It was wonderful that Bessie was not drowned.  If she had not been supported by her clothes, she would have sunk beneath the water, and when she arose would very probably have come up under the boat, so that it would have been impossible to save her.

If Bessie had been in the habit of obeying so soon as she was spoken to, she would not have met with this fearful accident, and her uncle and aunt would have been spared the mental suffering they endured.  I should think she never again would forget to obey at the first word from those who have the care of her.

I hope, dear children, you will profit as much by Bessie’s accident as I trust she will; and that you will aim not only to be obedient, but promptly obedient.  You may not suffer the same mishap that she did, even if you allow yourself to form the same habit; but it may lead you into as great danger, and even greater, for it may peril the purity and peace of your soul, and that is of far more consequence than the safety of your body.

[Illustration]

“MARY’S GREAT TREASURE”

More than twenty years ago, there was a little blue-eyed, curly-haired child playing about one of the pleasant homes in the West.  She was happy and kind, and every one loved her.  She was only six years old, yet she had a great treasure in her possession—­greater than many of the kings and queens of the earth can claim.

What do you suppose this treasure was?  Was it a valuable diamond?  Was it an immense amount of silver and gold?  Something better than diamonds or silver and gold, was in this little girl’s keeping—­something which will be safe when these have all perished.

I will tell you what this treasure was, because I want you to be as rich as Mary, and, through the great goodness of God, you may all have just such a precious gift.  It was a NEW HEART—­a heart that loved her heavenly Father, that loved to pray to him and ask him to keep her from sin.

Mary often talked with her companions about Jesus, and before she was ten years old several of them had been brought to love and obey him, and had, like Mary, a new heart.  How happy they were together!  How much the Saviour loved them!

Mary is now dead, and has gone to heaven.  Do you suppose she is sorry she so early went to Christ and asked him for a new heart?

How pleasant it must have been to her to be able to say, as she looked back over her past life, that she could not remember the time when she did not love the Saviour; and she surely does not now regret, that when she was a little child—­less than most of you who are reading about her—­she went to Jesus and asked him for a heart to love him.

Our heavenly Father will give you a new heart, if you really wish to have it and feel your great need of it.  Jesus died that you might be saved from sin, and he loves little children.  Will you not go to him, as did Mary, and ask him for a new heart?  If you are sorry for your sins, tell him so; and if you are not, ask him to help you to feel how wicked sin is, that you may have the “great treasure.”