of souls to secure them to himself?  We know that God is pleased to accept the efforts of the faithful mother; his language to us is, “Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages.”  But on this condition alone, are we to receive the reward promised that they be trained for His service.  And have we not the evidence, even now, before us of the fulfillment of His precious promise?  Those of us who were privileged on the last Sabbath to witness the consecration of that band of youthful disciples to the Savior, felt that the efforts of faithful mothers had been blessed, their prayers had been answered, and when we remembered that six of those loved ones were the children of our little circle, and others were intimately connected with some of our number, we felt our confidence in God strengthened, and I trust all gained new encouragement to labor for those who were yet out of the ark of safety.  There are others of our number with whom God’s Spirit has been striving, and even now His influences are being felt.  Shall they be resisted, and those thus influenced go farther from Him who has died that they might live?

Not many years since I was permitted to stand by the death-bed of a mother in Israel.  Her sons were there, and as she looked at them with eyes in which we might almost see reflected the bright glories of the New Jerusalem, she exclaimed, “Dear sons, I shall meet you all in heaven.”  Why, we were led to ask, does she say this?  Two of them had already reached the age of manhood, and had as yet refused to yield obedience to their Heavenly Father.  But she trusted in her covenant-keeping God, she had given them to Him; for them she had labored and prayed, and she knew that God delighted to answer prayer.  We realized the ground of her confidence, when tidings came to us, ere that year had expired, that one of those sons, far away upon the ocean, with no Sabbath or sanctuary privileges within his reach, had found the Savior precious to his soul.  The other, ere long, became an active member of the church on earth.  Is not our God the same in whom she so implicitly trusted, and will He not as readily bless our efforts as hers, if we are truly faithful?

We are all, I trust, prepared to-day to render a tribute of praise to our Heavenly Father, who has so kindly preserved us during the year now passed.  As we look around our little circle we find no place made vacant by death, I mean of those who have been the attendants upon our meeting.  We do not forget that the messenger has been sent to the family of our eldest sister, and removed that son upon whom she so confidently leaned for support.  He who so assiduously improved every opportunity to minister to her comfort and happiness, has been taken, and not only mother and sisters have been bereaved, but children, too, of this association have, by this providence, been made orphans.  We trust they have already realized that precious promise, “When my father and mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up;” and may He whose judgments are unsearchable, and His ways past finding out, enable that sorely afflicted mother to say, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him.”