And those who believe in its promise
Are never content to rest
Till the dear ones around have heard it,
And they, too, join with the blest.
With faith for a shield to protect them.
They go forth in God's own strength:
From afar men flock to their standard,
And the ranks are swelled at length.

And that host, with Christ for its Captain,
Each day is growing more strong:
This strain is caught up and repeated
As the army wends along.
The legend traced on their banner
Is the blest one, “God is Love,”
And the hymn they sing finds an echo
In the angel choir above.
G. E. M., in “Indian Jewels.”

BY MISS S. E. Do WD. [Read at the Annual Meeting of the New York State Branch, Oct. 21st.)

I FACE a company of anxious questioners, perhaps, those whose hearts are truly in the work we have in hand; who desire that the children of our church shall be trained to systematic and conscientious giving, and to the proper sense of their share in the redemption of the world. Our hearts die within us, almost, as we look at the magnitude of our task, and then at the multitudes of obstacles that come up as we labor. This is such a busy world, and the care of it tells even upon child-life. It is a selfish world, and we have selfishness to combat. We cast the seed with liberal hand, with all carefulness, all watching, all prayer, and now, as in the times of Him who taught in parables, much of it seems lost. We need to see, as did Elisha's servant, that “they that be with us are more than they that be with them.” We need to stay our timid souls upon the sure promises of God.

“No word he hath spoken
Was ever yet broken.”

Therefore we may safely assure ourselves that “no blight, nor mildew, nor scorching sun, nor rain-deluge can turn that harvest into failure.” The Master is sure to give, somewhere, the hundred-fold, the sixty, and the thirty. Robertson says, “On earth we have nothing to do with success or with results, but only with being true to God, and for God; for it is sincerity, and not success, which is the sweet savor before God.” Another comforting thought of the same author is, “It is not talent, nor power, nor gifts that do God’s work, but it is that which lies within the power of the humblest: it is the simple, earnest life led with Christ.” First of all, then, I would say that we need great faith, great singleness of heart, great perseverance, if we mean to succeed. We must not allow ourselves to think of failure even as a remote possibility. I still hear the question, “How make the meetings interesting?” That is easily and briefly answered: be interesting. In other words, he so full of your work, so interested in every detail of it. so familiar with every turn of it, that your feeling shall be contagious. Enthusiasm in you, dear leader, will create enthusiasm in the children. If you are really and heartily interested in any special field, you cannot fail to impart your own feeling to them. Be certain about everything you try to talk to them about, and you will carry conviction into their young minds. I might describe an ideal leader, and an ideal circle, but I shall be surer of my ground if I tell you about the doings of our own particular organization, now in its ninth year. From the first, we have tried to give the children just as many offices to fill as possible. There has always been some one who could take the position of Secretary, and discharge its duties in a perfectly satisfactory manner. Two girls serve as librarians, and are exceedingly zealous, while very little ones are trusted with the important matter of passing the plates for collection. Sometimes we have a “Music Committee,” whose duty it is to select the hymns for singing, and perhaps secure something extra, either in the way of vocal or instrumental music. The Literary Committee do the work of distributing any material we give them among the members. The chairman of the Entertainment Committee take all that work off our hands, although she is only a girl of fifteen; and the task of giving supper to fifty or sixty mites of humanity used to make us tired to think of, for a fortnight ahead. Our President and Treasurer have been teachers of the Primary and Intermediate departments of the Sabbath-school for some years, and so have had nearly all these children in their classes at some time or other. They are thoroughly acquainted with them, and endeavor to keep whatever influence they may have gained. Doubtless much of the interest in our circle is due to Sunday work — to the word in season that it is easy to speak in one's own class. We have tried to awaken an intelligent interest in our children. Once we attempted to make the matter of organization clear, by drawing a tree upon the board: its trunk bore that familiar inscription, A. B. C. F. M. ; its branches were labeled with the names of different States : conspicuous among them was New York, divided into as many limbs as we have Associations. Then the Associations each had their Woman's Society, and on the tip end of our Woman's Society were spread the green leaves of our own Mission Circle. We began with the leaves, and traced them up to the great trunk. Then we explained the mystic letters by comparing the Board to our village school-board, with the workings of which the older members were familiar. We went on, by the help of a map, to learn and locate our different mission-fields, and to learn the names of some of the missionaries in each place. We like very much to make studies of the different countries, and that involves a little, or perhaps a great deal, of preparation. We like to have some sort of plan run through our exercises, so we often make out scores of questions; for I have yet to find anything readymade that will just fit the requirements of the case. We have used some of the exercises published by our own Board as partial helps in such meetings. Then from our stores we interspersed recitations, music, anecdotes, map-work, explanations, and, if possible, some curiosities from the country in question. It is a great pity that there cannot be a well-stocked museum for every mission circle to consult, for we all know how an object will hold the attention of children. Let Fannie be ever so uneasy, hold up a Chinese shoe, and she will forget to twirl her handkerchief as she looks at the curious thing, and her small brain is set into a state of wonder and curiosity about it. Call up some mite, and compare her shoe with that of the Celestials, and then tell them how the cruel process of foot-binding is begun and carried on. Freddie is given to punching his neighbor on the sly, and Willie's shoe-tips are sad wanderers; but take a stick of wood and show how the Pacific Islanders dig out their canoes and rig them, and the eyes of those boys will give you all the inspiration you will need, while at the same time there will be peace in your borders. Next to objects are really good pictures. There are plenty of them in our various publications. Yet it is difficult to do much with them, on account of their diminutive size. But you can buy a roll of cheap wall-paper, the kind that has a light gray or yellow back, and with a generous brush you can make for yourself idols of noble proportions, temples, Turkish houses, African kraals, etc. A more delightful way still is to have a number of these large blank sheets of paper of perhaps a yard square. Upon them have exceedingly faint outlines of what you mean to draw, done with a hard lead pencil; then, before your circle, with a handful of soft crayons, talk, and dash on the color. A little practice will give one a great deal of boldness in this kind of rapid, effective work, and the delight of the children will be unbounded as they watch the pictures grow with magical swiftness. If you can't do this work yourself, perhaps you can enlist the cunning hand of some one whose “one talent” that gift may be.

Once we made a missionary scrap-book. The children enjoyed cutting and classifying the pictures, and they like to look at the book. In time we hope to have a stereoscope, with a goodly number of views, and we even aspire to a missionary album. Our library is still drawn upon at every meeting, and much interest evinced in the books read.