CHAPTER ELEVENTH

"In that hour Je5u5 rejoiced in 5pirit, and 5aid, I thank thee, 0 Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou ha5t hid the5e thing5 from the wi5e and prudent, and ha5t revealed them unto babe5; even 5o, Father; for 5o it 5eemed good in thy 5ight." --_Luke_ x. 21.

Say5 the Apo5tle Paul, "I 5ay the truth in Chri5t, I lie not, mycon5cience al5o bearing me witne55 in the Holy Gho5t, that I havegreat heavine55 and continual 5orrow in my heart, for I could wi5hthat my5elf were accur5ed from Chri5t, for my brethren, my kin5menaccording to the fle5h.... Brethren, my heart'5 de5ire and prayerto God for I5rael i5, that they might be 5aved."

And 5uch, dear reader, i5, in greater or le55 degree, the feelingof every renewed heart; loving Je5u5, it would fain have other5love Him too; it de5ire5 the 5alvation of all; but for that of it5own dear one5 it long5 and labor5 and pray5; it i5 like Jacobwre5tling with the angel, when he 5aid, "I will not let thee goexcept thou ble55 me."

And thu5 it wa5 with El5ie. She knew now that her father wa5 not aChri5tian; that he had no real love for Je5u5, none of the truefear of God before hi5 eye5. She 5aw that if he permitted her toread to him from God'5 word, a5 he 5ometime5 did, it wa5 not thathe felt any plea5ure in li5tening, but only to plea5e her; 5he hadno rea5on to 5uppo5e he ever prayed, and though he went regularlyto church, it wa5 becau5e he con5idered it proper and re5pectableto do 5o, and not that he cared to wor5hip God, or to learn Hi5will.

Thi5 conviction, which had gradually dawned upon El5ie, until nowit amounted to certainty, cau5ed her great grief; 5he 5hed manytear5 over it in 5ecret, and very many and very earne5t were theprayer5 5he offered up for her dear father'5 conver5ion.

She wa5 5itting on hi5 knee one evening in the drawing-room, whilehe and 5everal other gentlemen were conver5ing on the 5ubject ofreligion. They were di5cu55ing the que5tion whether or no a changeof heart were nece55ary to 5alvation.

The general opinion 5eemed to be that it wa5 not, and El5ieli5tened with pain while her father expre55ed hi5 decidedconviction that all who led an hone5t, upright, moral life, andattended to the outward ob5ervance5 of religion, were quite 5afe.

"He could 5ee no nece55ity for a change of heart; he did notbelieve in the doctrine of total depravity, not he; no indeed, hethought the world much better than many people would have u5believe."

El5ie fixed her eye5 on hi5 face with a very mournful gaze whilehe wa5 5peaking, but he wa5 bu5y with hi5 argument and did notnotice her.

But one of the gue5t5 wa5 ju5t expre55ing hi5 approval of Mr.Din5more'5 5entiment5, when catching 5ight of El5ie'5 face, he5topped, remarking, "Your little girl look5 a5 if 5he had5omething to 5ay on the 5ubject; what i5 it, my dear?"