1 exclaimed the weak-witted Bandhu. "If I chose to "And if multitudes, on a dark night, not seeing a But he spake as to the deaf adder. Bandhu, even while the king's messenger was uttering his earnest appeal, closed his eyes in weariness, and in a few moments dropped asleep. Prem Chand, breathing a deep sigh, a second time turned from the place. THE M'ALL MISSION IN BORDEAUX. BY THE REV. GEO. T. DODDS. IN glancing over the religious history of Bordeaux, and of the province in which it is situated, one is greatly struck with the repeated fulfilment of our Lord's prophecy: "All they that take the sword shall perish with the sword." The history of the south of France is one of battle and murder, of judgment and retribution. Swift, and sure, and continued was the vengeance poured out from the vials of Divine justice; the smallest events seem to have been enough to create bitter strife and divide those who joined willingly in the persecution of the Protestants. Had it not been for the strenuous repression of the reformed religion, and St. Bartholomew's day, which was also signalised by a wholesale massacre at Bordeaux, the evangelical faith would at this day be the religion of the majority in the south of France. In 1560, when the population of this city could not have been very large, the Protestants numbered 7000. About eighty years after this date the persecution reached its height. The Protestants tried to flee, but emigration was forbidden-the galleys were the reward of those who made the attempt. They then petitioned the king for liberty to worship God according to their conscience. The only answer was the sending of a troop of dragoons, who committed the most horrible atrocities. Those who did not perish by the sword, nobles and peasants, fled from France. It is well known where their descendants are to be found; some were among the invading German armies of 1870. But before that retribution came, Bordeaux had experience of the Reign of Terror: multitudes of all classes were hurried to the "permanent scaffold" that stood in the Place Dauphine, and put to death by the tribunal of the Revolution. There is hardly a town of any importance, and possessing a history, of which the same story might not be told. But surely we have arrived at an epoch so entirely different from that which we have just described, that astonishment mingles with the thanksgiving which rises to the lips of many, as they read what God is doing just now for France. Who would have ventured to predict ten years ago, that the veteran evangelist, Dr. Somerville would be welcomed wherever he went in France, even in the most Catholic districts, as the events have proved, and that thousands would hear with respect and eagerness from his lips the story of the cross of Christ, of reconciliation between God and man. Mr. M'All, when he opened his first meeting at Belleville in Paris, now eight years ago, did not then even imagine to what it all might grow. But so it is; this last year of the mission's history has seen its extension to Lyons and Bordeaux, two cities which are the seats of archbishops at Bordeaux he is a cardinal as well; his red carriage was pointed out to me one evening as I returned from a meeting. The mission was begun in July; the first meeting was held on the 8th of that month, and there were 200 people present the hall seats 175 people. One more "salle" has since been opened, and a third will be opened in October in a very populous but degraded quarter; one has only to walk along the Rue Belfort to be convinced of this. It reminded me of one of our mission districts at Lyons, La Guillotière; a Lyons pastor said it was not safe to walk there after eleven o'clock in the evening; I feel inclined to name an earlier hour for this part of Bordeaux, but that makes it only a more needy and suitable field for mission work. The readers of The Christian Week do not perhaps quite realise what it is to open a mission room in a French town. No house-to-house visitation is possible to announce the meeting and invite the people. The door is thrown open, the room is lighted up, some friends are there with hymn books; young men are at the door distributing handbills, which tell that the meeting is free (which many are not very inclined to believe), and that some English and French friends wish to speak to the passers-by of the love of Jesus Christ. This has been the method and the message from the beginning of the mission in Paris; it is the plan devised, and adopted, and realised with wonderful success, by the honoured head of the work, Mr. M'All, and an audience has never failed him wherever he has gone. He has made very many friends among the "ouvriers" of these great cities, and gathered round him as eager helpers, pastors and laymen everywhere. To conduct such a work requires the gifts of prudence, patience, guilelessness, and Christian love, and we do not envy the character of any one who resists and disagrees with such qualities. Nearly three months have thus elapsed since the work began, and there are no signs of diminution of interest. We do not mean that there are such great crowds as at first, but there were no empty chairs the other night at the Cours d'Alsace, except two, and these were in reality, so to speak, occupied by the numbers who stood at the door, and who would not venture so near the speakers. Such an absence of diminution in the attendance shows that the motive which brings the people is not merely curiosity. That soon exhausts itself; besides, the curious are soon satisfied when they hear, evening after evening, truths which are salutary, but by no means pleasing. The Gospel is for man; it corresponds to the deepest wants of his soul; I believe that there are many who have thought of God even in their darkness, and who in these meetings receive a direct and clear, and, in not a few cases, an answer that is blessed to the salvation of their souls. Of course, the work strikes the outsiders, the passers-by, as strange. I often wish that I could quit the platform and stand at the door to hear the opinions of the crowd. "Oh! it's just these Protestants," some say; others, "Well, but how kind and obliging these people are." A more politically inclined observer exclaims; "Ah! that would have been impossible under the Empire, but I quite approve of it." The ideas some have of our purpose and message are thus expressed: "It's the Gospel (Evangile) they speak about. "The Gospel,-what is that?" "Don't you know? the Gospel is the essence (raffinement) of the Bible." In his ignorance this latter speaker was not far wrong. ago. These meetings are doubly useful; they employ Christian workers, as well as gather in the ouvriers. One begins to realise what a source of unemployed strength is in the French Churches. We are of opinion that it is not their fault that such evangelistic work has not been undertaken sooner, but now it is giving scope to all their energy and wealth of resource, and if they take advantage of the present tide, which is flowing manifestly in their favour, they will only show themselves wise sons of their epoch, and inheritors of their ancestors' spirit. The opportunities for preaching the Gospel are unlimited. I do not refer again to the experiences of Dr. Somerville, but to an event which is but recent in my own. I attended a meeting in the country, at some distance from Paris, a few weeks It was held in a barn, the French call it a "grange." Above a hundred peasants, in their blouses, were gathered together; there were women also, and a few children. The greater part, if not all, had never heard the Gospel before; probably had never seen, and scarcely heard, of such a book as the Bible. How shall I give your readers any idea of the eager, curious attention with which they listened to a simple exposition of the Gospel, and to the quotation of texts which are very common and well known to us, but altogether new to them? The tracts were almost snatched out of the hands of M. Passy, a devoted young man, who has been the means of opening the meeting. I do not doubt that the same access might be had in all parts of France to the people of almost all classes. But where are the sowers and the reapers Pray ye to the Lord of the harvest, and He will send them forth. Pastors and laymen are lending most willing help at Bordeaux; they have gathered round and strengthened the hands of the director of the mission, Mr. Chauntrell. One cannot be too thankful that so tried a friend and helper of the work in Paris should have seen fit to give himself freely to the superintendence of the work at Bordeaux, or that in the city itself are to be found two such earnest and active laymen as M. Baptistin and M. Henri Couve. May such examples stir up many others to help in reaping the "White Fields of France." International Sabbath-School Lesson. OCTOBER 12. THE TYPES EXPLAINED. HEB. ix. 1-15.-Golden Text, x. 14: "For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified." A TYPE is Scripturally defined as "a shadow of things to come, but the body of Christ" (Col. ii. 17), for the fulfilment of every type meets in the finished work or the person of the Redeemer; shadows are merged in the uprising of the Sun of Righteousness. An expositor well says, "It is not in the nature of type and antitype that they should agree in all things, else, instead of similitude, there would be identity." Biblical types are both numerous and prominent. In one lesson but brief allusion can be made to them. They may be classed under different headsPersonages, Orders, Actions, Rites, Things, Places. 1st, Persons.-Those include many from Adam down to the later prophets. Adam, as progenitor and representative man, is taken as a type of Christ's Headship to His people; Enoch, as the man walking with God alone amidst evil; Noah, by word and example, warning and inviting to flee from coming wrath; Melchizedec, coming with blessing; Abraham, faithful in all his house, to whom pertained the covenant and promises; Isaac, bound as a burnt sacrifice; Joseph, sold from his father's house as a servant to become a great deliverer; Moses, as leader, intercessor, and judge; Aaron, as anointed high-priest; Joshua, captain of the Lord's host; Samson, mighty in the strength of the Lord; Samuel, the man of unspotted integrity; David, beloved by the Lord, the shepherd of Israel; Solomon, king of peace, sitting on the throne swaying in wisdom; Elijah, the man of conflict, tempted in wilderness, praying on mountain side, ascending in triumph to heaven; Elisha, the life-restorer, God's messenger with special spiritual gifts; Jonah, figuring Christ's descent into the grave; Zerubbabel, founder and finisher of the Lord's house; and Joshua the high-priest bearing filthy garments, with Satan resisting him by his side. These, in different aspects, remarkably typify the Christ. 2nd, Orders.-That of firstborn conferred rights to a double portion and to the priesthood. The Son of God is written "firstborn among many brethren," and firstborn from the dead. The Nazarites, in their dedication and separation, typified "the undefiled, separate from sinners. Prophets, as expounders of God's will, miracle-workers, and foretellers of the future, prefigured the greater to come. Priests, in their perpetual intercession, morn and even, day by day, continually, by blood, incense, and meatofferings, pointed to the great Surety who ever liveth making intercession, and to the all-perfect atonement He provides. Kings anointed and chosen to rule by God were likewise types of Messiah, "King of kings and Lord of lords." 3rd, Actions.-Abraham leaving his own country, and the Israelites leaving Egypt, typified the Christian beginning the life of faith; the slaying of the paschal lamb by each household, a confession of universal sin and need of atonement; following Moses pointed to "looking unto Jesus," who has gone before to lead His people on to rest; the wilderness life, to the pilgrimage to a better country than an earthly Canaan; like the walls of Jericho, spiritual foes shall fall, and Jordan, the chill wave of death, be passed, beyond which lies the crown of life; the sending away of the scapegoat pointed to Christ as the sin-bearer; the brush of sprinkling used by the priest, to Christ applying His precious blood to cleanse the guilty conscience; the priests, before they could minister, were washed, robed in fair garments, anointed with holy oil, consecrated by the touch of blood, showing how Christ cleanses, then clothes, anoints by the Spirit, and seals the redeemed with His own blood. 4th, Rites.-Ablutions were typical, and many rules for observances in setting forth the need of soul-purifying, of coming to the fountain open for sin, there to wash and be clean; sacrifices pointed to Christ our Passover sacrificed for us; the sin-offering showed Christ specially as suffering the curse of the law; the meat-offering presented Him as bread of the soul-our perfect food, the finest of the wheat, mingled with oil and salt of the covenant; the peace-offering depicted the blessings of salvation, "the sacrifice of praise," ""the fruit of our lips giving thanks." 5th, Things.-The ark, type of the One only refuge in the day of destruction. Jacob's ladder, the living way, and prefiguring "the heavens open, and the angels ascending and descending upon the Son of Man." The brazen serpent, of healing in Christ crucified. The manna, of the Bread of Life. Rock of Horeb, of the living streams from the Rock of Ages. The anointing oil, the Spirit's unction. The golden candlestick and lamps, the Spirit and the Word. 6th, Places.-Canaan typified heaven. The cities of refuge, God's mercy in Christ. The tabernacle, Christ's humanity covering the Shechinah, and having the mercyseat where only God says to sinful man, "I will meet thee" in Christ the propitiation. The temple, too, was type of Christ's body, and of the house eternal made without hands, and of heaven where the redeemed "serve God day and night in His temple." The purpose of types is to set forth the blessings Christ in His salvation secures to the fallen and guilty. Some other types, and leprosy in particular, pointed to the pollution of the natural man. The day of types is ended, the veil is rent, the altar razed, the temple destroyed, because the sacrifice is complete the great High Priest now ever liveth to intercede. No cherubim now guard, nor candles burn, but angels have sung, and God has spoken peace, the word is nigh, and the Holy Spirit witnesseth, "therefore with joy draw water out of the wells of salvation" (Isa. xii. 3). J. G. F. There is a tendency in the present day to overvalue types, and to take them out of their proper place, which we ought to beware of. Types are only shadows, and those who enjoy the full light should not require shadows to enable them to see. The shadows are of earth, the light is from heaven. Let us walk in Christ our Light, and not in shadows. It is when the wayfarer gets into the shadow that he stumbles, and the feebler and more distant the light is the longer the shadow becomes. There are more shadows by moonlight than by sunlight, and without light all is in shadow. God spoke to the Israelites of old in shadow, because of their unbelief, but to Moses He spoke face to face as a man speaketh to his friend, and Paul speaks of the temple and its types to those who are trusting in the delusions of form and ceremony without the power thereof, and who are therefore in darkness. Types in the Old Testament were what parables are in the New, and Christ did not address parables to His own disciples, but to unbelievers (Luke viii. 10). In a beautiful painting, shadow is only used to give prominence to the objects, brilliancy to the colouring, and individuality to the scene, by showing from whence the light comes. It is the light and not the shade which gives life and beauty to the whole; so should types be used only to set forth the beauties and perfections of the Sun of Righteousness. It is the light which shows the shadow and expels the darkness, not the shadow which shows the light. It was the altar which sanctified the gift, not the gift which sanctified the altar. The types of the old dispensation did not profit the Jews as a nation, because they rested on them and not on Him whom the types were designed to prepare them to receive, and when He who alone is the reality of every type, the theme of every doctrine, did come, they rejected the substance, and in their blindness strove to grasp a shadow. Now, alas! even the shadow has been taken from them, as Christ warned them it would, "He that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath" (Mark iv. 25). They refused God's Passover Lamb, and their own, which only availed while it foreshadowed the coming of the Lamb of God, was for ever rejected, and now there remaineth " for them "no more sacrifice for sin," nor for us either "if we too reject His" great salvation, and strive, as so many are doing, to work out a salvation of their own founded on ritual of outward form, ceremony, and sacrifice. who love the light and dwell in the light require no shadows. Those T. G. F. In his stirring letter to the Hebrew Christians Paul set before them the great realities of which the Mosaic ritual and temple services were but types. He saw the old covenant waxing old, and, as a necessary consequence, in a state of decay, and about to vanish away as it merged into the new, which was in reality a far more blessed although a less ceremonial one than that which it was to supersede. Had the first been faultless no place could have been found for the second, because nothing more would have been required. God never destroys or displaces a perfect work. But inasmuch as the old was imperfect with its material surroundings, there was of necessity a need for something better. That which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances was imposed only until the time of reformation, when Christ came to offer Himself without spot unto God. Briefly summarising the services and the appointments of the tabernacle and temple worship, he compares these with the sacrificial and mediatorial work of the antitype, in order that the transitory nature of the former and the enduring nature of the latter may be conspicuous; and in so doing he demonstrates the vast superiority of the new over the old, a superiority as great as that which exists between the shadow and the substance. We have, then, 1st, the earthly types, the material shadow of the heavenly reality. Under the first covenant, appointed in the form of ordinances and ceremonies; and the old legal covenant of works, a regular worship was for the due observance of these a worldly sanctuary was ordained. "Let them make me" (said God to Moses on the mount), "Let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them. According to all that I show thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it" (Exod. xxv. 8, 9). This tabernacle or dwelling was appointed a place for a fixed meeting between God and man, in the person of the God-appointed representative of the race through sacrificial access. It was perfectly made and beautifully finished, with a silver foundation made out of the 100 talents paid by the men of Israel for the ransom of their persons, amounting to a value of upwards of £41,000. Thus it stood on the ransom of the people. The boards were overlaid with gold, and the curtains were of the finest texture, the warp being of the finest pure white yarn, and the weft of blue, purple, and scarlet thread, while figures of cherubs were interwoven with these. Paul does not linger over any minute description of the holy place, but simply enumerates some golden lamp-stand, the table and the shewbread. But parts of its furniture. There are the candlestick or in thought, lifting the thick curtain, he enters with us the most holy place and mentions with more minuteness what it contained. It was a place of darkness, of which God Himself had said, "I dwell in the thick darkness (1 Kings viii. 12). "Strange as it may seem," says a writer on this subject, "that in which everything represented light and life was left in utter darkness, in profound silence." This chamber was 10 cubits in length, 10 in breadth, and 10 in height. Its furniture was the golden censer, and the ark, and the mercy-seat. The former was the vessel into which the high priest put the incense on the day of his annual entrance. The latter, a chest made of shittim wood and overlaid with gold, was 2 cubits long, 1 high, and 1 broad. It held the two tables of stone (Exod. xl. 20), book of the law written by Moses (Deut. xxxi. 24-26), the golden pot filled with manna laid up before the Lord (Exod. xvi. 33, 34), and Aaron's rod that budded (Num. xvii. 10). The lid or top, of solid gold, formed the mercy-seat, upon which and at either side, stood the cherubim (representatives of glorified humanity), facing inwards, and with outstretched wings meeting above. Within this space the shechinah glory was manifested. Here God met with men through their representative, manifesting His presence in the glory revealed to the high priest alone. For the ordinary services of the holy place the priests were appointed. They required to be free from bodily defect or blemish, and were consecrated for the work, having been able to prove their direct descent from Aaron. In the discharge of their duties they offered daily the offerings, sacrifices appointed by statute in Israel, as well as those which were freely offered as thankofferings unto the Lord. They kept the fire ever burning upon the altar, and trimmed the golden lamp-stand daily. But there was attached to the office of the high priest, a dignity as well as a solemnity exceeding great, and which pertained to none of his brethren of the lower order. Clothed ordinarily in magnificent garments, spoken of as "garments for glory and beauty," he was a representative man, and ever stood in the highest place Godward. But, as we have formerly seen, his duties reached the climax on the great day of atonement, when, having laid aside his gorgeous robes, he attired himself in the ordinary white linen robes of the priesthood, and after slaying the bullock and the goat, he entered the most holy place barefooted, first with incense, and afterwards with blood, first with that of the bullock for himself and his household, and afterwards with that of the goat for the people, sprinkling the mercy-seat eastward, and before it seven times. His return to the outer chamber, and then to the court of the tabernacle being an earnest to the assembled worshippers that the offering of blood was accepted, and they were pardoned of all ceremonial sin. In these approaches the incense was the symbol of adoration, and the blood that of life. 2nd, The heavenly reality. Under the old economy, and while these services lasted, the Holy Ghost taught that the direct access was not yet made manifest. But when the mighty Victor's shout rent the air, "It is finished," the thick veil of the separation was rent in twain, and the sacredness of the presence-chamber of the Almighty in the earthly tabernacle passed away, for the new and living way of access into the holiest of all was then made manifest, and available for all. The Great High Priest of our profession went from sacrifice to glory, went from death to life, disappeared through the blue vault of the heavens, behind the earthly scene into the presencechamber of the Godhead, there to carry on the great work of which Aaron was the feeble imitator. "He sprinkled with His blood The mercy-seat above; For justice had withstood The purposes of love. But justice now withstands no more, Jesus entered with His own blood into the holy of holies. Heaven is now opened to the believers; the most holy place is anointed with the blood of the atonement (Dan. ix. 24). Our sins no longer ascend to heaven. The adversary can no longer accuse us before the throne of God. The Father having made peace through the blood of Christ's cross, hath reconciled all things unto Himself, "whether they be things in earth or things in heaven" (Col. i. 20). So great and real is the efficacy of the precious blood of Christ (Saphir). Our lesson is this, "without holiness no man can see the Lord." That holiness is of God, and it is given to all ORATIONS BY JOHN B. GOUGH. London: Morgan & Scott. THESE orations are eleven in number, and form most interesting reading. The stories come too close upon each other, perhaps, and rhetoric gets more prominence sometimes than logic. Still, they have been probably more influential in moving public opinion in favour of the abstinence movement than solid reasoning by more logical minds. The masses are never moved by mere logic. This edition has been revised by the author. It sells at a cheap price. THE ARMY SCRIPTURE READER: HIS WORK IN BARRACKS AND CAMP. By Captain Roderick Mackenzie, Secretary for Scotland, Army Scripture Readers' Society, 5 St. Andrew Square. A NEAT little volume, full of most interesting incidents occurring in the varied experience of an Army Scripture Reader. Fully authenticated stories of this kind, showing the wonders of Divine grace in transforming character in the sight of all the world, are well-fitted to be useful. The stories here are all vouched for as real and accurate, and Captain Mackenzie has done a good service to the army and to the nation by presenting these narratives in an attractive form. When a soldier becomes a Christian, he commonly becomes a very decided and earnest Christian. Those who are not exposed to the same trials and temptations will find much that may profit them in these pleasant and encouraging records of the progress of the Gospel in the army. MANUAL OF DEVOTION FROM THE WRITINGS OF SAINT AugusTINE. Translated by the Rev. Marcus Dods, D.D. New Edition. Edinburgh: John Maclaren & Son. WE cannot better recommend this little work than by quoting a passage from one of its chapters, that upon "The Remembrance of the Wounds of Christ as a Sovereign Cure in all Trials." Here is what comforted Augustine in long ages past, and here is what is still the solace of every sin-burdened soul :-"I have sinned a great sin, and am conscious of many transgressions. Nor yet am I wholly cast down, for where sin hath abounded, grace did much more abound.' He who despairs of the pardon of his sins, denies that God is merciful. He does God great wrong who trusts not in His mercy. As far as in him lies, he denies that God hath love, truth, and power, in which rests all my hope. In the love of adoption, in the truth of the promise, in the power of the redemption. Let my foolish heart now murmur as it will, and say, 'Who art thou?" and 'How great is that glory;' or, 'With what merit do you hope to obtain it?' With confidence I will reply, 'I know in whom in I have believed,' with what surpassing love He hath adopted me, how faithful He is in promising, how powerful to perform, for none can say unto Him, What doest Thou? I cannot be terrified by the multitude of my sins, when I think of the death of our Lord, for this outweighs my sins. The nails and the spear call out to me that in very truth I am reconciled to Christ if I love Him. Longinus has opened to me with his spear the side of Christ, and I have entered in, and there do I rest secure. He who fears, let him for love casteth out fear." The translation is excellent, and the book is beautifully got up. love; For the Young. CHILDREN'S SCRIPTURE UNION. 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, RISE AND PRAY. LUKE Xxii. 46. xxii. 1-13. xxii. 14-23. xxii. 24-38. xxii. 39-53. xxii. 54-71. xxiii. 1-12. person with whom he was vexed. His mother was sadly grieved at these fits of passion. She used to talk to her little son and punish him, to try and make him good, and was in much distress. After some time she noticed that she had not to punish Charlie nearly so often, and that things which used to put him in a rage did so no longer. She also noticed a strange new habit. In the midst of some talk or play Charlie would frown, press his lips hard together and run away, to come back in a few minutes smiling, and often he would kiss his mother, and fetch her something she wanted, or obey some little order, such as changing his boots, or getting out his lesson books. One day his mother followed just in time to see Charlie shut the drawing-room door behind him. The drawingroom was a large apartment at the front of the house, which was only used for visitors, and often no one went into it for days, except, of course, the maid in a morn F we desire help in any trouble or difficulty, the first ing. The blinds were drawn carefully down, but there If thing to no one is to find out how Jesus Christ acted when in similar circumstances; and if we cannot do this because He lived in Palestine so many hundred years ago, the next thing is to find out how He would have acted, to ask for that mind to be given to us which was in Christ Jesus, that so we may follow Him step by step. And I think that the reading of our Scripture portions every day helps us to do this, because in this way we come to the feet of Jesus day by day, and ask Him to teach us by telling us something about Himself. In our study of the life of Jesus in the gospels, one thing must have struck us all, that Jesus Christ was always praying. His was a very busy life, and He had to do with a great many people, He had no house of His own, no fixed hours when no one was allowed to disturb Him; but He always found time and place for prayer, and He did nothing without it. When surrounded by those who would not listen to His teaching, who would not believe His words, and who were so carried away by hatred and cruelty that they wished to kill Him,-we are told that "He went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God." When the disciples returned to Him rejoicing at the success of their first missionary journey, Jesus Christ gave thanks to God in prayer. And in the verses from which our motto is taken we are told that as the last hours of trial and agony were at hand "He prayed." Does not this show us very clearly that the refuge and strength of Jesus Christ was prayer; that when He was sad He prayed; when He was in danger He prayed; when people grieved Him by not understanding Him He prayed; when He needed strength to do the work which God had given Him, to withstand sore temptation and great suffering, He prayed. "Rise and pray." They are the words of Jesus, and in His own life He shows us what they mean, and what they will do for us if we obey them. If we wish to have joy in our hearts, to be brave and calm in danger, to be patient and loving with those around us-even when they think bad things of us, and distress us,-to be always ready and willing to do the work which God gives us day by day, the power and the wisdom for all this lies in prayer. But what is prayer? A very simple thing; just telling God what we want, and trusting Him to give it to us if we are ready and willing to have it. I knew a dear little boy whom I will call Charlie. He was loving and obedient to his parents, he was very clever in doing errands, and taking messages, but he had a quick, passionate temper that troubled him very much. When he was angry he would say naughty words, and stamp and scream, and throw whatever was near him at the was light enough to show Charlie kneeling by the sofa, with his head laid on a book, aad his mother heard him say softly: "My gentle Jesus, send the bad spirit away, and make me feel good again. And, please, gentle Jesus, do it quickly." Afterwards she found that this book was Charlie's Bible. He could not read it easily yet, so he laid his cheek upon it and asked Jesus Christ to teach him what was written there. Some time has passed since then. Charlie is still trying to be good, and his mother told me that he was one of her greatest comforts. I could quite believe it, for Charlie had found out a wonderful secret, the secret of earnest prayer and faith in God. He is a little boy, only seven years old, but if he lives to be an old man he will find that prayer is a stronghold in every trouble, from seven to seventy and more. I shall never forget a talk that I once had with a dear old man of eighty-nine. He lived in a beautiful house, and had many kind friends and relations who loved him dearly; but there was a joy shining in his face which came from something beyond all these. As we sat talking together, and I saw the look of peace and gladness that seemed to abide with him always, I ventured to ask him how long it was since he had lived the life of a Christian. The smile that came was like a ray of glory as he said: "In all humility and thankfulness I can say that I have walked with God for sixty-four years. Goodness and mercy have followed me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever."" Yes, indeed it is so. If in every trouble and difficulty we "rise and pray," each one will be a step nearer to the heavenly city, and if every joy and success calls us to "prayer with thanksgiving," then, indeed, we shall dwell with God, for to do this is to walk with Him here, and abide with Him hereafter. SALEM HALL. REQUESTS FOR PRAYER. "Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you."-JER. xxix. 12. Prayer is requested For a great blessing to rest upon Special Services conducted by Henry Holloway in Manchester, commencing 12th October. A GRANDMOTHER'S PRAYER.-" O God, dwell with my daugh- |