I knew where I might find Him!" He saw himself to be a poor sin-laden creature, who was shut out by his sins from the presence of God. Day and night he sought after God. He sought in the church and could not find Him there; he shut himself up in his room, and cried out in the darkness, and could not find Him there; he saw the faces of saints and holy prophets in the fire, but never the face of God. His soul was faint within him for want of God. But one day he went into the library of the college where he was studying, and there, on the shelves, all covered with dust, he found the very well for whose water his soul was thirsting; he found the Bible. There it was, all ready for him, waiting for him, prepared by God hundreds of years before, put there, in that very spot, for him by God. And the young man opened it and read and found the story of Christ in it, and the way by which a soul must go to find God, and how in Jesus a well had been opened for all sin, and that whosoever drank of that well should be cleansed of sin, made holy, and live for ever. It was Martin Luther who found the Bible in this wonderful way, and also found, as we also shall do, if we try, that it is a well in the desert, a well into which God has poured water of truth and life for the soul to drink of and to live.

One of the wonderful things which Luther read in the Bible was the story of an old prisoner in Rome. The old man was chained to a soldier, and thinking sad thoughts. It was the great Paul. For telling men that Jesus was a well of salvation he had been sent by wicked men to prison. And now his trial was coming on, and his judge was a very evil man, and Paul was thinking in his own heart that the judgment might go against him. It was something like this which was passing through his mind"My enemies are cruel, my judge is bad, and I may be condemned to die." Then he thought of the work which remained to be done. Then he wondered who should do his work if he were put to death. Then he looked into the lonesome grave and across into the world beyond, and [there he saw, all prepared for him, the very sight his sad soul wished to see; he saw Jesus on the throne of God. It was like seeing a well in a desert; it was like drinking of living water when the soul is faint with thirst. "Jesus reigns," he said to himself. "The work will go on, though I should die; and if I die, I shall go to Him."

When you and I come to the end of our lives may we see the vision which Paul saw,

and be able to say with him, "To live is Christ, to die is gain." May we know that we are going home to our Father's house, and to places there prepared for us by Christ.

FOURTH EVENING.

Opening Hymn: "I'm a Little Pilgrim." Lesson: Mark v. 21-43. Concluding Hymn: "Jesus, tender shepherd, hear me.'

Hundreds of years ago, in one of the old Etruscan cities of Italy, there lived a young and wealthy lawyer whose name was Jacob Bendetti. He had a beautiful young wife, and he and she were once invited to a splendid ball.

Now something came in his way, so that the husband could not get to the ball at the beginning, and his wife had to go with some friends. But in a little while he arrived. When he came into the room everything was in confusion. His beautiful young wife had been seized with a sudden illness, and there, or on the way home, she died.

Jacob was almost in despair. He gave up his business, sold all his possessions, gave his money to the poor, and became a minister of the gospel. People laughed at him for doing this. Always there are people who laugh at things noble or good. They said it was so silly for a rich young fellow to cry as he cried for his wife, and to sell all he had and give all his money away. And there was another thing these people thought silly. He not only began to preach to poor people about Jesus, but he wrote poems, and prayers, and parables for them in their own mother tongue. "O, so silly!" cried the people who used to go to balls with him. So they called him "Silly Jack," and he is known as Silly Jack to this day.

But it wasn't he who was silly; it was the ignorant and stupid butterfly people who had not sense to see that he was wise.

I have been reading some notes about the life and writings of this man lately, and among these notes I came upon a parable which I thought would make a good sermon for the boys and girls I speak to.

The parable is this: Once upon a time there was a fair young maiden who had five brothers. One was a musician, the second was a painter, the third was a merchant, the fourth was a cook, and the fifth was a builder.

Now this fair young maiden had a beautiful diamond which her father had given her, and each of the brothers wanted it for himself.

The first who sought it was the musician. He came to her and said, "Sell it to me; I

will play you some beautiful music for it." But she said, "And when the music is ended I should have nothing;" and she refused to sell her diamond for music.

Then came the painter. "I will paint you a splendid picture for your diamond," he said. But she replied, "Your splendid picture might be stolen, or its colour might fade. I will not sell my diamond to you."

Next came the merchant. "O sister," he said, "I will bring you such spices and perfumes from the East in my ships as you never smelled the like of; and I will give you sweet smelling roses and lilies-a garden full." But she said, "The perfumes will cease to please me, and the roses and lilies will fade." Then the cook came up and said, "Dear sister, I will prepare for you a splendid banquet of the finest, richest things you could eat: give your diamond to me." But she said, "After the banquet I should be hungry again and my diamond gone: no, I will not sell it to you."

Then the builder came. He offered to build her a beautiful palace to live in-a palace that might do for a queen. "But a palace is filled with cares, even to its queen," she said, "and I cannot sell my diamond for a house full of cares."

At last, when all the brothers had been refused, came the prince of a great kingdom and said he wished to buy the diamond. "And what will you give for my diamond?" she asked. "I will give Myself," he said; "Myself, and all I possess." Hearing that, the young maiden answered, "I accept that gift. I will be yours and you shall be mine, for ever." Whereupon she gave him the diamond.

Now that is the parable, and here is the interpretation. The fair young maiden is you or your sister, or any young person you know. The father is God. And the diamond given by the father is the soul. The five brothers are the five senses, each of

A PLEA FOR

which wishes to get the soul all to itself. The ear comes first, and wants the soul to give itself altogether to the pleasures of music. "That is the great life," it says, “just to be going to concerts and listening to fine airs and fine songs." The eye comes next and wishes the soul to give itself away to fine sights, beautiful paintings, beautiful statues, beautiful sights on the hills and the fields. And the other senses, one after another, come and want to get the soul all to themselves-to fine gardens, to fine parties, or to fine houses.

But the soul sees that all these things perish as they are used. The soul knows that ear, and eye, and smell, and touch, and taste, are only little bits of one's being; and that it would never do to give itself away to a mere little bit of its being. The soul has learned that nothing can fill the whole being except God Himself who made it. And it says, "What would it profit me though I should gain all that the five senses could bring to me if I were to lose my very self and be cast away?"

There are plenty of people who sell their souls for music, painting, fine dinners, and beautiful gardens, and fine houses. But no wise child will do it. No one who knows Christ will do it. Christ alone is worthy to have the soul. He gave Himself for the soul; Himself and all that He has.

And the wise maiden in the parable knew that. The pleasures of earth were nothing to her in comparison with Christ. "What are fine parties, beautiful pictures, or splendid mansions, if at the end I should lose my soul?" So she gave her soul to Christ. And she got what was better than pictures, or palaces, or fine gardens. She got Christ Himself. And her soul was still her own.

It is of wise young saints like her that the Lord says in one of the prophets, "They shall be mine in that day when I make up my Jewels."

THE NAVVY.

II.

HAVING housed the men in a village of huts, the corporation or contractors seldom go to the expense of putting up a school room or provide in the slightest way for the education or religious needs of their workpeople. Few know of the settlement, and fewer care anything for the navvies. Here, therefore, children grow up totally ignorant, and men and women live and die like

heathens. They are, maybe, miles from any place of worship, so Sunday is marked only by a better dinner, much beer, dog fighting, and strolling about. And this is in Christian England! If a church is near the navvies will not go to it. Their dress marks them. Christ's religion should be taken to them, and it is not. It is no use a preacher going occasionally on a fine Sunday. Navvies have learnt, practically, to disbelieve in

Christians. They judge men by their fruits. If we are to do them good we must deny ourselves. Establish regular religious services, day schools, night schools, reading rooms, house to house visitation, &c., in fact give personal love and care. The work, to do anything, must be constant. The men are ever on the move, every week fresh hearers are to be found, fresh souls to be sought. Something too can be done by reading daily to the men at the breakfast hour, so that they may begin each day with a good thought.

All this and much more is proposed to be done by a Society which has been just organized, called "The Mission to Navvies." Many of us cannot go to the navvies-all may help them by sending something to the Hon. Treasurer of the "Mission," the Rev. Gerard Nevile, 15, Somerset Place, Bath.

But our readers will say, Surely the employers should see to this? Yes, so they should; but, as a rule, to which there are noble exceptions, as Messrs. Lucas and Aird, they do not. The pay for a Scripture reader, a certificated school mistress, or even the mere building of a room, to be used as a day school for the children, and as a night school and reading room for the men, a place for refuge from the public-house and crowded hut, and for self-improvement and religious service, they do not provide, and even when asked for them they refuse. The rates, say a corporation, must not be "so burdened." Contractors say the men do not desire more than beer, and that they provide for payment at the shant. This, alas! is true. The men are often sunk too low to make an effort to rise; but stretch out a helping hand and see if they will not grasp it. Of many others it is not true; they would eagerly avail themselves of such privileges.

Much power is left in the hands of the managers. A few use it nobly; they provide a room, when they are permitted, put down excessive drinking in the shant, and all beer selling (which in spite of police is a common practice) in the huts, make fighting mean dismissal, and do what they can to prevent immorality. They are true and just in their dealings, and set a sober example to their men, who in turn honour them. Two at least we could name who do even more than this, and are ever foremost in all kindly deeds. Others are the very opposite of this. What could be done in a navvy settlement was practically shown at a place called Lindley Wood, in Yorkshire, a description of which appeared in the Quiver at the begin

ning of this year. But there was a combination of favourable circumstances unlike probably those at any other place. Often do navvies ask us after the manager and other friends they found there, and say, "There never was such a job. I wish it was to start again." Many hearts, not only in England, but also on the other side of the globe, warm to the name. Yes, and in the better country, dear ones thank God for it. Why should other navvy villages be Godless and Christless? The harvest is white, will no reapers go down, or send others, to gather sheaves for the Master? The work is hard, the day is hot. What then? Is it not worth it all to hear one dying voice say, "I want to be with Christ?"

To prove the foregoing statements are no exaggeration, we will lay before the reader : first, the life of a now truly Christian navvy, written by himself; secondly, a table of facts, pronounced as nearly correct as they could give them by over forty navvies this February; and, lastly, another table, which we know to be perfectly correct, in November, 1875. In his own words,

was born at Lew, in Oxfordshire, in 1832. His mother died when he was six years old. There was no school in the village and he had to go to work, and he did not know a word of his book when he was ten years old. There was a railway started not far off, so he and another made it up to go. They made a start, but did not succeed, so they had to come back. After that he went to service for two years, and then went for a soldier and went abroad. Came back, and after being at Portsmouth, Woolwich, Deptford, Aldershot, and Dover, got discharged at Dover and started to work on Dover heights. There was a church, but he never went. After being there for some time, left, and went to Canterbury, to Routom and Maidstone; was not there long before he left and went to Plumstead. There was no school or church there [for navvies]. Went from there to Battiseafields, through London to Kew bridge. No church or school there. From there to Hounslow, Maidenhead, High Wickham, to Oxford, Banbury, Nottingham, Leicester, Rugby, Alfreton, Claycross to Shrewsbury, Herne Bridge. No church, no school there. On from there to Bridgenorth, Worcester, Malvern to Gloucester, Cheltenham to Salisbury, Gosport, Portsmouth-past bridge (?). No church nor school there. From there to Battisea and Mussel hill, Bramford, Croydon, Horseham, and Guildford. No school and no church there. From there to Dartford,

I.-HOME NOTES.

THE CASE OF THE REV. A. TOOTH.

THE hope, earnestly cherished by many friends of the Established Church, that the Public Worship Regulation Act would prove an effectual check to the ritualistic proceedings of certain of the clergy, has proved sadly delusive. The machinery for dealing with offenders against the Protestant teachings and usages which the Church was generally supposed to maintain, seems to be still too cumbrous. It was to be simplified by the Act referred to, but it turns out to be still liable to accident and breakdowns, and, in fact, to be practically unworkable. At least we may almost infer this from the fiasco in which each prosecution under it has terminated. The Rev. A. Tooth, of Hatcham, appealed against the decision which deprived him of his living and sent him to Horsemonger Lane Gaol for three weeks, for contempt of the court which ruled that his practices in the conduct of public worship were illegal. The appeal was based, not on the merits of the case, but on purely technical grounds. Mr. Tooth ought to have been tried either in London or in Westminster, or in the diocese of Rochester. With a perverse ingenuity which fairly bewilders outsiders, the learned court thought proper to sit in Lambeth, in the library of the archbishop's palace, and it was discovered by some of Mr. Tooth's advisers that the place was not in any one of the three districts specified. The consequence was that, on appeal, the judges decided that the whole of the proceedings were null and void. It appears, too, that Mr. Tooth had a right, according to law, to proceed against his prosecutors in the original case for damages for the injury and loss which he had suffered. It is not, indeed, likely, considering all the circumstances of the case, that he would have obtained very substantial damages, but still he might have chosen to take the risk of that, and he would be a bold man who would have prophesied the result. Mr. Tooth, however, has resolved not to press his victory any further. He might, of course, have resumed his office as vicar of the parish which he has brought into such notoriety; but he resolved not to do so. His successor, the Rev. Malcolm MacColl, was nominated by himself, and from what we have heard we presume that he is fully in accord with Mr. Tooth's ritualistic views. The church at Hatcham has again been the scene of riotous disturbance, and it is to be feared that there are troubles ahead for the new vicar and his people there. Mr. Tooth has, we understand, entered upon the charge of an orphanage which he has established at Croydon, and towards which some munificent person presented him with £10,000. We cannot join with those who have so severely condemned Mr. Tooth for availing himself of a merely technical irregularity in the process against him for obtaining a VII. N.S.

reversal of his sentence. The law was brought into operation against him, and we venture to think that, this being so, he had a perfect right to make use of any plea which the law itself placed at his disposal. Not the less, however, do we regret that such an irregularity as that of which he laid hold should have occurred; and even more deeply do we regret that this result plainly tends to encourage others in ways of ritualistic excess and of ritualistic defiance of the But this case, as well Protestant will of the nation.

as others, proves how hopeless these methods of preserving ecclesiastical order and uniformity are, and must ever be. The difficulty occasioned by the firm hold which ritualism has taken of a certain section of the Established Church-of the nation at large-is so exceedingly grave and complicated, that the time for any drastic remedy seems to have gone by. May we not say, indeed, that this injurious superstition is only to be superseded by the power of a noble faith; that nothing but the revival of an intense and true religious devotion will correct and rebuke this drifting

into mediævalism?

ENGLISHWOMEN IN PARIS.

Some unknown friend has sent to the editor of this magazine ten shillings' worth of postage stamps for Miss Leigh's Homes for Englishwomen in Paris. It has given us pleasure to forward the donation to Miss Leigh, at her London address, 4, Chester Place, Hyde Park Square, W., and we are also glad to take the opportunity of saying a word about this good and important work. It is, we understand, just five years since Miss Leigh, touched by the forlorn condition of many young women and girls who, for various reasons, had sought a home in the French capital, and troubled by the dangers and temptations to which they were exposed, opened a place of refuge and resort for them on a small scale. Twelve beds were at first provided; and it instantly became evident that the work undertaken was of a kind sorely needed. The accommodation was speedily increased, and the plan of rendering assistance developed. A responsible and influential English committee has been formed, under whose supervision the work is carried on. Excellent and extensive premises, at 77, Avenue Wagram, are devoted to the purposes of the Homes. The institution includes a home for governesses, a sanatorium, a crèche, a free registry office, a dining and sitting room, besides numerous bedrooms. In addition to this, rooms have been taken at 88, Faubourg St. Honoré, which are used for the meetings of a Young Women's Christian Association, presided over by two ladies, who visit young women, conduct Bible classes, and give to those who need such help "free meals" on Sundays. Moreover, Miss Leigh, whose energy appears to be as inexhaustible as her benevolence, and whose administrative ability seems to fit her very specially for her work, has established and

15