a day. You can find her footprints in all sorts of places. At Bethel she gazed up Jacob's ladder, and saw the angels ascending and descending. She went for a ramble among the flocks, and began to sing "The Lord is my Shepherd." She went out one night with David, stargazing, and exclaimed-"When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the moon and the stars which Thou hast ordained, what is man ?"

There was a little ship out on the Galilean lake. A storm came on, and the sailors were terribly affrighted. The little boat was quivering and trembling from stem to stern, as it was caught in the teeth of the storm. The stalwart men left the hawsers and wheels, and sails and fishing tackle, and crowded down around the sleeping Christ. Faith came on board and cried to Him, and He arose, and there was a great calm. She was a special friend of dear old Stephen, the martyr, and she stood by and threw her arms around him when the murderous mob sent the stones rolling in. She threw her own smile on his cheeks, and turned his eye upward, and showed him the heavens open, and Christ standing-glorious sight-glorious attitude-waiting to embrace his own. She stood by the cross at the crucifixion, and whispered the message to the heart of the dying penitent-" This day thou shalt be with me in Paradise."

Since that day she has been scattering her blessings rich and abundant, doing all kinds of work: dressing wounds, watching the sick, pleading the cause of the orphan and the widow; she built our chapels, sought out the money, went fishing for men— formed our missionary and benevolent associations. She has made her home in Madagascar; walked the hot sand of India; taken a circle of the South Sea Islands; and ploughed every sea and traversed every continent. She has traversed the prairies of America, and is upturning much of the rich soil of Australia; and she will go on until the Gospel message shall be borne on every breeze, and the message of salvation by faith in Christ shall echo from every hill and dale, and the whole earth shall be filled with the knowledge of God. She found one brother the other day writing his resignation, and saying-I will not speak any more in this name. He was going to burn all his manuscripts, and thus destroy the way of retreat; but Faith set herself to get the fire up in the heart; the brother was soon on his knees, and the fire-oh! it was in his bones-he could not forbear. It glowed afresh on the altar of the Lord. She found another poor fellow with a feverish and an anxious look, despair dancing round him, waiting to leap on him, and deacons, elders, and members just ready to give a hand, and so help to crush the brother. But Faith quietly crept

by the door of the closet into the brother's soul. He rose, saw the right, went forward, and his enemies were left to fight and destroy each other. But the brother kept at his work, and the wilderness soon became as the garden of the Lord. She came to my study door one morning and found me weeping and crying, "Who hath believed my report, and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed ?" She took hold of me and spoke. I knew her voice-it was musical, assuring, heavenly-and I caught the sentence-" Be not weary in well doing; for in due season ye shall reap if ye faint not." She came into our prayer-meeting the other night. I do love to have her there. You who have only heard about Faith cannot imagine what enlargement of soul, what wealth of experience, what freedom of utterance, and what zest she throws into all service. She is never satisfied by being the last to the meeting and the first out. You will hear her saying: "I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go up to the house of the Lord;" and there is no place for her like right up hard against the Mercy-seat. She seems never to have had enough. Speak to her about it. With a joyous ripple on her cheek, and her eye on the future, she says: “I shall be satisfied when I awake with Thy likeness." Then, brethren, we must have precious faith; we must have it to see the beauty of God's word, to realize the value of His promises, and to give strength for endurance and success in work. She will stand by you at all times, and be a ministering angel in the saddest circumstances; and as she climbs the rugged steeps of life, and goes from crag to cliff, or comes down along the sheltered grove, and then along the storm-swept slope, she will often be heard singing by the sheltering rock: "I had fainted unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living," and then with renewed vigour you will be able to go on again amid storm and tempest until you reach yon summit where, with entranced vision and enraptured soul, you will be able to say: "I am ready to be offered up." And then the soul will take a farewell look at all things earthly, and shaking herself from the mortal coil, begin to sing in holy triumph: "I have fought a good fight; I have finished my course; I have kept the faith;" and with the eye on the eternal heavens and imperishable crown, with inborn joy, exclaim: "Henceforth, there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day; and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing !" So that if we begin by faith at the Cross of Christ, are inspired by the faith of Christ, and fight the good fight of faith, we shall have ministered unto us an abundant entrance into the everlasting Kingdom of God.

W. JEFFERY.

JUVENILE CONVERSIONS.

evening to a member

OME of my friends who would not have it thought that they do not believe in the possibility of the conversion of children, are yet prepared when any conversion is noted to throw their cold water of unbelief upon the particular case, and even to drown it in their sarcasm. "Such a little girl has given her heart to the Lord," said I one of society. "Oh, she!" was the crushing reply. These people would not like to have it thought that they are measuring other people's corn by their own peck; that because they were such soulless children, therefore all other children are the same. One brother would not allow his little girl of twelve years to sign the pledge at our Band of Hope the other evening; of course he was not a teetotaler himself, but his reason was, "She shall not sign until she can judge for herself." The question immediately arises, Is it right to allow a child to have its own way, to go where it likes, to do what it pleases? And this question is answered in every-day life with an emphatic No. What is the fire-screen for, but to keep the children from coming too close to the hot grate? What parent at all interested in morality would allow the son or daughter to hear oaths and curses until they are old enough to judge for themselves as to the good or harm? And if there is a restraint allowed in the one case, why not in the other?

But there is another question, when does a child become of age to judge for itself? It very early judges for itself that the flame of the candle is not a safe place to put its hand. It soon judges whether it is right or wrong to disobey the parent. It soon begins to understand that it is wrong to always expect to have its own will. But yet, it may be asked, does the child understand whether it is morally right or wrong; is not the rightness or wrongness more a question of reward and punishment? What does the most experienced, the most learned, the most loving Christian do, but serve God for reward, counting the favour of God of the highest value? Doth job serve God for nought? "I love Him, because he first loved me," says the Christian. And why does the child love its mother? Because the mother shows kindness to the child. And why may not the child love its Heavenly Parent? Mr. J. C. Jones tells us of a little fellow who when asked how he knew there was only one God, replied, "If one God fills everywhere, there is no room for another." Who will say that this little fellow was not able to love the God of whom he had such a clear conception ?

But as to the possibility of juvenile conversions, it is very evident that the Scriptures show it forth plainly when we are told, "Except ye turn and become as little children, ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven." Why must the children grow old, and then become as children again before they can be converted, when they are now in the very state that is required of all? The beautiful simplicity of children in coming to Christ is quite cheering. I said to a little girl, "If you ask the Lord to give you a clean heart, He will." The next day I saw her again, and I asked her when she was going to give her heart to Jesus. Said she, "I have." "When ?" "Last night I asked the Lord, and He saved me." Those who are expecting to see some mighty work wrought may well learn of children the way of salvation. And the simple faith of the little girl who carried her umbrella to the House of God in a time of drought, when rain was to be prayed for, is only a specimen of the faith of thousands of others which ought to crimson the blush on the cheeks of many of those who look down with indifference on the conversion of a child.

A. B. C. M.

THE PROPOSED MISSION TO CHINA.

ANOTHER APPEAL.

OW that a Bible Christian Mission to China is determined on, a few facts* concerning this great country may not be uninteresting. China comprises one-third of the continent of Asia, and occupies a considerably larger space than the whole continent of Europe. About two-fifths of the empire is China proper; the remaining three-fifths go to make up Tartary and Thibet. The population of China numbers 250 millions, or about ten times the population of thickly-peopled England. And the number of Protestant Missionaries in China (European and American), is nearly 500, with about 1,100 native workers. England with a population of 26 millions has a ministerial staff of 35,000. There are only 22,000 communicants in connection with Protestant Missions in China. The Chinese death-rate on a very moderate computation cannot be less than 22,800 per diem, or since the last Conference decided that a Bible Christian Mission should be started, already six millions of Chinese have passed into eternity, to meet the Judge of all the

See China's Spiritual Needs and Claims, by J. Hudson Taylor (Morgan and Scott). Also China's Millions, published monthly (1d.), by the same.

earth, and the majority of them without a knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Death takes no holidays, and so that death-rate still continues. If the missionaries in China were so located as to be equally distributed among the people, it would scarcely be one missionary to every five-hundred-thousand people. One missionary to as many people as are found in Somerset, Devon, or Cornwall, eight missionaries for London! It is not therefore by any means a strained computation to say that 180 millions of the people of China are entirely ignorant of the Gospel of the grace of God. There is no need as yet of the different sects building rival places of worship in China. Certainly there is room for all.

But there are certain facilities for bringing the Gospel to the people of China. First, the large majority of the people are found in China proper, 227 millions in round numbers. And access to these people is comparatively easy, owing to the great sea-board, and the numerous rivers, and the cheap modes of conveyance. Secondly. Right of access has also been secured by treaty; the doors are open, and the cry is heard from Chinese converts, “We pray you help us." Thirdly. Though there are various dialects spoken, yet the Mandarin dialect prevails with more or less purity over the districts occupied by fully three-fourths of the people; and missionaries of only moderate ability may begin to use the vernacular of almost any part of China after a few months' study. Fourthly. The Bible has been translated into the Chinese language. Drs. Morrison, Milne, and Marshman, with their successors, have laid a good foundation for the Chinese church, and they have overcome many difficulties, but little more than the foundation has been laid. Builders are wanted, the call is urgent, and we may well take up the language of Mr. Hudson Taylor, founder of the "China Inland Mission," "The Lord said 'Go ye.' The word still says 'Go ye," Christian brothers, Christian sisters, does not that mean you. You who are created in Christ Jesus unto good works, a peculiar people zealous of good works? And with these facts before us, and with the command of the Lord Jesus to go, each one needs to ascertain whether he has a special call to stay at home. If not, shall we disobey the Saviour's plain command to go? For, if thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those that are ready to be slain; if thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not, doth not He that pondereth the heart consider it? and He that keepeth thy soul, doth not He know it? and shall not He render to every man according to his works?"" Does not this call come with especial force to converted Bible Christian women? Of the 480 missionaries in China, over 100 are females. And are there not any sisters in our churches