Page:Young cottager, or, An account of Jane Seymour, the daughter of ignorant and irreligiuos parents.pdf/6

 more attentive to the poor child's case. I seemed to feel the importance of infantine instructions more than ever I had done before, and felt a rising hope that this girl might prove a kind of first fruits of my labours.

I retired into my closet and prayed. I thanked God for the intelligence I had just received, and sought his blessing on my own soul, and that of little Jane.

I now recollected her quiet, orderly, diligent attendance on our little school meetings; and her marked approbation of the epitaph, as formerly mentioned, rushed into my thoughts. I hope, I really hope, said I, this dear little child will prove a child of God. And if so, what a mercy to her, and what a mercy to me. The next morning I went to see the child. Her dwelling was of the humblest kind; it stood against a high bank bf earth, which formed a sort of garden behind it.

Jane was in bed up stairs. I found no one in the house with her, except the woman who had brought me the message on the evening before. The instant I looked on the girl, I perceived a very marked change in her countenance; it had acquired the consumptive hue, both white and red. A delickey unknown to it before quite surprised me, owing to the alteration it produced in her look. She received me first with a very sweet smile, and then instantly burst into a flood of tears, juſt sobbing out. I am so glad to see you, sir.

I am very much concerned at your being so ill, my child, and grieved that I was not sooner aware of your state. But I hope the Lord designs it for your good. Her eyes, not her tongue, powerfully expressed, I hope and think he does.