Now, it happened, that just as he was passing the cottage in which the little girls were, a strong blast of wind blew the rain in his face, and he stepped into the porch of the cottage and crouched down in the corner, to shelter himself from the wind and rain.  In this position his ear was brought quite close to the keyhole of the door.  He heard what the little girls had said about being hungry.  He heard their proposal to pray to the Father in heaven to give them bread.  He heard the thrice repeated prayer—­“give us this day our daily bread.”  And then came the silence, when the little ones waited, and watched for the bread.  This had a strange effect on the miser.  His hard, selfish heart, which had never felt a generous feeling for anyone, warmed up, and grew suddenly soft in tenderness towards these helpless, hungry little ones.  Tears moistened his eyes.  He put his thumb on the latch of the door.  The latch was gently lifted and the door opened.  He took the loaf from under his coat and threw it into the room.  The little girls, still waiting and watching on their knees, saw the loaf go bouncing over the floor.  They jumped up on their feet, and clapped their hands for joy.

“O, Sally,” said little Mary, “how good God is to answer our prayer so soon!  Did He send an angel from heaven to bring us this bread?”

“I don’t know who brought it,” answered Sally, “but I am sure that God sent it.”

And how about the miser?  For the first time in his life he had given to the poor.  Did the promise fail which says, “Give, and it shall be given unto you?” No; God’s promises never fail.  He went to the bakery and bought another loaf for himself, and then he went home with different feelings from what he had ever had before.  The warm, soft feeling that came into his hard heart when he gave the loaf to those children did not pass away.  It grew upon him.  He had found so much pleasure in doing that one kind act that he went on and did more.  And God blessed him in doing it.  He began to pray to that God who had answered the prayer of those little girls for bread in such a strange way.  He read the Bible.  He went to church.  He became a Christian; and some time after, he died a happy Christian death.  But before he died, as he was the owner of the cottage in which the little girls lived, he gave it to their father.  What a beautiful illustration we have here of our Saviour’s words—­“Give, and it shall be given unto you!” This miser gave a loaf of bread to these hungry children and God gave him the grace that made him a Christian!  And as we think of this we may well say that “giving is God’s rule for getting.”

And thus we have considered the lesson of liberality which our Saviour taught; the proofs of that lesson found in the Bible; and the illustrations of it from the Bible, from nature, and from everyday life.  The three things to be remembered from this subject are the lesson—­the proofs—­the illustrations.