Extraordinary Care Of The Lord In Answer To Prayer.

"The scenes of the riots in New York, at the time of our civil war, are

of national celebrity; but few, however, know that one of the most

atrocious acts of cruelty attempted to be perpetrated by the

malefactors, and which utterly failed of its purpose, _came solely in

answer to prayer_. On the first day of the mob, however, several

thousand men, _women and children_, armed with clubs and brickbats,

suddenly appeared a the door of the Colored Orphan Asylum, and effected

an entrance by breaking down the front door with an axe. The building

was soon fired in ten or fifteen places, and the work of destruction was

accomplished in twenty minutes.



"There were at the time two hundred and twenty-three children in the

building with their attendants and teachers. The matron having assembled

all the children after the first alarm, one of the teachers thus

addressed them: 'Children, do you believe that Almighty God can deliver

you from a mob?' The reply was promptly made in the affirmative. 'Then,'

said she, 'I wish you now to pray silently to God to protect you from

this mob. I believe that he is able and will do it. Pray earnestly to

him, and when I give the signal, go in order, without noise, to the

dining-room.' At this every head was instantly bowed in prayer, such

prayer as is not frequently offered, the silent, earnest supplication of

terrified and persecuted little children. When, at the sound of the

bell, their heads were raised, the teacher said the tears were

streaming, but not a sound, not even a sob, was to be heard. They then

quietly went down stairs and through the halls, and she remarked that

'to her dying day she should never forget the scene;' the few moments of

eloquent silence, the streaming noiseless tears, the funereal march

through the halls, the yells and the horrible sounds which were nearer

and nearer approaching. _Not one of these helpless innocents was injured

in the least_; but in spite of the threats and the blood-thirstiness of

the rioters, through whom they were obliged to pass, all were removed

unmolested to a place of safety."