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[Illustration: HOP-PICKING. (_See page 274._)]




  THE

  LITTLE GLEANER.

  A

  Monthly Magazine for the Young.

  VOL. X., NEW SERIES.
  1888.

  LONDON:
  HOULSTON AND SONS, 7, PATERNOSTER BUILDINGS, E.C.;
  AND E. WILMSHURST, BOOKSELLER, BLACKHEATH, S.E.




  LONDON:
  PRINTED BY W. H. AND L. COLLINGRIDGE,
  148 AND 149, ALDERSGATE STREET, E.C.

[Illustration: _Engraved by S. W. Partridge & Co._

"WELL, THEN, COME TO THE CANAL." (_See page 4._)]




THE EDITOR'S NEW YEAR'S ADDRESS TO HIS YOUNG FRIENDS.


Dear young friends,--We wish you each and all a very Happy New Year,
and, above all things else, that it may prove to many of you a year of
grace--that is, we pray that the rich saving grace of God may be put in
the hearts of many of our readers who hitherto have not called upon Him
for mercy.

How many who began the year 1887 in health are now laid in the grave!
Some, no doubt, who read this address will be thinking of others who
read last year's, and who were interested in THE LITTLE GLEANER,
watching for its appearance month by month, but who now have passed
away, and will no more read it, nor walk and talk with them again.

The other month, a wrapper in which a GLEANER had been enclosed by some
friend to a person in Ireland was sent to us bearing this solemn mark,
"_Dead_." This told us that the person to whom the GLEANER had been sent
had become the prey of death, and would never read another.

Oh, how solemn that word looked and sounded to us--"_dead_!" and the
thought rushed into our mind, "How did he die? Where is he? If he died
in Christ, it is well with him, for all who thus die are eternally at
rest, free from sin, care, pain, and sorrow. Yea, they are 'for ever
with the Lord.'"

Dear reader, how is it with you? You are spared, while some have been
called from time into eternity. We hope you feel this to be a mercy, and
we now ask, Have you ever been led to the throne of grace, concerned
about sin and salvation? Has the cry ever gone from your heart to the
Lord, "God be merciful to me a sinner"? If not, oh, that, as this year
begins to pass away, the Spirit may cause your heart to feel the guilt
of your sin, and lead you, a poor, burdened, contrite one, to the feet
of Him who died on the cross, and whose blood cleanses those who are
thus brought unto Him from all sin. Then you shall prove that He is
"mighty to save"--yea, "able to save all those to the uttermost that
come unto God by Him."

We believe that many who will read these words have proved the ability
of Christ Jesus to save, and that others are seeking Him, and longing to
know that their sins are forgiven. We rejoice over them, and pray that
many more may be brought to walk the same way, for it is the way from
sin, death, and hell, and the way to Christ, peace, and heaven. All who
walk therein belong to the flock of the Good Shepherd; and we can say to
each one who has thus fled to Him for refuge, "He careth for you." His
love is stronger than death, and knows no change, for He is "the same
yesterday, and to-day, and for ever."

Dear young friends, there is a reality in the religion of Jesus, and we
pray that, in this truth-despising day, you may feel the power of grace,
and, by the work of the Spirit in your hearts, be so grounded in the
truth that you may turn with contempt from all those who, while they
profess to preach, have not the knowledge of God and His truth in them;
and, although they are anxious to discredit the Word of God, and set
aside the atonement of Christ, yet they do not know what to substitute
for them. All who follow such leaders are certainly being led on "the
down grade," and even the leaders themselves confess that they do not
know where they shall be landed. Some have already been landed in
Socinianism, and others in infidelity. Therefore, we say to all our