Dear Children 


Another of your number

has been called away by death; one who

dearly loved your little paper, and was

fairly delighted when it made its monthly

visits. I refer to my little daughter, Allie, who fell

asleep in Jesus June 1st, 1862. She was nearly__

six years and a half old, but was thoughtful far

 beyond her years. She talked a great deal about

the coming of Christ, and looked forward to that

time with deep interest. She often said she loved

the Lord, and Jesus the best of any body. She 

also loved the Bible Sabbath, and when told on 

Friday, that it would be Sabbath when the sun

 went down, would reply, "Will it? 0, I am glad."

I had unwisely been too indulgent in dress, and

allowed her to do likewise, until testimony on

 that point was published, nearly a year ago. I

 could then hesitate no longer as to my duty in

 the matter, but was puzzled to know how I 

should overcome her desire for these things, for

 I knew if the child had an idol in the world, it

 was dress. I called her to me one day and told

 her what God said about these things, and now,

 said I, what are you going to do with your 

hoops? Said she, unhesitatingly,

"I shall take them off; hoops are of

no account at all;" and from that time to the day

of her death, she never evinced the least desire

 for them again, notwithstanding all the little 

girls of her age in the neighborhood wore them.

Allie had strong confidence in Divine protection.

One day last fall I was sick and went into an

 adjoining room to lie down, leaving her alone. I

 told her if she was afraid she might fasten the

 front door. Said she, "I ain't afraid; Jesus will

 take care of me."

Last winter she was quite sick, and was afraid

she was going to die. She cried, and said she

didn't want to die; but during the last few weeks

of her life, and while still in usual health, she

said to me repeatedly, " Ma, I am willing to die if

Jesus wants me to; ain't you?" I replied that we

too ought to be willing, for if we were good, 

Jesus would make us live again. "Yes," she

 would say.

She often called me to come and pray with her,

and often would she pray alone when she 

thought no one saw her. On Thursday before she

 died, she was as sprightly as I ever saw her. 

Friday morning she was taken sick, and Sunday

 all that remained to us of Allie was a form of 

lifeless clay.

But in all my lonely sadness, I seem to hear a

 voice saying, "Thy child shall live again."

Dear children, we know not which of the 

Instructor family will be called next. Now is the 

time to prepare for the eternal state; now, while

 you have health and strength; do not defer it till

 probation closes, or to a sick and dying bed. A

 death bed is no place to commence a 

preparation for heaven.

Allie was too dreadful sick to converse with on

eternal things; probably she never thought of

death during her last sickness, and the next 

event with her will be the resurrection.

That we may all be prepared to meet her in that

bright day, is the prayer of the writer.



L. M. GATES.

Trenton, Wis.