“‘Oh, certainly,’ said he; ’all right, sir.  We know you always give when it is in your power.’

“We parted; and after I had proceeded some distance, I bethought me of the piece of gold in my vest pocket.  ‘What,’ said I to myself, ’I told that man I had no money, when I had by me all the time this gold pocket-piece.  This was an untruth, and I have done wrong.’  I kept reproaching myself in this way until I stopped, and took from my pocket the five-dollar piece.

“‘Of what use,’ said I, ’is this piece of money, stowed away so nicely in my pocket?’ I made up my mind to turn back, and rode as fast as I could until I overtook Mr. B——­, to whom I gave the coin, and resumed my journey.

“A few days after, I stopped at the house of a lady, who treated me very hospitably, for which I could make no return, except in thanks and Christian counsel.  When I took leave, she slipped into my vest pocket a little folded paper, which she told me to give to my wife.  I supposed it was some trifle for the children, and thought no more of it until I reached home.  I handed it to my wife, who opened it, and to my astonishment it was a five-dollar gold piece, the identical pocket-piece I had parted with but a few days before.  I knew it was the same, for I had made a mark upon it; how this had been brought about was a mystery, but that the hand of the Lord was in it I could not doubt.  ‘See,’ said I to my wife; ’I thought I gave that money, but I only lent it; how soon has the Lord returned it!  Never again will I doubt his word.’

“I afterward learned that Mr. B——­ had paid over the coin to the husband of the lady at whose house I staid, along with some other money, in payment for lumber, and he had given it to his wife.

“Take my advice, and when appealed to for aid, fear not to give of your poverty; depend upon it the Lord will not let you lose by it, if you wish to do good.  If you wish to prosper, ’Give, and it shall be given unto you; for with the same measure that ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.’  ’Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.’”

A NEW YEAR’S INCIDENT.

“One New Year’s day I was going out to visit some of my poorer neighbors, and thought I would take a sovereign to a certain widow who had seen days of competence and comfort.  I went to look in my drawer, and was so sorry to find I had but one sovereign left in my bank for the poor, and my allowance would not be due for two or three weeks.  I had nearly closed the drawer upon the solitary sovereign, when this passage of Scripture flashed so vividly into my mind, ’The Lord is able to give thee much more than this,’ (2 Chron. xxv:  9.) that I again opened the drawer, took the money, and entered the carriage which was waiting for me.  When I arrived at Mrs. A.’s, and with many good wishes for the New Year, offered her the sovereign, I shall