seen from many parts of the neighbourhood. On that lofty spot the powerful breezes coming from the sea mingle with those which pass from the heather-clad downs, and are, in summer, sweet with the scent of the wild flowers and the blossoming furze; and so healthful are they in their influence, that the weak seem strengthened, and the strong seem refreshed, as these winds pass over them.

Very beautiful, too, is the scene from Fairlight Mill, where we may see the promontory of Beachy Head stretching its long line into the ocean, and where the ancient ports of Rye and Winchelsea are conspicuous, as are also the Kentish wolds and the green hills of East Sussex. Looking down from the heights are richly-wooded glens, bordered by the blue waters, while a short way off we discover the towns of Hastings and St. Leonards, with their houses and spires, and the white tombs of their churchyards, reminding us that busy life is going on as actively as ever, and that the men of many generations rest there from the toils and cares of life; many lie there, perhaps, who may have trod these hills before us, and who in simple faith in Christ have sought the true rest, which faith in the Saviour alone can give.

It is now many years since, that on a bright July day I clambered up the green slopes to take a look on the landscape. While glancing up towards Fairlight Mill, my attention was arrested by seeing a little table, on which were placed ginger-beer bottles, buns, biscuits, and such other small eatables as would be likely to please visitors from the neighbourhood of a watering-place. On a nearer approach I saw, sitting beside the table, an aged woman in a red cloak, knitting away most industriously at a woollen stocking. She was protected at her back by a mossy bank covered with furze, and had besides a screen made of a thatched hurdle. She was very comfortably and neatly dressed, and her face, though somewhat wrinkled with age, and bordered with the white locks which peeped forth from under her neat bonnet, was so fresh and pleasant, that I felt at once disposed to speak to her; so, seeing a telescope

on her table for the use of visitors, I approached and begged her to hand it to me.

After some little conversation on the different objects at a distance, of which she could give a very intelligent account, I said, “I am afraid you have a hard life of it up here, exposed at some times to cold winds and rain, and at others to the great heat of the sun. I suppose, though, that you only sit here in fine weather?”

"Oh no!" she said, with a cheerful smile, "indeed I have not a hard life; I have a very happy one. I can look back on many a time of sorrow, but I had my comfort even in that; and I have sat up here a great many years, through all sorts of weather, and I have had a blessed time of it."

"How is that?" I asked.

"Ah, well, sir," she said, "because I have had a good Friend with me."

"Well,” I said, "I am glad to see the miller has been a friend to you, in letting you have a seat here."

"Yes, sir, that he has; and it was so kind of him to have this covering put up at my back; you can't think how nicely it keeps off the rain when the wind blows hard. And when the rain is very bad, he lets me go into the lower part of the mill; and he always allows me to put all my little traps there for the night. Yes, he has been very kind to me. May God bless him for it! But I was not thinking of him just then, for I have a better Friend even than him; a better one than any earthly friend."

"Ah, yes," I said; "I hope you have a Friend above-a Heavenly Friend in Christ."

"I hope I have," she said; "a Friend who keeps all the promises made in His Holy Word. One who has said, 'I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.' I have lived seventy-seven years in the world, and have never wanted for anything." But I am afraid, too," I remarked, "that at your time of life you must really find it very trying to sit up here in all weathers. It must be very lonely, too, for you to be so many hours with no one to speak to."

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Well, sir,” she said, "I don't mind the weather, for I am well wrapped up, and have been so long used to sit out of doors that I really believe it's the air that keeps me so healthy; and I have plenty of work to do too," she added, as she held up the stocking she was knitting, and at which she worked on during all our conversation. "And then,"

she added, "if I do now and then feel a little down-hearted or lonesome, I call to mind some of the precious promises of God: you know there are a great many of them. Sometimes I think of the words of the psalm, "Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him: for He knoweth our frame; He remembereth that we are dust.' And then, you know, there are so many promises in the New Testament. And when I think about heaven, I can remember so many promises to God's children about it, so that I can say, 'Thanks be to God, who hath given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.' My memory is not so good as it used to be, and I cannot recollect all the sweet texts which I knew once; but there are many promises which I never forget; and besides, I know where to turn to them in my Bible."

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Then," I said, "you are able to read your Bible still ?" 'Deary me!" said the old woman, brightening up, and looking intently at me over her spectacles, "read it! why, it's my daily bread. My eyesight is very good. To be sure, I'm no scholar, but I know enough to make out my Bible; and I have the blessed Teacher who never fails any that look to Him, and He makes it all plain to me. Sometimes I just take a peep at it as I sit up here, and then, I have something to think about; but when I go home at night to my little place down below, then I feel as happy as a queen, with my Bible and my blessed Saviour's presence; for, you know, He is everywhere. Yes, I am a happy woman, for I can say with St. Paul, 'I have all, and abound.'

"Yes," I said, "and you seem, like him, able to say, 'I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.'"

"Well," said my companion, "I often think of those words of St. Paul, and I don't know whether I should be able to say that. You see, sir, St. Paul had to suffer such terrible things: you know he was a prisoner, and was stoned, and was beaten with rods."

"True," I replied; "and St. Paul says he had learned the lesson. It did not come natural to him. He had that great Teacher whom you speak of the Holy Spirit. But you and I may not be called to bear these things. We know that God will not lay on us more than we can bear."

"Yes," she said; "it is He who has always helped me, and helps me now to bear my little trials; but still they are not great trials."

"But," I said, "you must be sadly out of the way of the means of grace up here. This spot is so far away from any

place of worship."

who

"Oh dear no!" she replied: "I manage to get to Ore Church twice every Sunday, and then I hear Mr. is a real godly minister of the gospel, and a kind Christian gentleman as well."

"Is it possible," I asked, "that you can, at your age, walk all that distance twice a day?"

"Yes, I do,” she answered, "when the weather is fine; and if it turns out wet, the clergyman is very good to me, and often asks me to go in and stop there. Ah, yes! Sunday is a very happy day to me !"

I wish I could more fully remember the words of this aged follower of the Lord Jesus, and could better describe her cheerful and intelligent countenance, as well as the simple and unaffected manner in which she expressed her faith and strong confidence in her Heavenly Father. She had received an answer to that petition in the Lord's Prayer, 'Thy will be done on earth, for her own will was conformed to that of her Heavenly Father, and she had attained that peace which passeth all understanding." I shall never forget my interview with this humble woman, for I thought

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it was one of the most beautiful instances of true, simple Christian faith which I had ever witnessed.

"Well, my dear Christian friend," I said, "I do not know if we shall ever be permitted to meet again on this earth; but I have heard enough from you to fill me with thankfulness on your behalf; and I feel persuaded that, when the time of your departure is at hand, you will be able to say with the apostle, 'I have fought a good fight; I have finished my course; I have kept the faith; henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness."

"Ah, yes,” she rejoined, quickly; "but not for me only, but for all them that love His appearing." With these words we parted.

The evening was throwing its lengthened shadows as I slowly walked down the green hills; and the red rays of the sun were making the smooth sea rich and golden, till they gradually faded. I naturally thought of the resemblance of the setting sun to the gentle fading away of the aged Christian, to revive and rise again in glory and splendour; and the words of the Psalmist, too, came into my mind, "Great peace have they that love Thy law, and nothing shall offend them."

Reader, have you, amid the restlessness and worries, and deep cares and anxieties of life, have you learnt the secret of the peace and happiness which this aged woman enjoyed amidst her poverty and privations? She, like yourself, was a sinner by nature, with a heart tempting her to worldliness and sin. God's Word has said that we are all born in sin, and that if we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. But Christ died on the cross to save us from the guilt and punishment of sin, and to offer a free pardon. He came to give peace by the blood of His cross. Peace with God, though we have sinned against Him; peace to the heart by the sense of pardoned sin; peace from the sorrows and cares of life, by giving us daily help and strength to bear them; for the child of God can thus approach his Father at all times, can tell Him every sorrow of his life; can trust Him in living, can trust Him in dying; for