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observances, and express a great admiration of Christianity. I speak of the men, for the women are, I fear, unchanged. Before the time fixed for service the pastor came to me when alone and said, "I have long purposed to make an offering to God's cause in Mission work for the mercies I have experienced; may I give you the money here or may I send it after you to Palamcottah? I replied, that a good work had as well be done at once if possible, and asked, "What is the amount ? "Fifty rupees." "Oh," I said, "that is a large sum; now think well before you act. If by this means you incur debt, you will be doing wrong in giving such a sum, and instead of your gift being an acceptable one before God, it will be otherwise." He re lied, "I incur no debt; six years ago I made up my mind to do something, and year by year have saved a little, till now it has amounted to this sum." The Bible was on the table before me, so I opened it at the 20th Psalm, and gave it to him to read out. Then I added, "The offering most acceptable to God is first of all the offering of self, of the heart; if you can say you have already made that offering, and that you have not got into debt by what you now purpose doing, bring the offering here, and the third verse of what you have just read is my wish for you. "I can do so," he said, went out, and in a few minutes came in and laid the 50 rupees on the table.

(To be continued.)

MOSES, THE CHRISTIAN LEPER.

T Nyarakkal, in Travancore, there lives in his own small compound a Christian named Moses, who has been afflicted with leprosy, which has deprived him of the top-joints of eight toes, and I forget how many finger joints. He lives about a mile from the high-road on the borders of some paddy fields, where his heathen Pulayan neighbours and a few converts from among them work during the sowing and harvest times. (The Pulayans are an out-caste people, formerly slaves.) The nearest place of worship for them is an out-station at Muttapallam, half way to Cottayam, but as their road thither is a public thoroughfare frequented by the high castes, it is difficult for them to attend. Moses was anxious to have a congregation near his own hut, and also to be the means of bringing the light to the heathen Pulayans about him. To gratify his earnest desire I sent a "slave" teacher to the place, as an experiment for a year only, not knowing how long we should be able to continue the man's salary, owing to the constant reduction in the C.M.S. grant. However, a rich Syrian from near Tiruwella made an offering in Cottayam Church of an English sovereign and 55 rupees for the purpose of preaching the Gospel to the heathen. This sum I devoted to Nyarakkal.

In December I accompanied the Rev. Koshi Koshi to Nyarakkal, where there were now forty candidates for baptism. They willingly gave up a day's work that they might be examined and baptized. Mr. Koshi carried them in a rigid examination over the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and the Ten Commandments. Some answered very well, some had to be rejected. There was one man suffering from acute dysentery. Once before he had put himself under instruction, but having been attacked by the disease, he had backslidden into worship of devils, thinking that they had afflicted him with the disease. When he got better he again came forward, and now the second time his old complaint has laid him low, but the Holy Spirit has blessed the teaching given him, and he believes it is only a Father's chastisement, and is no longer afraid of the demons. He was accepted.

They had been assembling every evening for some months, and the men were in the habit of sleeping in the prayer-house in Moses' compound, as their daily instruction did not finish till midnight. Mr. Koshi was quite struck with their evident earnestness. Those whose baptism was deferred were quite downcast, but they had to be miserable.

Their sorcerer and devil dancer some time ago gave me his chank, or Large shell, which he used to spin when patients wished him to visit them, to ascertain from what direction the evil spirit in any particular instance had come to afflict his clients or patients. There is a large hole worn on one side of the shell owing to its frequent use. I have also the bell used for the same purpose.

"SHE HATH DONE WHAT SHE COULD." "And she that tarried at home divided the spoil." COULD not do the work the reapers did, Or bind the golden sheaves that thickly fell; But I could follow by the Master's side, Watching the marrèd Face I loved so well. Right in my path lay many a ripened ear

Which I would stoop and gather joyfully, I did not know the Master placed them there, "Handfuls of purpose" that He left for me.

I could not cast the heavy fisher net,

I had not strength or wisdom for the task,
So on the sun-lit sands, with spray-drops wet
I sat, while earnest prayers rose thick and fast;
I pleaded for the Master's blessing, where
My brethren toiled upon the wide world sea;
Or ever that I knew, His smile so fair

Shone, beaming sweet encouragement on me.

I could not join the glorious soldier band,
I never heard their thrilling battle-cry,

The work allotted by the Master's hand

Kept me at home, while others went to die. And yet, when victory crowned the struggle long,

And spoils were homeward brought, both rich and rare, He let me help to chant the triumph song, And bade me in the gold and jewels share. Oh, Master dear! the tiniest work for Thee Finds recompense beyond our highest thought, And feeble hands that worked but tremblingly, The richest colours in Thy Fabric wrought. We are content to take what Thou shalt give To do, or suffer, as Thy choice shall be; Forsaking all Thy wisdom bids us leave, Glad in the thought that we are pleasing Thee! EVA TRAVERS POOLE.

SCHOOLBOYS IN CHEH-KIANG.

HE Rev. J. C. Hoare describes the Mission day-schools in the country districts round Ningpo, in which both heathen and Christian Chinese boys are taught :

It is interesting to notice how well the Christian boys did in the examination; none failed to reach the third class, the majority of the first class were Christians, whilst in the first and second classes combined nearly half were Christians, though the proportion of Christians to heathens is less than one to four. I attribute this in part to the fact that the Christian parents are getting more alive to the importance of early education, but I also most truly believe that the Holy Spirit of God quickens the understandings of these little boys. When I tell you that to obtain a first class place, a boy has to repeat twenty-four pages of Scripture-say the whole of St. Mark's Gospel-thrice that amount of Native classics, in addition to reading and writing in both the Chinese character and the Roman character, the repetition of the Catechism, and a vivâ voce examination in the life of our Lord and one or two books of the Old Testament, you will appreciate the fact that Chinese boys of the age of twelve have considerable powers of work, and that the young schoolmasters who teach them have to work hard to attain to such good results.

The vicâ voce examination in Scripture is always extremely interesting. Ask them what I will in the set subjects, they seldom fail to give a correct answer; usually in words very nearly approximating to the words of Scripture. We surely cannot but believe that the seed thus sown in the hearts of these boys will bring forth fruit hereafter unto eternal life. For the teaching done in these schools is not mere training of the intellect; some of the masters, at any rate, realise fully that their work is to lead these boys to the Saviour. Not long ago I was catechising the Tôngts'eng school during a Sunday afternoon service, and was speaking of the fatherly care which God takes of all His children. After speaking at some length about the temporal blessings of food and raiment, I asked, scarcely expecting an answer, "But what clothing does God provide for the soul?" Without any hesitation, a small boy of eleven years oldthe only Christian in the school-cried out, "The righteousness of Christ."

When the service was over and the address, &c., finished, old Moses A

said, "Now I can die in peace, since God has sent the light to these people." In a sense they are his spiritual children.

W. J. RICHARDS.

The Way of Salvation in One Sentence. PARTY of Missionaries and Native Christian Evangelists were preaching lately at a Hindu festival at Ochira, in Travancore. A young Hindu thought to puzzle the Christian band by asking them to explain the way of salvation in one sentence, "as he wished them to be very brief." One of the evangelists instantly replied, "I can do so," and then exclaimed at the top of his voice, "The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin."

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THE MOUTH OF THE SKEENA RIVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, THE SCENE OF BISHOP RIDLEY'S LABOURS.

BISHOP RIDLEY'S MISSION ON THE SKEENA RIVER.
LETTER FROM THE BISHOP OF CALEDONIA.*

HAZELTON, SKEENA RIVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA,
October 29th, 1881.

HE community here is mixed. The Indians have worked for the gold-miners during the summer, and both live here during the winter. This steady employment has told advantageously on the Indian's character. He is above all things naturally fickle and indisposed to steady work. As a rule the miners have paid them well, and taught them the value of labour. Hence these people, formerly the lowest of the low, and called the dogs of the Skeena, have, through the material advantages they have enjoyed, risen in the scale, and now have better houses than their neighbours, better food, and better clothing. They are therefore healthier, stronger, less dirty than the rest, and the proportion of children greater. Contact with the whites therefore has not produced the deplorable results that one too often hears of. Now that a Mission has been established here, and stress laid upon education, this community of Indians is likely to advance rapidly. Their progress is stirring up envious feelings among the other tribes of this nation. Deputations have come to me begging me to send them teachers, but we cannot support them if we had them.

Our services have been crowded by attentive congregations, especially the regular daily evening service. The miners, too, come, and I rejoice to see them, not only for their own but for the sake of the Indians, on whom they exercise much influence. When in the spring they left for the mines, it was a pleasant sight. In returning, they looked worn and weatherbeaten. When they started, all looked smart. The white men with braided leggings and ornamented snow-shoes, and the Indians with streamers fluttering from their caps of ermine, marten, and other furs, looked quite picturesque; even the dogs harnessed to the birch-wood sleighs seemed proud of their tinkling bells and gay adornments.

summer he paid a visit to Hazelton, and the days spent here could not be quiet. His attentions to Mrs. Ridley, then here alone, were almost comical. He hung about her all day long. The clock would not go fast enough to hasten school or service-time, that he might ring the bell and gather in the people. He was the terror of gamblers, and hated of medicine men.

Last Saturday morning Jhis mind, I could see at a glance. Sunday," he said; "at the lower village they do not serve God. May I go down and hold services?

came to me with something weighty on He was full of plans. "To-morrow is

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"Yes, go, and be gentle, as Jesus was," I said.

May I take a bell ?"

"Yes, take a small one, because you have only a little knowledge."

"True, but I will tell them all I know." So he packed his Bible, hymn-book, salmon, and rice, in his blanket with the small bell, and trudged away. Before he returns he means to go to the second lower village to see the five Christians who live there whom I baptized last spring. He will have had a journey of seventy miles at his own charges for Christ's sake.

It was he who conducted service on the miners' march.

At the mines the best building was cleared on Saturday and placed at the Indians' disposal for Sunday services, much to the credit of the miners, who always attended and enjoyed the singing, if nothing else. One Sunday morning an Indian family reached the miners' camp, and would have passed forward with their packs. "What," asked the miner, "travelling on Sunday! Is this what the Bishop teaches you?" "We are short of food and must press on." "No, you need not; we will give you food." So they travelled on together from Monday morning to the end.

I had intended to follow them and go to the Fraser River. I was providentially hindered. The interval between that appointed start and my real start for the coast was full of blessing. Then came the resolve to build small houses. Privacy is impossible. Those of strong character, who, when converted, become mighty men of God, are able to resist the flood of persecution rolled on them by the evil-disposed; but not so the weaker folk. One evening a quiet fellow, since baptized, was reading his Bible by the fire-light. One of the evil ones interrupted him again and again. He stood in his light, rudely questioned, abused, and finally assaulted him. "Why read that book? Your fathers did not, nor do we. Would you be wiser than all ?" When the book was struck from the reader's hand he nimbly recovered it and meekly walked away from the jeering circle round the cheerful fire.

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INDIAN OF BRITISH COLUMBIA.

Never before was Sunday kept on the long marches. I had given prayer and hymn-books to some of the whites, and suggested that one of them should minister to the rest, but none ventured. The Indians had prayers every day, and spent the Sunday in a most profitable manner. The whites attended the services, and though they could not understand the prayers, they joined in the hymns and encouraged the Indians. I had not appointed any leader; but J-, a catechumen, last winter a dog-eater, came forward as a natural leader, and said the prayers, and exhorted the listeners. He is a splendid fellow; square built, of great muscular strength, having a large head, and intelligent, though unhandsome, face, this man cannot but attract attention. During the

See the Bishop's previous letter in the GLEANER of July, 1881, and the Map of British Columbia in the number for September, 1879.

The whole clan live in the same large and undivided house. In old times such herding together was a defence, but now that imperial law is gaining respect, order is being establ shed, so that it will be safe to break up the old-time clan into families, and each family live apart from the rest in small cottages. This will be a great upward step, and the beginning of a higher morality. Now we are in a transition state. Not ten

minutes ago a wild-looking fellow came to complain of his sister's thieving. "I would have killed her," he said to me, "but now you are our chief, and have brought laws from the great Shigitumna, i.e., Queen."

I must summon J- before you again, the man now on his way to hold services at the lower villages. I had called a council to discuss the whisky drinking at the mines. J- -'s turn to speak came. He proposed strong measures. An Indian I will call A

J- became impatient.

dissented.

"Did force make you good? if not, how can you expect to force any man to be good?" asked A-.

J's temper got beyond his control, and, dashing his New Testament on the table, walked away full of anger. This exhibition damaged our council. A remarked, after the silence of surprise was passed, "He is a good man; I am sorry I provoked him."

I said, "If he is good he will return and show his contrition." After some hours of bitter grief he returned with a parcel under his arm. He found me alone. "What do you want?" I somewhat coldly

said.

the ice in motion. The rising mass scalps the river's bank as an Indian would his foe. At last, with a sullen groan rising into a terrific roar, away goes the stupendous obstruction, and down sinks the river as if to rest after its splendid victory. Then succeeds the ministry of the south wind; then triumphs the gracious sun in his royal progress northwards. As the baffled ice king retreats, the snow-clad heights are melted as with the joy of freedom. The tears trickling from under the snowfringe swell the cascades that furrow the mountain's face. Down they roll, swelling the river until its volume sweeps away all obstacles, and leaves it ready to bear the traveller seaward.

So is the Gospel ministry dissolving hard hearts around me; uplifting the dread incubus drawn over them by Satan, and setting free those streams of faith and love that remove all barriers between man and his rest in God.

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This Hotspur is a tender-hearted being. He found an old heathen dying the day after he had heard me speak of the penitent thief. At once he pressed the mercy of Christ upon her. Not satisfied with his own skill, away he ran to fetch the only Christian then here. 'Hurry up, hurry, hurry up, the old woman is nearly dead." Almost dragging his friend towards the house of death, he urged him to tell the poor creature what I had told them the day before. "Make it plain, very plain, hurry up, Jesus may yet save her make it very plain." But it was too late. The spirit had fled.

As soon as navigation on the river was resumed, I left Mrs. Ridley behind to do what she could, and right well she carried on the Mission for months single-handed. Mr. and Mrs. Faulconer have arrived, and by degrees, I am passing the work into his hands, so that there may be no great change next spring when I go down the river to Fort Simpson on the break-up of the ice.

The breaking up this past spring I was fortunate enough to witness. It was not the immediate action of the sun that effected it, but the south wind and the consequent downpour of ice-cold water from the mountains, where the snows lie fathoms deep. The floods uplift the ice by slow degrees till the weight of water starts the ponderous mass that winter laid on the river's bosom. I have seen the rivers of Germany break up, but the scene was tame compared with the tumult on these swift rivers of North America.

I was on the ice when the movement first took place. It moves! What moves? The banks seem to glide up stream. Then came a slight tremor beneath my feet, and I sprang to the shore. The sensations were like those produced by shocks of earthquakes. The stone-like surface I had often walked on was in motion from bank to bank. At no great distance the channel narrows, and the greater breadth of ice from above was here caught as in a vice. The river is in agony-groaning, gurgling, sighing, surging, tilting, hissing, roaring deep and loud like subterranean thunder. What can ever dislodge this piled up mass? The flood is rising at the rear foot by foot. Crack, crack, crack! Look! there go the trees falling inward. The forest king, that has drunk life from the river at its roots, is quivering. There it lurches! Down, down, flat on the ground without axe or tempest, all its roots now exposed to

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OUR MEDICAL MISSIONS.

E spake unto them of the kingdom of God, and Such healed them that had need of healing." are the words in which "Luke the beloved physician" describes the Great Physician's work on that memorable day which ended with the miraculous feeding of the five thousand. For both the bodies and the souls of men the Lord Jesus cared; and that method of evangelisation which takes account of both most nearly resembles His work. His own command to the apostles was, "Into whatsoever city ye enter, heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them, The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you." And although our modern missionaries are not privileged to exercise miraculous gifts of healing, yet it is still everywhere true that they who can relieve the bodily sufferings and ailments of those to whom they are sent have, humanly speaking, a road to their hearts more direct than any other.

men.

In

The Church Missionary Society has now no less than twelve medical missionaries; besides whom several other missionaries have more or less acquaintance with medicine and surgery, and have made very effective use of their knowledge. There are also two Native clergymen in India who are qualified medical Let us briefly glance at the work of these brethren. Beginning, as usual, with AFRICA, there is no medical missionary on the West Coast, but the Society is anxious to have one for the Niger Mission. A Christian doctor offering for the noble field on that great river would be warmly welcomed. On the East Coast, also, one is wanted for Mombasa. Mr. Price, who has just returned from thence, earnestly begs for one. the earlier days of Frere Town, it had a medical man, first Dr. Forster, and then Mr. Praeger; but they were both obliged to come home. The Rev. W. E. Taylor, who had some training at Edinburgh, does useful service; but a fully qualified surgeon who can be a real medical missionary is desired. In the interior, we have Dr. E. J. Baxter at Mpwapwa; but Uganda has had no successor to Mr. Felkin, whose brief sojourn there, and his attendance on King Mtesa, the readers of the GLEANER will remember. Meanwhile the other missionaries have had to doctor each other and the natives; Mr. Mackay and Mr. Pearson especially. Mr. Mackay's last journals (printed in the C.M. Intelligencer of August) describe important sanitary measures which he persuaded the king to introduce to ward off a terrible epidemic of plague.

In PALESTINE, Our one Medical Mission at present is at Gaza. Of this, an account appeared in the GLEANER of June last, with a picture. Now that Dr. George Chalmers is on his way out, we may hope that this Mission will grow in strength and influence, and do much to win the hearts of the Mohammedans to Christ. Some of the Society's best friends are anxious to see a similar arrangement made for Salt, on the further side of Jordan. PERSIA has a missionary who is both a qualified medical man

and a clergyman, the Rev. E. F. Hoernle, M.B.

The absence

of Dr. Bruce in England, however, has thrown the whole work upon him during the past eighteen months, and the Medical Mission can hardly be said to be fairly started yet.

In most respects (number of labourers, cost of the work, &c.) INDIA engrosses about one-half of the Society's resources; and it is so as regards Medical Missions also. Six of the twelve medical missionaries belong to India. The Society's first venture of faith in this direction was the despatch of Dr. Elmslie to Kashmir in 1865; and that noble pioneer has left a bright example of devotion to all who follow. After his death, Dr. Theodore Maxwell took up the work; and when he retired, Dr. Edmund Downes stepped into the breach, and for the last five years has carried on the Mission with untiring zeal. Notices of his work have appeared in the GLEANER in March, 1878, April, 1880, and January, 1881. What he did last year the following brief summary will tell :

New patients seen, 8,755; total number of visits received, 24,197; number of major and minor operations performed, 1,138; in-patients discharged, left, or died, 855; total days in hospital of all who left or were discharged during the time, 14,369. This last figure represents 28,738 meals to the patients, not including food given to friends of patients or extras, which have occasionally to be supplied.

The direct missionary work done has been but small, the Native assistants in the hospital not being Christians; "but," says Dr. Downes, "a work has been done in God's name by Christian charity-a work such as Christ delighted to do. If we can only succeed in showing people that religion is goodness and not bitterness, that God is love and not Moloch, we shall soon succeed in gaining attention to our blessed Lord, who alone is perfect goodness and perfect love." The Rev. J. S. Doxey thus notices the widespread influence of the Medical Mission, and the opportunities it affords for setting forth the glad tidings of salvation :

Opportunities offer themselves of conversing with the inmates of Dr. Downes' Mission Hospital, and with the out-patients, many of whom come from all parts of the valley and surrounding countries to be benefited by the skill and selt-denying labours of Dr. Downes. Many of these are afflicted with the most loathsome of diseases, so that it is not easy or pleasant to say and do what one could wish. They are always however willing to listen, and often to assent to the truths taught. To take the names and addresses of those recovered, and to visit them and their fellow-villagers afterwards, will be, I trust, a not unuseful part of one's work in the future. Dr. Downes' work is known now all over the valley, and there is, as one finds out by experience, scarcely a village in which there lives not some one who has benefited by his kindness. The poor owe their lives in many instances to the care and skill of Dr. Downes, and for this they are grateful, and at least see that the only desire of the missionaries is to do them good in body and soul.

Last year, Dr. Alfred Neve went out to join Dr. Downes in Kashmir, and, in view of the latter's exhausting labours, to relieve him for a time if necessary.

Another of what we may call the Society's Frontier Missions (ie., on the north-west frontier of British India) is one established two or three years ago for the Beluchis, at the request of the devoted George Maxwell Gordon, who was killed at Kandahar. He himself bore a large part of the expense, and assisted the two missionaries, the Rev. Arthur Lewis and Dr. Andrew Jukes, in beginning their work. Hitherto their head-quarters have been at Dera Ghazi Khan, on the Indus. In the summer months they have visited the mountain districts on the frontier, and they have been hoping to find some suitable place there where they might open a hospital in the midst of the Beluch mountaineers, but as yet without success. Medical and missionary work, however, has not stood still during the three years that have elapsed since Dr. Jukes performed his first operation, on May 19th, 1879:

On May 19th I performed my first operation, in removing eight or nine tumours from a young woman's ear, caused by numerous earrings. Mr. Gordon first asked for a blessing on our efforts in Urdu, and when

she was well we returned thanks in the same way for mercies vouchsafed. She was an intelligent girl, and was said to know much of the Koran by heart. On October 27th I removed eight or nine more tumours from her other ear.

On the frontier also is one of the Native medical men, the Rev. John Williams, who has a small mission hospital at Tank, a town close up to the mountain barrier, and inhabited by an Afghan population. An account of John Williams, written for the GLEANER by Bishop French, with a portrait, appeared in our number for January, 1877. His influence over the wild Waziri tribes is remarkable. When Tank was sacked by the mountaineers during the Afghan war, his hospital was the one Last building spared by them. year, the Rev. A. Bailey visited some of these Waziris in prison, and found that every one of them knew and loved the "faqir doctor." For fifteen years he has been physician, surgeon, pastor, and evangelist in this remote corner of our Indian Empire.

Another medical missionary who has lately begun work in the Punjab, is Dr. Henry Martyn Clark, the Afghan adopted son of the Rev. R. Clark, who has lately established himself at Amritsar, where he finds a ready entrance to an immense population, both for the medical skill which won him honours at Edinburgh University, and for the Gospel which he desires to press upon his Asiatic brethren.

But it is chiefly among the aboriginal hill tribes that medical work is valuable as a pioneer for the Gospel. The Rev. R. Elliott went as a medical missionary to the Santals two or three years ago, and last year his dispensary at Taljhâri had "300 separate patients, representing 10,000 attendances." The Rev. F. J. Cole also has had a most useful dispensary at Dharampur, another Santal station. Both these brethren are just now in England, but Dr. W. Johnson is about to sail to join the Mission. For the Gonds of Central India and the Kois of Godavery, medical missionaries are earnestly pleaded for; but the men are not as yet forthcoming. The new Bheel Mission, started last year by means of the Rev. E. H. Bickersteth's gift of £1,000, owes its first little gleam of success to the influence of the healing art. These people are exceedingly timid and suspicious; they were terribly frightened by the census of 1881; and when the missionary, Mr Thompson, went among them, they said, "Who is he? What does he want? What will he do? Has he come to kill us?"

When I visited the chiefs I hardly dared to speak upon any topic whatever. If I enquired about the family, then they naturally looked upon me as another enumerator. If I spoke about their cattle, fields, or crops, then the tax question might disturb their minds. To talk about God, I knew that with them, as with others, nothing could so readily or so strongly call forth their highest fears.

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We decided upon spending a week or so in one pál instead of going from place to place. Accordingly we left home early, and made our way to Obri, three miles distant. We sought out a shady tree as near the centre of the straggling pál as possible, and there remained all day. We took medicines with us. The first business in hand was to set a broken leg. It soon became evident that our new plan was going to work admirably. In the evening we returned home. On the Tuesday we had 15 visits for medicine or treatment; on the Wednesday, 30; on Thursday, 45; on Friday 59; and on Saturday 58: total, 207. Some had fever-some colds -others enlarged spleens-some the itch-some ophthalmia-others nearly deaf-some headaches-others sores-one poor little emaciated sufferer was simply a walking skeleton-some of the old folks complained of rheumatics-one old woman, blind and deaf through old age, came to be, I suppose, made young again. On Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday we held little meetings to make known the Saviour. We did not think it advisable to say too much in this way on our first prolonged visit. The great magnet for drawing the sinner is love.

(To be concluded in our next.)

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