were surrounded, and the awful possibility of their being hurried into eternity by the casualties of war. In the spirit of pitying love, she often prayed that God would open up some plan by which they might be brought to the knowledge of the truth." At first she invited little parties to meet her, at times appointed, in the widow's cottage, where she read the Bible to them, and also such useful and interesting books as Miss Marsh's "Brave, Kind, and Happy," and after the readings bade them kneel down, and offered prayer for a blessing to follow. Willing audiences of ten, fifteen, twenty, or five-and-twenty, gave her encouragement to persevere; and being well assured of the aid of her husband, with that of some other Christian-hearted men, now ready to take up the work so hopefully begun, she ventured on a bolder step. In those days military reforms were young; one existing abomination indeed, that has since been introduced, and spread a blight of demoralization over the both services of Army and Navy, with a taint of secret corruption among the inhabitants of military and naval districts, was not yet imported into England from France; but beer was considered necessary by many of the officers in charge of recruiting-districts. Public-houses, therefore, were the recognised places of resort for those young men ; who had no sooner accepted the shilling from the sergeant than they were plied with intoxicating drink, to keep them from thinking seriously of the course they had taken. There were drinking-rooms in York, of course; and after praying, as was her invariable custom, Mrs. Leak went to the landlord of one of them, and asked for admission. The innkeeper himself, unable to resist the request of such an applicant as had never darkened his door before, introduced her to the guests, and by a gesture invited their attention. Turning their eyes towards the door, they saw a lady of matron-like appearance, small in stature, purely neat in her attire, and carrying the traces of an energetic spirit on her countenance. The most noisy suddenly ceased their clatter, and their instantaneous silence, like magic, quelled the last murmur of their companions. The smokers quietly laid down their pipes, in token of attention, or drew their whiff more deeply to help it; and every one settled himself to listen for he could not guess what, or to obey an impulse which he had neither the power nor inclination to resist. Now she had gained a hearing, when as yet she scarce knew what to say; but the beckoning of the hand of the great Orator on the castle-stairs in Jerusalem did not more effectually command silence than did the vision of this angel of Gospel pity before the recruits in that great room in York. What she said we know not, nor ever asked her to tell us. It is not likely that she would have remembered. But she did speak a few gentle, winning words, as the Spirit of her faithful Master gave her utterance. Then, putting little parcels of tracts into some willing hands,-hands unconscious of the preciousness of the gift they welcomed,-she distributed them all round the room. She then withdrew, and every countenance was turned on her as she went. Many a cheek was wet with tears. As the hungry multitudes, seated on the grass, ate loaves and fishes which wondering disciples had dealt out to them, so did those quieted revellers peruse the printed pages in a brief, yet edifying silence. But there was one poor lad who could only bend his head and weep, while the words, half unconsciously, escaped his lips: “ How like my mother!' 66 There was another "rendezvous," a house of superior character in its line. Thither the landlady invited Mrs. Leak to go; and thither she went, in her usual quiet way, expecting to meet only a few artillerymen; but there sat the master of the house, with a large company of his guests, to whom she spoke, not without difficulty, but with entire confidence in Him who ever helps those who labour to turn sinners from the error of their way. But this unexpected extension of the plan made it impossible for a lady to conduct it. Some respectable sergeants came to meetings of the kind, ostensibly to keep order, or otherwise assist: their help was not needed, for in that lady's presence not a rude word was ever breathed, even from the most polluted lips. Then, however, Mr. Leak, with his accustomed activity in the cause of God, hired a large apartment, close at hand, and fitted it up commodiously at his own expense. This was certified as a place of religious worship, under the name of military chapel; a considerable company of young men, encouraged by the ministers of the Circuit, formed themselves into a "Recruits' Committee;" and measures were taken to insure regular attention to three meetings in this room, in Stonegate, thrice a week. At other times recruits and soldiers assembled with our regular congregation in considerable numbers; many of them were awakened to a sense of sin; and not a few found peace with God, and have since proved, by their blameless lives, the reality of their conversion. Mrs. Leak unostentatiously presided over this important movement, and devoted herself to the onerous work of corresponding with the converts, at home and abroad; and I have seen scores, if not hundreds, of letters received by her from soldiers on their several stations. One of the sergeants, who had not previously any knowledge of true religion, became an eminently Christian man, and is now a commissioned officer. The captain then in charge of the recruits has been promoted to an important position, and still speaks of Mrs. Leak with respectful admiration, fully appreciating the value of her work. For some years the care of recruits constituted a distinct part in the "Army Department' of Methodism, and nominal lists of many hundreds from York, London, and Leeds now lie before me. Thanks, under God, to this excellent lady's influence and example! There is not space here to do full justice to the correspondence carried on between her and her spiritual children. It continued as long as she could use a pen. Thousands of soldiers' letters to herself attest her activity and faithfulness. They came from all parts of Her Majesty's dominions, and beyond them too, as foreign postagestamps will tell. Among the letters thus preserved, is one of her own, containing religious counsels addressed to a soldier in India, but returned, with "not claimed," and "deceased" written on the cover. Nothing delighted her so much as to hear from her correspondents, whose phraseology and addresses were sometimes amusing. Some of them were directed to "Lady Helen Leak!" The whole diversity of native simplicity must have been exhausted, but all sincere, no doubt. In the year 1864 Mr. Leak removed to the Glen, at Heworth, near York, and there she much enjoyed scenery like that familiar to her in early life. But her health was boken. In the years 1864, 1867, and 1870, she had some severe attacks of sickness, each of which left her weaker than before. No longer able to walk to her accustomed place of worship, the Centenary Chapel, she was punctually conveyed thither; where she took a warm interest in the services, and often spoke of the pofit and enjoyment she derived from the sermons she heard. Daring the last three years of her course she was constantly under medical care, and in the month of July, 1873, on her ascending the steps of the chapel for the last time, it was evident that a great change had taken place. From this date her weakness increased, and ro medical skill, no change of air, nor the most assiduous and tender attentions at home, could arrest the progress of disease. During the sittings of Conference that year, in Newcastle, her husband was absent, and then, for the first time in thirty years, she was unable to send him a letter. Her right hand had forgot its "cunning," and her mind had lost its power of concentration. In the October following, the sudden death of her sister, Mrs. Hill, from whom she had never in all their life been long separated, troubled her greatly; though giving little utterance to her grief, she felt the stroke severely. In November she sank rapidly, but would insist on being taken to the house of God. On the last Sunday of her attendance her husband endeavoured to dissuade her, but she said, "I will go," and so she was taken thither. After the service the Rev. Mr. Milnes, the preacher for the day, spoke kindly to her; and in a few words she told him how she had enjoyed the sermon, and how her heart had been filled with the love of God. Through the whole month of December her state of exhaustion and pain was extremely distressing; and on the morning of the first of January, when Mr. Leak went to her chamber to bid her a happy new year, it was only to be told that he need not do so, for she was" asleep." Yet she rallied for a little, and on the twelfth day of the month was brought down stairs, entered almost every room in the house, took a farewell glance over the scene of much domestic activity and happiness, and then said, "There! I will go back again to my room up stairs." Next day, in the afternoon, she became so much worse that the nurses, perceiving that the final change was near, were just sending for her husband, who, on returning from his place of business, found her dying. Their meeting was painful, but she was calm. Night and day, at intervals, those around heard her expressions of gratitude to God for His goodness. Her brotherin-law, Mr. Hill, and her ministers, the Rev. Messrs. Brackenbury and Milnes, prayed, and so far as her feeble voice permitted, she united in their prayers with ejaculations of assent, and joyous praise. While she could find power of utterance, in answer to her friends, she gave assurance that in her death there was no sting. Nor could there be. Except during a brief interval of depression, when her health gave way some time before the last sickness, she maintained an unfaltering trust in the Atonement, rejoicing in hope of the glory of God. On the day before her death, her eyes were fixed on her husband with an expression of calmness and peace which none who saw are likely to forget. Often she breathed such words as "Heaven is my home;" "All is well." She passed away-so gently that the transition was almost imperceptible-in the sixty-fourth year of her age, and the forty-fifth since her admission into a Methodist class at Portington. The funeral service was conducted in the Centenary Chapel at York by the four ministers of the Circuit, with every circumstance of affectionate respect, and numerous mourners followed the departed saint to her grave. Amidst a vast concourse her body was laid in its last resting-place, and the language of assurance which she had penned no less than eightand-forty years before was impressively verified, bating only the trifling difference between a "raised sod" and the carefully inscribed monument. “What though no cypress form a sacred shade O! may my soul the great Atonement share, UNCONSCIOUS ORTHODOXY. I. In reading the works of authors who call Christianity into question, we must often be impressed with the fact of their unconscious recognition of many of the doctrines and principles peculiar to Christianity. The very system they reject in toto, when presented to them as a theological system, they admit in detail when considering scientific, moral, political, or philosophical questions. Their terminology is very different from that of evangelical writers, but substantially they concede many of the great distinctive truths on which the Christian Church insists. Just as the geologist finds what he calls "erratic blocks," that is, solitary rocks, evidently not belonging to the strata of the country in which they are met with, so the Christian theologian, exploring the literature of the sceptical world, is being perpetually startled to find on that strange ground large fragments of Christian truth and doctrine. It is the purpose of the present paper to give several illustrations of this fact, and to indicate the significance of this un conscious, or undesigned, orthodoxy. To begin at the beginning, take the question of The Origin of Man. The Scriptures tell us that God formed Adam and Eve; that He placed them in the garden of Eden; and that from this first pair sprang the vast families of mankind. It is not necessary to prove, by any extended quotation, that this doctrine has been regarded with scepticism and scorn. It has been confidently pronounced a mere fable, impossible and absurd. Thus Professor |