max a clerk o' me. But I can say Amen wi'out being Planned.' After awhile he consented to begin as an exhorter; and then came the ordeal of a trial sermon in the High Street Chapel, Huddersfield. Curiosity brought many to hear him; but with formidable prominence sat the assembled Local Preachers and the dreadful Superintendent of the Circuit. Brushed up by Sally for the occasion, little Abe set out with fear and trembling, his clogs rattling with uncomfortable loudness as he passed down the aisle and took his place in the pulpit. After awhile he announced his text; but nothing else could he get out. He stood with clasped hands and rolling eyes, and at last managed to stammer out: Friends, I'm plogged. It weant goaif this is preaching a trial sermon, I'll never try another. We'll be like to tak another text.' Whilst the congregation sang, Abe found another and started once more. But again his words failed him. He coughed and scratched his head. That wean't goa; but we'll try another.' So once more Abe turned over the pages of the Bible. As soon as he announced this text liberty came. 'She's baan to goa this toime, I do believe,' shouted Abe, and he preached with great power and profited all-except some of the dignified brethren who sat in judgment. At the Quarterly Meeting, some objected to receiving such a man on their Plan-he had broken down twice! But there were some sensible men among them-one at least. 'Brother H-rose, and told them that Abraham Lockwood was with him on Sunday night at Mill's Bridge. I heard him preach,' said Brother H——————, and he did my soul good; and after the sermon an old man seventy years of age came out, sought the Lord, and found Him. What matter if Abe does break down in his sermons— he knows how to break sinners down too.' For which utterance Brother H- deserves to have his name recorded in full. If such good sense were more common, the Church would more often be enriched with men who will do good work if you only let them work in their own way. Better little Abe with his fervour and unction and brightness, a hundred times better, though he did break down twice, than the dull droning of too many who never broke down themselves, nor broke anybody else down either. So little Abe duly came on the Plan, and scores of hearers were henceforth indebted to Brother H.

But little Abe's religious work was by no means restricted to the Class-meeting and the pulpit. Those who saw most of him thought most highly of him. In his own village, in every trouble they sent for little Abe. Lavishly generous and most tender-hearted, yet with a shrewd insight that read the character at a glance, and a sturdy Yorkshire resoluteness, he dwelt amongst them loved and trusted

and honoured as a father. Everybody felt that the Bishop of Berry Brow was every one's friend, and that he never failed to do them good. As old age crept on, his trust and triumph only strengthened. His power failed him so that he was unable to do much work. One day he was unexpectedly called to go into the master's office, where he was told that he was so infirm that he must leave the mill, and another was now to be put in his place. Little Abe was somewhat grieved at such a sudden dismissal. He hoped that he might still come to do what he could.

What will you do for a livelihood, Abe?' asked the master. 'You are not likely to get anything else to do at your age.'

'Well, I don't know what I mun do. I'm gettin' old and used up; but I am quite sure my Father will never see me want.'

Then the master's face lit up with a smile. It is all right, Abe; we have arranged to give you a weekly allowance to keep you and your wife so long as you live.'

'Praise the Lord!' said little Abe. I knew my Father would not see me want."

As his infirmities increased, he felt a great desire to visit ence more that sacred spot on Almondbury Common where God appeared to him at the first. He was very feeble, but he resolved to try to reach it once more. Slowly he left the village, and reached the place. Houses had been built near, and its loneliness had been broken in upon, but the tree still stood there, and the little brook sang still under its branches. There the old man leaned his head against the tree and worshipped the God of his life, recalling the memory of His great salvation, and adoring Him for the way in which he had been led these many years.

'Well, Sally,' he said as he reached home again, I've been to the old spot. They have hewn all abaat it, but th' old tree stands yet. God will keep that tree while I live, and then they may do what they loike wi' it.'

The old man's strength now rapidly failed him, so that he was unable to leave the room. But his cheerfulness remained to the end. 'Glory to God-I shall soon be young again!-no aching bones or tottering limbs there."

'Listen,' he said one day, when I can't speak to tell you haa I feel, I'll lift my hand, and you'll know all's well. I'm on Pisgah, and my soul is full of glory. I'm in sight o' th' Promised Land. Hallelujah! I'll soon be at home.' When he could no longer speak, he fell back upon the signal, lifting his hand in token that all was well. Dear old Abe, he was come to the end of his course, the shades of death were upon him; he was crossing the narrow strip of neutral

ground that divides the two worlds. Friends stood in the margin of the shadow land, watching him feebly lift his hand as he went over, till he could lift it no more, and when the signal dropped, the mourners knew that he was safe through.

We thank Mr. Jewell heartily for giving to the Church the memorial of this man of God. For Sunday-school libraries, and reading at Mothers' Meetings, it would be difficult to name a better book.

REVIVAL MISSIONS.

BY THE REV. HUGH PRICE HUGHES, M.A.

REVIVAL MISSION differs from the old and familiar Week of Special Services' only in degreee and detail, and yet the difference is practically so great that it almost amounts to a difference in kind. The German army of to-day differs from the German army of sixty years ago, only in a more thorough attention to the details of organization and discipline; and yet these details, many of them trivial in themselves, have altered the face of Europe. As a great painter once profoundly said, 'Trifles make perfection, and perfection is no trifle.' It is very easy for the stolid opponent of change and innovation to pick out this or that detail of a Revival Mission, and to ask in what respect it is superior to the slightly different method adopted by our godly grandfathers. All these apparently trivial details hang together, and the Revival Mission must be contemplated as a whole. English society is far more complex than it was in the times of John Wesley, ecclesiastical competition is far kcener, rival attractions are far more numerous and bewitching, and we can no more accomplish gigantic results by imitating the simple methods of our fathers, than General Roberts would be able to defeat a European foe by tactics that are completely successful in Asia. We must adopt a more elaborate organization, we must secure the cooperation of more skilful subordinates, we must bring into the field more powerful artillery. Christian Churches are not exempt from the conditions of success which govern all human enterprises. Mr. Whiteley's extraordinary establishment in Westbourne Park would never have reached its present gigantic proportions, if that prince of tradesmen had not constantly adopted bolder and more elaborate methods in harmony with the growing requirements of his business. Constant adaptation and development have brought that establishment to such a pitch of perfection, that Mr. Whiteley is now equally ready to build you a house or to sell you a halfpenny reel of cotton. Why is it that Christian Churches have not as much common sense

and enterprise as sagacious tradesmen? Why should we do things on such a pettifogging scale? Our notions are altogether too small. The 'little one' will not become a thousand,' and the 'small one' a 'strong nation,' until the Churches are prepared to organize Christian enterprises on a national scale. The day will come when Christian Churches will undertake great missions over areas as extensive and at a cost as colossal as now distinguish the achievements of enlightened statesmanship. In the mean time let us prepare the way for that brighter future by reforming and developing our local methods of evangelistic work. I cannot do better than simply enumerate the plans which have been adopted at the most successful Revival Missions. This course will both furnish the clearest explanation of the nature of a Revival Mission and point out the direction in which improvement lies.

1. The first necessity is to awaken interest and expectation on the part of the Church. Nor should this essential preparatory effort be limited to those who are in the strictest sense members of the Church. It should embrace every seat-holder and regular attendant. Many of these are on the very verge of decision. This attempt to secure their active sympathy may be all that is necessary to bring them definitively to Christ-a blessed firstfruits of the Mission! On the third Sunday, then, before the Mission begins, let a suitable printed Address, signed by all the Ministers of the Circuit, be distributed to every member and to every seat-holder by name. The copies for members may be given through the Leaders; those to seat-holders through the Chapel-stewards. An admirable specimen Address will be found as an appendix to the small hand-book entitled Methodist Revival Missions, written by the Revs. Walford Green and John Hugh Morgan, and published by the Conference Office. I take this opportunity of urging all who are interested in this delightful subject to procure a copy of that devout and most suggestive little book. The Address to which I refer was used in the London Revival Mission, which resulted in the addition of more than a thousand members to our metropolitan Churches. It announces the date of the Mission, urges each person to realize his personal responsibility, invites his cooperation, and suggests a number of detailed arrangements by which the reader, his children, his servants and his friends may be eternally benefited through the Mission.

2. During the second week before the Mission, or earlier, a meeting of Christian workers should be held for the purpose of organizing a systematic house-to-house visitation throughout the neighbourhood of the Mission chapel. This house-to-house visitation is both the heart and the backbone of the whole movement. It is the source of its life and of its stability. Where there is not enough zeal for Christ to under

take this essential part of the work, I strongly urge that no Revival Mission' should be attempted. In such a case, let'special services ' be held, and let no particular publicity be given to them. Any unusual effort, however imperfect or fragmentary, is better than dull stagnation. But it would be a mistake to excite expectation in the Church, and to invite the attention of the world to a Revival Mission' from which the main element of success was deliberately omitted. That could result only in a terrible reaction of disappointment, discouragement and unbelief. We should never talk about a Revival Mission' unless we are prepared to carry it out with energy, enthusiasm and thoroughness. I would always make the house-to-house visitation. the condition of so responsible a work. If the Leaders, Stewards, Prayer-leaders, Tract-distributers, Sunday-school teachers and other Christian workers, will undertake to go, two and two, from house to house throughout the entire neighbourhood, systematically calling upon rich and poor alike-then that Church is worthy of a Revival Mission. But if the leading officers of the Church shrink from their duty, and say that they do not see the necessity of that particular method, then the scheme should, in my judgment, be abandoned. That Church is not fit for so glorious an enterprise. The peculiar call of the Mission-Preacher is only to those Churches which are willing and ready to do their share in the great work, and to do it thoroughly. Where the house-to-house canvass is honestly carried out, it will prove to be the most interesting and the most fruitful feature of the Mission. Each pair of visitors should be furnished with a handbill, printed in elegant type and on superior paper, containing on one side a programme of the Mission-services, and on the other, a short Address soliciting the prayers of Christians, and urging the ungodly to decision. The Address should very clearly state that it is not our object to proselytize from other Churches, or even to induce the converts of the Mission to join the Methodist Church, if they prefer to join some other. Our great aim is not to make men and women Methodists, but to make them Christians. A specimen handbill will be found in the little book on Methodist Revival Missions, to which I have already referred.

3. During the week immediately preceding Mission-week, special Prayer-meetings should be held every evening to invoke the blessing of God both upon the coming Mission and upon the house-to-house visitors who will during that week be doing their important work. Every year of my life I have more faith in prayer, and witness more extraordinary answers to prayer. At the ordinary Friday night Prayer-meeting in connection with my own chapel, we constantly offer special prayer for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon particular