It is of no use trying to bring me back: I tell you plainly I am a Christian, and will never turn to you again.-THE INDIAN CONVERT. Whoesoever shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my father who is in heaven. -Matthew x. 32. THE CHILDREN'S MISSIONARY NEWSPAPER. DESIGNED TO COMMUNICATE INTERESTING INTELLIGENCE RESPECTING THE MISSIONARY EFFORTS OF ALL EVANGELICAL DENOMINATIONS, IN LANGUAGE ADAPTED TO THE CAPACITIES OF CHILDREN. VOLUME XV.-1858. Edinburgh: GALL & INGLIS, 6 GEORGE STREET. GLASGOW: G. GALLIE. LONDON: HOULSTON AND WRIGHT. PREFACE. THE close of another year reminds me that I have to meet the readers of the Children's Missionary Newspaper; but, my dear young friends, I cannot address all of those who read the Editor's letter last year—some of them are now sleeping in their graves; young as they were, they have been called away from earth, and shall be seen no more. Yes, we shall see them again. Every boy and girl that has ever read this paper, and those who have written in it too, will one day meet each other. What a meeting will that be, dear children, when we must all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ! I think there will then be only two things that we shall care about—Are our own souls safe? and, what have we done for the souls of others? Let us ask ourselves these questions now. Some would say, "What can children do for the souls of others? What can they do for the heathen?" I will tell you one thing that you can do, it was what a poor old black woman, named Betty, did. Old Betty, as she was generally called, lived in America, and in her younger days was a slave. She was more than a hundred years old, and had been confined to her bed for twenty years. In the same town, there lived a rich old gentleman, who gave large sums of money to the Missionary Societies, and was very kind in visiting the poor. One day, when he went to see old Betty, he said to her, "Betty, why do you suppose God keeps you so long in this world, suffering as you are poor, and old, and blind—when, if it were His will, you might go to heaven and be so happy there?" "Ah, massa,” replied the old woman quickly, "you don't understand. |