he following anecdote was given as a fact by a clergyman at Hampstead, in a sermon to children:— A gentleman, travelling on a railway, was much struck by the vivacity of a lovely little girl about five years of age, who, with her mother, happened to be travelling in the same carriage, and he took a great deal of notice of the child. About ten minutes before the train reached the station at which the lady and her daughter were to alight, the little one went up to the gentleman, and putting her lips close to his ear, asked softly, “Do you love God?”
[103]
 
THE CHILD’S QUESTION.
 
The traveller, who apparently was not a devout man, was so startled by the unexpected question, that he coloured to the roots of his hair; and the child, seeing his confusion, and probably frightened at her own boldness, retreated, and hid her face on her mother’s bosom until the train stopped at the station.
But her solemn question had sunk deep into the mind of the traveller. “Do you love God?” he repeated to himself again and again. For a long period the words haunted him, till at length he was able to[104] give to them the only reply which a true Christian can give.
About two years afterwards, the gentleman happened to be in the town at which he had left his ............