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THE BAGGED SCHOLARS 
 HOME MADE HAPPY. 
 
 One day a boy came to a ragged 
 school, and asked the kind teach* 
 ers to show him how to read. His 
 dress was a very old coat, which 
 had been made, a good many 
 years before, for a man. Now- 
 
 9 
 
2 THE BAGGED SCHOLAR'S 
 
 when worn by a boy it dragged 
 along the ground as he w r alked. 
 He had on him no shirt, no shoes, 
 and no stockings. 
 
 The parents of this poor boy 
 sold fruit in the streets. They 
 were very careless and sinful peo- 
 ple, and left their children to get 
 their food as they could. You may 
 be sure that their home was not 
 a very clean or happy place. A 
 few shavings and rags served for 
 a bed ; a basket, turned upside 
 down, was the only table ; and 
 two old tin pans, with boards laid 
 across, served for seats. 
 
 It was hard work for the teach- 
 ers to make the son of such pa- 
 rents pay any attention to the 
 rules of the school, or to take 
 any delight in learning a lesson 
 
HOME MADE HAPPY. 3 
 
 But care and kindness will do much 
 with the worst kind of people. 
 The pious teachers took pains 
 with the poor boy, and after a 
 long time they taught him to 
 read. As a reward they gave 
 him a New Testament ; and he 
 was told to take it home, and to 
 ask his parents to let him read 
 it to them. He was to begin by 
 reading the third chapter of the 
 Grospel by St. John. 
 
 The poor boy did as he was 
 told. He showed his reward, and 
 read from its pages. And then, 
 how his parents looked upon him! 
 In their eyes he was quite a 
 scholar. They sat quietly as he 
 read to them these w r ords : — 
 
 " There was a man of the Pha- 
 risees, named Ni^odemus^ a ruler 
 
4 THE RAGGED SCHOLAR'S 
 
 of the Jews : the same came to 
 Jesus by night, and said unto 
 him, Rabbi, (Master,) we know 
 that thou art a teacher come from 
 God: for no man can do these 
 miracles that thou doest, except 
 God be with him. Jesus an- 
 swered and said unto him, Verily, 
 verily, I say unto thee, Except a 
 man be born again, he cannot see 
 the kingdom of God." 
 
 Now, neither the father nor 
 mother could read, and most 
 likely they had never before heard 
 this chapter read to them. When 
 the third verse was read, his father 
 stopped him, and said, "You are 
 surely reading wrong. ' Except 
 a man be born again ! ' — that 
 must be quite wrong." The 
 young reader, however, w r as sure 
 
FOME MADE HAPPY. 5 
 
 that these were the very words. 
 But this did not satisfy the father, 
 who said he should like to seethe 
 teacher, that he might ask him 
 about this matter. 
 
 "When the teacher heard of this 
 wish, he was truly glad to go to 
 the house. It was not long be- 
 fore he made his visit. As there 
 was no seat for him, he stood up 
 in the room, and read the same 
 chapter. When he came to the 
 words, i Except a man be born 
 again/ the man saw that his son 
 was quite right, and he thought 
 more highly of his learning than 
 he did before. 
 
 The teacher told the father thafc 
 the new birth spoken of meant a 
 new heart, or a great change in 
 the life and conduct of a man. 
 
6 THE EAGGED SCHOLARS 
 
 He said that those who felt this 
 change, instead of the love of sin, 
 had new desires, and there was 
 in the heart a holy fear of doing 
 wrong. He said, that a man 
 would then love that which is 
 good, and become honest and 
 sober. Also, that a man would 
 repent of his sins, and seek for 
 mercy through the Lord Jesus 
 Christ; that he would believe the 
 great truths that Jesus died for 
 sinners, even the chief, and that 
 he is willing and able to save. 
 Lastly, he told him that such a 
 change could only be made by 
 the Holy Spirit of Grod, and that 
 he mu^t pi ay for the Spirit to 
 give him this new heart. 
 
 "When the man heard these 
 words, he cried aloud, " We are 
 
HOME MADE HAPPY. 7 
 
 all wrong.' * The light of the 
 gospel had now entered into his 
 dark mind, and touched his hard 
 heart. He saw his danger and 
 ruin while living in sin, and began 
 to feel his need of a Saviour. 
 
 Several years passed away, and 
 this family was again met with 
 by the teacher. It was then 
 found that the father was an al- 
 tered man, and the mother too, 
 was changed, and both were now 
 Christians. Themoney they earned 
 they once spent in drink ; now it 
 was laid out to make their home 
 clean and happy. There were 
 tables and chairs, beds and bed- 
 steads, and other comforts around 
 them. The children were well 
 clothed and fed. And they were 
 now no longer " all wrong," but 
 
8 THE BAGGED SCHOLAR'S HOME 
 
 it was hoped that the gospel had 
 made them " all right." 
 
 Though we may not be so poor, 
 or ignorant, or wicked, as this 
 family, yet we have the same sin- 
 ful nature, and we all " must be 
 born again," or we cannot enter 
 the kingdom of heaven.. Young 
 reader, how is it with your heart? 
 Is it " all wrong," or is the heart 
 made right by the Holy Spirit of 
 G od ? Have you been brought 
 from the love and practice of sin, 
 to a saving knowledge of Jesus 
 Christ ? May this be the prayer 
 of us all : — 
 
 " Lord, change this evil heart of mine, 
 And make me pure within ; 
 Oh, may 1 taste Thy love divine, 
 And save me from all sin!" 
 
 Benjamin Pardon, Printer, Paternoster Rem. 
 
341 $1 U 
 
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 Let us sing with one accord 
 Fraise to the eternal Lord ; 
 He is worthy whom we praise, 
 Hearts and voices let us raise. 
 
 What he bids us let us do, 
 Where he leads us let us go ; 
 As he loves us, let us love 
 Man below and saints above. 
 
 Angels praise him, so will we, 
 Sinful children though we be ; 
 Poor and weak, we'll sing the more, 
 Jesus loves the weak and poor. 
 
 Dear to Him is childhood's prayer, 
 Children's hearts to him are dear; 
 Heart and voice let all be given, 
 All will find its way to heaven.