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 PUBLISHED BY THE 
 
 k& American Tract Society, 
 
 /\j JVb. 144 Nassau- St. 
 
 'Jp? New- York. 
 
 '^ SERIES II. 
 
 NO. XVI. 
 
 A 
 
■p^ 
 
 -1 
 
I V 
 
 NS 16. 
 
 fHE 
 
 STAFF OF X.IF& 
 
 PIT ELI SHED EY 
 
 THE AMERICAJV TRACT SOCIETY, 
 
 144 Nassau-street, New-Yoik, 
 
, 
 
UZiSSiz* 
 
 BREAD, 
 
 TH6; 
 
 UU Of %%%t. 
 
 There are a great many little boys 
 and girls, who eat bread every day, but 
 they do not know what it is made from, 
 or how it is made. Perhaps they will 
 like to read this little book, which will 
 tell them about it ? Bread is made from 
 grain. It is called the Staff of Life, be- 
 cause we could better spare any other 
 sort of food, than we could do without 
 bread and other things made from grain. 
 Children must go without puddings and 
 many other good things, if there were no 
 grain. When the Israelites were in the 
 wilderness, though they had raanua 
 
 — 
 
 mm 
 
4 BREAD, THE [244 
 
 (which was very sweet and good) and 
 quails every day, yet they complained 
 very much because there was no bread, 
 Numbers, xxi. 3. 
 
 PLOUGHING. 
 
 I dare say you know that grain grows 
 out of the ground, but there is a good 
 deal to be done, or it will not grow pro- 
 perly. Farmers must first plough the 
 ground, for it is hard, and the seed will 
 not grow unless the plough loosens the 
 earth, and makes furrows in it ready to 
 receive the seed. Two persons one day 
 were looking at a man who was plough- 
 ing. One of them said to the other, u This 
 
245] STAFF OF LIFE. 8 
 
 field reminds me of the state of my 
 heart, for my heart was as hard as that 
 ground is before it is ploughed up ; and I 
 should never have received the good seed 
 of the word of God, unless God had bro- 
 ken it up by the power of the Holy Spi- 
 rit." This is very true of us all, and we 
 should recollect that it is only God the 
 Holy Spirit, who can prepare our hearts 
 to receive His words. 
 
 SOWING. 
 
 When the ground is ready, then the 
 Sower comes. He walks over the field 
 and throws the seed on each side, till he 
 
6 BREAD, THE [246 
 
 lias sown the field all over. Then the 
 earth is drawn into the furrows by a 
 harrow, and the seed is covered over. 
 The word of God, that is, the preaching 
 $f Christ crucified, is compared to seed; 
 it is sown in the heart, when you hear it 
 preached and believe it. When the seed 
 is sown, the birds come and try to pick 
 it up : it is necessary to set some one to 
 watch the field and drive them away. 
 When we are praying to God, evil 
 thoughts crowd into our minds, and 
 make us forget what we intended to say. 
 We must pray that they may be driven 
 
 away. 
 
 Christ compares himself to a sower, 
 and he, by the power of the Holy Spirit, 
 sows good seed in the hearts of men, 
 causing them to bring forth the fruits of 
 righteousness. Do you recollect the pa- 
 rable of the Sower ? May you be one of 
 those who receive the seed in good 
 
 ground. 
 
 We may remember, that whatever seed 
 is sown," the produce will be the same ; 
 wheat produces wheat, and the other sorts 
 of grain do the same. The Bible alludes 
 to this when it tells us that " he that 
 sovveth iniquity shall reap vanity," and 
 u whatsoever a man soweth that shall 
 he reap." 
 
BREAl>, 
 
 [248 
 
249] STAFF OF LIFE. 9 
 
 REAPING THE GRAIN. 
 
 Time goes on, the autumn comes,, and 
 the grain is ripe. Then the reapers cut 
 it down and tie it up in bundles or 
 sheaves. This is the happiest time of the 
 year for the farmer : he has been many 
 months anxiously watching his grain, 
 and now he reaps the fruits of his toil. So 
 will a true believer reap the fruits of his 
 faith in the dav when Christ comes ; and 
 he will be gathered by Christ into hea 
 ven, as the sheaves are gathered into the 
 barn. 
 
 The labourers are paid higher wages 
 during harvest time than usual, and they 
 also look forward to this season with 
 pleasure. So the followers of Christ re- 
 ceive their best rewards at the last. Now 
 it is seen whether any thing has hurt the 
 grain while growing or not ; if insects or 
 any thing else have injured it, the ef- 
 fects are now seen ; nothing can be now 
 done to make it better. Weeds often grow 
 mixed with the grain, and injure it a good 
 deal; when the time of harvest comes, 
 they can do no more mischief. So in 
 heaven the wicked cease from trou- 
 bling, and the weary are at rest. The 
 harvest is often mentioned, to remind us 
 of the day of judgment. Wc are invi- 
 ted to cone to the Saviour, and are told 
 
10 BREAD, THE [250 
 
 now is the day of salvation, but when 
 death overtakes us, then it is too late. 
 Remember the promise, u Those that 
 seek me early shall find me." Do you 
 recollect the history of Ruth? I think she 
 sought the Lord betimes. 
 
 i SEPARATING THE WHEAT | 
 FROM THE CHAFF. 
 
 When the grain is reaped, it is car 
 ried home. The sheaves are placed in 
 stacks, and covered over with thatch, or 
 else stored in barns. When the farmer 
 thinks it is a proper time to send his grain 
 to market to be sold, he has it thrashed 
 out; that is, a man beats it with an instru- 
 ment called a flail, and separates the 
 grain from the straw and chaff. The 
 grain is then put into sacks. The chaff 
 is very light, and easily blown away by 
 the wind; it is of little value compar- 
 ed to the grain. So our Saviour com- 
 pares wicked men to chaff, and those 
 who love him are compared to wheat. 
 
 GRINDING THE GRAIN INTO 
 
 FLOUR. 
 
 The grain must next be taken to the 
 mill ; there it is put between two stones, 
 
251] STAFF OF LIFE. 11 
 
 one of which turns round, and the grain 
 is soon ground to powder between them. 
 It is then called flour. There are seve- 
 ral sorts of flour, some sorts are much 
 finer and better than others, and the best 
 white bread is made from the finest. The 
 Israelites were told to offer flour in their 
 sacrifices to the Lord, and it was to be 
 the best and finest flour. Let us remem- 
 ber, that in serving God we should try 
 to do his will in the best manner we are 
 able. We all receive many mercies eve- 
 ry dav, but we are apt to forget them; 
 and we are the most inclined to forget 
 the greatest mercies ; those which relate 
 to our eternal happiness. Oh, may we 
 not forgot these things as we are natu- 
 rally inclined to do! 
 
 ■M 
 
12 
 
 BREAD, THE 
 
 [252 
 
 MAKING BREAD. 
 
 The flour is now ready to be made 
 into bread. For this purpose it is mixed 
 with water and a little salt, and kneaded 
 together; it is then called dough. Yeast 
 or barm is next added, which makes it 
 light and pleasant to eat. The oven is 
 heated; when it is ready, the dough is 
 cut into loaves, and they are put into the 
 oven and baked. An oven is made very 
 hot indeed. The prophet Maiachi, speak- 
 ing of God's judgment on the wicked, 
 says "Behold the day cometh that shall 
 burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, 
 all that do wickedly shall be stubble, and 
 
STAFF OF LIFE. 
 
 13 
 
 253] 
 
 the clay that cometh shall burn them up, 
 saith the Lord of Hosts, that it shall 
 leave them neither root nor branch. " 
 Who can dwell with everlasting- burn- 
 ings? Oh, then, my dear children, turn 
 to the Saviour; he is ready, he is willing* 
 to save, and he alone can save you from 
 the wrath to come. Whenever you eat 
 bread, think of the blessed Saviour, who 
 is the true bread that came down from 
 heaven to feed and nourish our souls. 
 He said, "I am the bread which came 
 down from heaven ; whosoever shall eat 
 of this bread shall live for ever." St* 
 John, chapter vi. 
 

 14 
 
 BREAD, THE 
 
 [254 
 
 Bfedu 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 You have now read about grain, how 
 it grows, and how it is made into bread. 
 Perhaps you did not think how much 
 trouble it was to make bread. Do you 
 recollect why there is all this trouble ? 
 When Adam sinned, God told him, " in 
 the sweat of thy brow shalt thou eat 
 bread," meaning that he should not ob- 
 tain bread to eat without much labour 
 and toil. But it is also written, that 
 "man shall not live by bread alone." 
 Bread can only nourishhis body, it can- 
 not feed his soul; for this, even for our 
 salvation, Christ came down from hea- 
 ven. He said, "I am the bread of life, 
 He that cometh to me shall never lmn- 
 
255] STAFF OF LIFE. 1$ 
 
 ger," meaning that all who felt the mi- 
 sery of sin, and the fear of God's wrath 
 and came to Christ, should have pardon 
 and peace, and love from God, and he 
 made to love Him, and enabled to do 
 His will. This is true happiness. Will 
 not you say, like the disciples, " Lord 
 evermore give us this bread ?" ' 
 
 My dear children, if you really feel 
 the evil of your own hearts, the misery 
 of sin, and evil ways, then pray to Jesus 
 and he will hear you. He said, " Him 
 that cometh to me I will in no wise cast 
 out." Pray that God, the Holy Spirit, 
 
 may lead you to see your need of the 
 Saviour, and his salvation. Also remem- 
 ber, that bread nourishes and strength- 
 
16 BREAD, THE STAFF OF LIFE. [256 
 
 ens the body; thus the Saviour, who call- 
 ed himself the bread that came down 
 from heaven, strengthens the soul. He 
 came from heaven, and suffered the death 
 of the cross, to wash us from our sins in 
 his precious blood. It is Christ only that 
 works in us, by the power of the Holy 
 Spirit, causing us to will, and to do ac- 
 cording- to his good pleasure. Bread 
 makes people hearty and strong, and 
 able to bear fatigue. So Christ can 
 strengthen us, and enable us to perform 
 his will. We need bread every day. We 
 need grace and strength from Christ eve- 
 ry day, and all day long. The Lord's 
 Prayer teaches us to pray, 'Give us this 
 day our daily bread/ and thus we ought 
 every dav to seek for Christ, beseeching 
 him to be ever present with us, and re- 
 minding him of his promise, " I will 
 never leave thee nor forsake thee*' 7 
 
 
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 m AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY, | 
 
 «tf ; J ^ In addition to a very extensive se- I 
 £l| a lies of duodecimo Tracts, indifferent ® 
 IfOl ^ languages, Occasional Volumes, &c, $ 
 y have published a large variety of I 
 V Children's Books, among which are ® 
 i the following : I 
 
 | Series H....JW. 2.... 16p's....32mo. I 
 I 17. Affectionate Daughter. k 
 
 I IS. The Happy African. | 
 
 I 19. Sally Butler, and Passionate Boy. k 
 I 20. Select Verses for Children. 1 
 
 + 21. The Happy Man ; or, Life of I 
 I William Kelly. 
 
 I 22. The Image Boys. 
 I 23. The Lord's Praver. 
 $ 24. The May Bee. " 
 $ 25. The Wishing Cap. 
 I 26. Eyes and No Eyes. 
 I 27. The Shipwreck. 
 
 I 28, Memoir of Miriam Warner. 
 
 I 29. The Wreath. | 
 
 | 30. Little Sally of the Sabbath School, ffi 
 § 31. To Children. By Cecil. | 
 
 $ 32. Christ our Example ; or, the $) 
 I History of Dorothea. | 
 
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