all these mighty worlds, sent his own Son down to our little earth to suffer, and bleed and die to save us, who are rebels against him our Creator and lawful sovereign. 'When we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. God commendeth his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.' What amazing love and condescension! With what wonder and astonishment must the angels have beheld it! And now, Ella, is it not strange that any of us should be guilty of such base ingratitude, as to refuse to love this precious Saviour, who has shown such wondrous love and condescension toward us? How can you refuse to give him your heart now—to forsake your sins and devote your life to his service? It is a reasonable service, a service he has a right to demand of each one of us. And it is a delightful service; his yoke is easy, and his burden light."

Things now went on much more smoothly with Ella; Miss Layton's presence being a restraint upon her aunt as well as upon Ella. Miss Prudence still scolded, for she had indulged the habit so long that it had become second nature to her to do so, but not so continually as formerly, and Ella bore it more patiently.

"How do you get along with this child at school, Miss Layton?" asked aunt Prudence one day. "Don't you find her rather unmanageable sometimes? Mr. Burton used to make great complaints of her, and I frequently have much trouble with her myself."

"No, Miss Clinton, I have had very little trouble with Ella. She is always obedient, and though she is careless and quick-tempered, I find that when reasoned with kindly, she is always sorry for her faults and anxious to try to do better."

"Well, I don't see why it is that she behaves so much better for strangers than for her own aunt. I'm sure I've tried my best to make a good child of her, but whenever I reprove her, instead of seeming sorry for her faults, she is very apt to fly into a passion. You've no idea how bad she can be, for she has behaved remarkably well—that is, for her—since you've been in the house. And yet I can't think it's altogether because you are a stranger, for she must have got pretty well acquainted with you by this time, going to school to you every day, and she didn't mind showing out her badness to Mr. Burton just the same as to me."

"No, Miss Clinton, I don't think it is because I am a stranger; I think Ella is a very affectionate child, and can be very easily ruled by kindness."

"But you scold her, don't you?"

"I do not speak to her in an angry, impatient way. If you speak to a child in the loud, angry tones of passion, it rouses the same feelings in his breast, and instead of making him penitent on account of his misconduct, excites a feeling of rebellion against your authority. But if you speak mildly and kindly, in a way that shows him that you do it for his good, and not because his faults annoy and provoke you, you will generally find your admonitions have a very different effect."

"Well, I don't know; but I think when children are bad, they ought to be scolded; and whipped too, sometimes."

"They certainly ought to be reproved, Miss Clinton, but not scolded; at least not in my sense of the word. Some people, I believe, include all reproof under that head, but when I speak of scolding, I only mean loud and angry, or fretful and unreasonable fault-finding, and that, I really believe, never benefitted anybody."

"And you don't whip, either, I suppose, for most folks think that's worse than scolding."

"Then, there I differ from most folks," said Miss Layton, smiling. "I don't pretend to be wiser than Solomon, who said, 'Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him;' and again, 'Chasten thy son while there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying.' I think it is sometimes necessary to use the rod, though not very often; but when all other means have failed to make a child obey, I do not hesitate to resort to that. But different dispositions require different management. Ella, I think, can be most easily ruled through her affections; and I had much rather have the management of such a child, than of one who requires severity. Only show her that you love her, Miss Clinton, as I have no doubt you do, and I think you will find her easily managed."

"Love her! to be sure I do. She's the only near relation I have in the world. There was quite a large family of us, but James and I were all that lived to grow up; I was the eldest, and he the youngest, and I thought the world and all of my brother; but I never wanted him to get married, for I couldn't bear to think he should ever care more for anybody else than he did for me. However, I think now it's just as well he did, for though Ella does plague me half to death sometimes, I wouldn't be without her for a great deal."

"If you would just let Ella see, by your manner, that you do feel such a strong affection for her, I am quite sure you would find her much more manageable."

"Oh well, Miss Layton, people must act according to their dispositions; it never was my way to show my feelings, and I'm too old to alter my ways now."

"I think we should never consider ourselves too old to alter for the better," said Miss Layton, gently. "We are commanded to be 'kindly affectioned one toward another,' and parents are cautioned not to 'provoke their children to anger, lest they be discouraged.'"

Miss Layton was an earnest Christian; one whose constant endeavour it was to glorify her Father in heaven by her daily walk, and to bring souls to Christ. She deeply felt her responsibility as a teacher; she remembered that she was making impressions on those young minds and hearts, not only for time, but for eternity; and she felt that, when she had done all in her power for the intellectual improvement of her pupils, she had performed but half her duty; for she considered the salvation of their souls of greater importance than anything else, and felt that her first duty was to lead them to the Saviour; and not only did she pray with, and for them, but she embraced every opportunity to converse with them on the importance of the 'one thing needful,' the necessity of repentance, and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And her labours were not without fruit. One evening, Mary Young lingered behind her young companions, and when Miss Layton kindly inquired if she wished to speak to her, she burst into tears, exclaiming, "O Miss Layton, I am such a sinner! what shall I do?"

"'If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.' 'Who his ownself bare our sins in his own body on the tree.' 'This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.' 'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.' These are the answers given you in God's own word, Mary."

"But are they meant for me, Miss Layton?"

"Surely, Mary; why not for you as well as for another?"

"Because I am so very wicked, and have put off repentance so long?"

"Jesus said, 'I came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance,' and, 'Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out.'"

"But, O Miss Layton, I am so vile, so wicked, I've sinned against him so long and so often, that I'm not fit to come to him, I don't dare to come."

"I would not have you think any better of yourself, Mary. You are just as vile and sinful as you have said—yes, even far more wicked than you think—but it was just such as you that Jesus came to call. Just such ruined, helpless, undone sinners; and the more you feel your sinfulness, the more conscious you are of your lost and ruined condition, the more you feel your need of him, the more willing he is to receive you."

"But I am so wicked, my heart is so hard, and when I kneel down to pray, and remember what a holy God I am going to speak to, and that he sees my heart and knows how hard and full of sin it is, I am afraid to say one word. I don't dare to pray, for it seems like mocking him."

"You might well be afraid to come, if you had to come in your own name, Mary, but even you may dare to come in the name of Jesus, since he tells us that it was just such sinners he came to seek and to save; and you need not fear to come, weak and helpless as you are, for does he not say, 'Let him take hold of my strength that he may make peace with me, and he shall make peace with me?' You have no strength to help yourself, you must just look to Jesus. Take hold of Christ."

"O Miss Layton, dare I come just as I am—with such a hard heart? Must I not wait till I feel my sinfulness more? I don't feel half so sorry for my sins as I ought to."

"Come just as you are, Mary; you will never grow any better by staying away; and do you expect to make yourself more acceptable to God by continuing longer in rebellion against him—by continuing to refuse to obey his command, 'My son, give me thine heart?'"

"But my heart is so very hard, so unfeeling; it seems to me that I ought to feel more sorry for my sins."

"I don't deny, Mary, that you ought indeed to feel more sorrow on account of your sins, but that need not keep you from Christ; if you wait for more feeling, you will never get it. Come now, just as you are. 'Now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation.'"

"But it seems to me there never was such a sinner; will Jesus receive me?"

"He says, 'Look unto me and be ye saved, all ye ends of the earth.' He says, 'I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.' And again, 'Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out.' Do you doubt his word?"

"O Miss Layton, what must I do?"

"Just go and tell God what you have been telling me, that you are a lost, ruined, helpless, undone sinner, utterly unable to help yourself, or make yourself any better; cast yourself entirely upon his mercy, pleading for salvation only through the blood and merits of Jesus Christ. He will not reject you; you need not fear, for none ever came to him in the appointed way and was refused. 'I will in no wise cast out.' You have the word of him who cannot lie."

"When shall I do it, Miss Layton?"

"Now; this moment; the present only is yours."

They knelt down, and most earnestly did Miss Layton plead with God for her young friend, that he would pardon her sins, that he would wash them all away in the blood of the Saviour, that he would enable her to lay hold by faith upon Christ, and trust in him alone for salvation. And Mary prayed for herself, confessing in broken words, and with many sighs and tears, her great sinfulness, her entire helplessness, and pleading for mercy only for the sake of Christ.

From that day there was a marked change in Mary Young. An amiable girl she had always been, but now much more so; so willing to do a kindness to any one, ever ready to deny herself that she might give pleasure to others, and so conscientious, so afraid to do wrong, seeming ever to feel herself in the presence of God, so meek and humble, and with a heart so full of love to Jesus, ever striving to lead her young friends to a like precious faith. The language of her heart was,

"Now will I tell to sinners round,
What a dear Saviour I have found."