the poor woman was sitting up all night at this work, and contrived to earn 2s. 6d. a week.

"In the house of a weaver, helpless from paralysis, I have seen his three poor daughters, one of whom is in a consumption, and another had recently recovered the sight of one eye, all three working by the light of one candle, toiling late into the night to finish an order for twelve dozen black silk buttons, claborately ornamented with points and tassels of black beads. The materials were of course provided; but the labour, which is of the most trying kind for the eyes, was to be repaid by 1s. 6d. for the twelve dozen. Oh, that those who wear these ornements recherchés, as they are styled on the white and gilt cards to which I saw one of the poor girls affixing them, may remember the aching heads and eyes of the poor manufacturer.

"I have seen a poor woman, forsaken by her husband, left with a blind son (who suffers much from having been knocked down by a cart), and a daughter who, though consumptive, has been driven by want this winter to dance in one of the pantomimes, and when she returns has scarce anything but the bare boards on which to rest her aching limbs, for the poor mother works as a boot-closer, and receives sometimes 1s. and sometimes only 9d. a dozen.

"I have seen a poor crippled weaver, in absolute rags, winding the most brilliantly beautiful silks, which are sold at 3s. 4d. an ounce. The winding requires great care, and he told me an ounce occupied him an hour and a-half. For this he receives 1d. an ounce. But his wife said, 'We are thankful if we can only get it to do,'-for in all these cases it must be borne in mind that the work is not constant. Days and days are wasted in going to the warehouses to ask for work in vain, and then when an order is received it must be finished by the dim candle-light, late in the night or before daybreak.

"At 5 A.M. all through the coldest mornings of this winter, one woman, aged 72 (who had been knocked down in the street and her shoulder dislocated), has stood with head and shoulder bandaged, in Spitalfields Market, and continued there till 12, to earn a few pence, by watching the carts while the owners make their purchases. Another, upwards of 80, contrives to eke out the parish allowance of ls. and a loaf weekly, by climbing with her tottering limbs up and down many stairs in Petticoat-lane, lighting fires for the Jews on their Sabbath-days, and attending them all day, for 1d. a fire.

"With reference to the aversion manifested by the poor to enter the union-house I might just mention one fact: A poor woman who had found shelter in one of the lowest lodging-houses in White..

chapel, having been taken seriously ill, was removed to the infirmary of Spitalfields Union-house. I was asked to visit her there by a poor working man (once a thief, now struggling hard to obtain for himself and family an honest, but oh! how scanty, livelihood), and who spends the Lord's day always in making known to the poor outcasts in these dens of misery the faithful saying, worthy of all acceptation, which has had the power to turn him from the evil of his ways, and the poor woman had been deeply impressed under his words. I went at the day and hour appointed for the inmates of the infirmary to receive their visitors, and on the way was joined by the wife of an honest, industrious silkweaver, whose son had been most fearfully burnt in a lucifer-match factory, and, after many months spent in the London Hospital, had been discharged as incurable. The poor woman herself was far gone in consumption, and had broken down completely through the fatigue and distress of nursing her son, who was then sent to the Union Infirmary. With difficulty she reached the door of the Union, and was informed that, as her son was no longer in danger, she could not be admitted,—as she could not be allowed to see him more than once a month. Once more, I believe, she did see him, but she is now where the weary are at rest and hear not the voice of the oppressor. With regard to the poor outcast woman, I was not permitted to see her as I could not claim relationship with her.

"Let me add one ray of light to shine through the gloom of one of these dark pictures. In a desolate garret, partly occupied by two broken unused looms, sat, by the scanty fire, a crippled weaver with a young child on his knee, whose rags he tried to hide from me. He greeted me, as always, with some cheerful remark, and then added some information about the political events of the day, saying, 'The Scriptures are fulfilling. It's a sign the Lord is coming. His finger's on the latch.' Oh! how vividly does the 'blessed hope' shine before him, and he is occupying till the Lord come,' for, unable to move from his comfortless abode himself, he has sent one after another to hear the words of salvation. In another desolate abode, stripped of almost all furniture, the wall boasts of this inscription, "THE GLORY WHICH THOU GAVEST ME I HAVE GIVEN THEM, THAT THEY MAY BE ONE AS WE ARE ONE."

6

SCRIPTURE READERS' JOURNAL,

&c.

OCTOBER, 1864.

THE CARMAN AND HIS WIFE; OR, VISITS TO THE DYING BLESSED TO THE LIVING.

"Hear instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not."-Prov. viii. 33. "Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath."-James i. 19.

ANY and various are the collateral benefits of house to house visitation. Amongst others, which we need not here enumerate, the Day, Evening, and Sunday Schools, shops closed on the

Lord's Day, alike by the direct instrumentality of the Readers, and by the example of others previously influenced by them, all testify to this. So, many instances occur in which the visit to the sick or dying bed of one person, has resulted in spiritual and lasting benefit to others, who have been in attendance upon the sick, or who have been casually in the room. Thus in God's mysterious providence oftentimes comes Life through death. The following case will illustrate our meaning. Amongst the persons

present, during one of our Readers' attendance upon the sick bed of a dying man, now, he believes, amongst the spirits of the just made perfect, was a poor woman, who became so deeply impressed with the truth of God, as read from day to day in her hearing, that she besought him to come and visit her and her husband. The Reader was only too glad of the opportunity thus providentially presented to him. Unfortunately, however, the man was very seldom to be seen, as the public-house always seemed to have the first and strongest claim upon him; and even when he was at home, his short, curt answers to everything that was said plainly evidenced his repugnance to spiritual things. How literally

true are the words of Scripture: "The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him.” "And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved." But "the things which are impossible with men are possible with God." "Marvel not," said our blessed Saviour to a Master of Israel, who yet knew not these things, "that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again."

Of this man it could only as yet be said, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh." It was necessary, in order that it might be added of him, “"and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit," that he should be "born again," born of God, born "from above." And God was about to move in a mysterious way, to bring about this new creation. The man was employed as a Carman in some large Iron Works in one of our Readers' districts, and, one day as he was engaged in his ordinary avocation, he stumbled over a piece of iron lying in the road. For the moment he lost command of the spirited horse he was driving. Seeing the imminent danger he was in, he clung to the bearing rein, and was thus hurried along for some distance, every now and then receiving a kick from the restive animal, but happily keeping clear of the heavy wheels of the heavily-laden cart in his rear. At length the horse kicked him in the mouth, knocking out two of his teeth. The pain caused by this violent blow, together with the great exertions he had been making to extricate himself brought on faintness, and he became unconscious. Just as death seemed inevitable, for the wheel of the cart was close to his head, and seemed about to crush it in a moment, his perilous position was observed by some men in the yard, who rushed to the rescue. One of them seized the horse's head, but the spirited animal only made fresh efforts to go forward; and it was not till two other men caught hold of the wheels, that they were enabled to stop the horse, and extricate the poor fellow from his dangerous situation.

No sooner had the Reader heard of the accident (so called) that had befallen the poor man, than he hastened to his residence, to express to him his sympathy and concern, and to speak a word in season, that might, by God's blessing, touch his inmost soul. At his first call, the Reader was disappointed, as the poor sufferer, after the doctor's visit, had just fallen asleep. Calling again next morning, he found him standing by the door upon crutches. After a few words of sympathy, he endeavoured to draw him off from the accident to the Providence that had sent it, and thus to

that God of love, to whom alone he was indebted for his providential escape from death, and from all that death would have entailed upon him. But the Reader's hopes were for the moment disappointed, as the man seemed thoroughly unimpressed. Stolid indifference was all the return that he met with. He went home therefore depressed in spirit, but with the conviction that the poor man himself was wretched and miserable, his very countenance betraying the truth of that awful sentence of Scripture, "There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked." Still our Reader could not abandon hope. He had read and imbibed those cheering words of our Lord, "Them that honour me, I will honour;" and he committed the case to Him, in faith and prayer, having no other hope or comfort than that He, "which seeth in secret," would in His own time reward openly. Calling a few days afterwards, the wife, to his surprise and joy, assured him that her husband had expressed a great desire to see him, and had told her to say so the first time he called. "He must be very much changed," she said, "for he has hitherto forbidden me to let you in, saying, if I did, he should pretend to be asleep, for he did not want to hear anything about religion." The Reader was overcome with the joyful news, and united with her in thanksgiving to the Giver of all good, for thus so evidently working in him to will of His good pleasure.

Calling again in the evening-for he could not allow an hour. unnecessarily to elapse-he found the man at home. At first he seemed rather embarrassed, but the Reader spoke kindly to him about his health; and then, for his heart was full, he opened out upon the only subject upon which the Scripture Reader ever desires to dwell-the wondrous love of God, as revealed in Christ Jesus. He entreated him to look back upon his past life, to count up the daily known mercies which he had received, even in the face of open sin and rebellion, and to say, "Was not God strong in patience, and long-suffering in mercy? Was it not, in fact, this long-suffering mercy of God that allowed him to be sitting in that chair, when He might most justly have issued the fiat against him, as against the fruitless tree, Cut it down, why cumbereth it the ground?'"' To this he at once replied, that God had indeed been good to him in sparing him a little longer. "He knew," continued the Reader, "that you were not prepared to die; and now beseeches you, in words of tenderest love, to be reconciled to Him. Turn ye, turn ye, for why will ye die?' O my friend, do not smother these whisperings of the Holy Spirit now striving within you; but seek the Lord while He may be found. If this merciful visitation of God be allowed to pass away without profit, who can say but that your harvest may be past, your summer may be ended, and you