Oh, do we receive the full import of these soul-cheering words?  Lone, solitary one! who hidest in thy heart a grief which, untasted, cannot be understood, there is a Being sitting on the circle of the heavens, who knows every pang thou endurest.  He formed thee susceptible of the love which thou hast felt and enjoyed; Himself ordained the tie which bound thee.  He, better than any other, comprehends thy loss.  Dost thou doubt—­study faithfully His word; obey his voice.  Yield thy heart to Him and trust Him implicitly.  He will prove himself able to bless thee in thine inmost soul.  The avenues to that soul are all open to Him, and He can cause such gentle, soothing influences to flow in upon thee as shall make thee “Sing even as in the days of thy youth.”

Fatherless child! whose heart fails thee when thou dost miss from every familiar place the guide of thy youth, faint not nor be discouraged, though the way is rough, and the voice that ever spoke tenderly to thee is silent.  Thou hast a father in heaven; and He who calls himself such understands better than thou what is implied in that sacred name.  Tell Him thy woes and wants.

  “Thou art as much His care, as if beside
  Nor man nor angel lived in heaven or earth.”

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Original.

INFANTS TAUGHT TO PRAY.

Persons who have never investigated the subject cannot believe that young children are capable of being taught to pray, intelligently.  As infants cannot be supposed to understand the essential nature and design of prayer, we may profitably inquire, “Of what use can prayer be to a young child?”

Miss H. More defines prayer to be “The application of want to Him who alone can relieve it; the confession of sin to Him who alone can pardon it; the urgency of poverty, the prostration of humility, the fervency of penitence—­the confidence of trust.  It is the ‘Lord save us, we perish,’ of drowning Peter—­the cry of faith to the ear of mercy.”  Now, are not children, for several of their first years, absolutely dependent upon others for the supply of all their wants?  And yet, though no beings are so weak, so helpless, yet none are so eloquent in pleading or praying for what they want as young children in distress, though they have not yet acquired the language of speech, and simply because this language is nature’s voice.

How irresistible are the entreaties of an infant in sickness, pain, and trouble.  It will not be pacified or comforted by any one but its mother—­her bosom is its sanctuary—­her voice its sweetest melody—­her arms its only refuge.  What a preparation is this in the ordering of Providence, and in direct reference to what is to succeed, evidently with the design that when a child is of a suitable age, it may transfer its highest love and confidence from its earthly parents to a heavenly Father.  At first the mother stands in the place of God to her child, and is all the world to him.  But if she be a praying mother, the child will very early discover that, like himself, she too is a helpless, dependent, needy creature, and he will learn to trust in that great Being whom his mother adores.