{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_6713/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_6713","id":"gutenberg_6713","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6713","summary":null,"tags":["Canada -- Emigration and immigration","Category: Biographies","Category: History - British","Category: History - Modern (1750+)","Category: Parenthood & Family Relations","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Church work with children","Home missions","Macpherson, Annie"],"text":"Produced by Avinash Kothare, Tom Allen, Juliet Sutherland,\nCharles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading\nTeam. This file was produced from images generously made\navailable by the Canadian Institute for Historical\nMicroreproductions.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGOD'S ANSWERS:\n\nA RECORD OF\n\nMISS ANNIE MACPHERSON'S WORK\n\nAT THE HOME OF INDUSTRY, SPITALFIELDS, LONDON,\nAND IN CANADA.\n\nCLARA M. S. LOWE\n\n\"Peace, peace be unto thee, and peace be to thine helpers; for thy God\nhelpeth thee.\"\n\n--1 CHRON. xii. 18.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\n\nINTRODUCTION\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\n1861-1869.\n\nPrayer of Hon. and Rev. Baptist Noel--Residence in Cambridgeshire--\nVisit to London in 1861, and first attendance at Barnet Conferences--\nVisit of Rev. W. and Mrs. Pennefather--East of London, 1861--Left\nCambridgeshire, 1865--Work in Bedford Institute--1866: Voyage to New\nYork and return, 1867--First girl rescued--Matchbox-makers--First boy\nrescued--Revival Refuge open for boys and girls--1868: Home of\nIndustry secured--1869: Opened.\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\n1869-1870.\n\nEmigration of families--A visitor's impressions--The great life-work\n--Emigration of the young, begun 1870--First party of boys to Canada\nwith Miss Macpherson and Miss Bilbrough--Their reception--Mr. Merry\ntakes oat second party out boys--Miss Macpherson returns to England\nand takes out a party of girls--Canadian welcome and happy homes--\nCanadian pastor's story.\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\n1870-1871.\n\nWorkers' meetings at Home of Industry--Training Home at Hampton\nopened--Personal experiences--Welcome in Western Canada--Help for a\nGlasgow Home--Scottish Ferryman--\"Out of the mouths of babes and\nsucklings\"\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\n1872.\n\nThe need of a Home further West--Burning of the Marchmont Home--Home\nrestored by Canadian gifts--Miss Macpherson and Miss Reavell arrive\nin Canada--First visit to Knowlton in the East--Belleville Home\nrestored by Canadian friends--Help for the Galt Home--Miss Macpherson\nreturns to England--Miss Reavell remains at Galt\n\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\n1872-1874.\n\nLetter from Rev. A. M. W. Christopher--Letter from Gulf of St.\nLawrence--Mrs. Birt's sheltering Home, Liverpool--Letter to Mrs.\nMerry--Letter from Canada--Miss Macpherson's return to England--\nLetter of cheer for Dr. Barnardo--Removal to Hackney Home\n\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\n1875-1877.\n\nMrs. Way's sewing-class for Jewesses--Bible Flower Mission--George\nClarke--Incidents in Home work--The Lord's Day--Diary at sea--Letters\nof cheer from Canada\n\n\nCHAPTER VII.\n\n1877-1879.\n\n\"They helped every one his neighbour\"--Miss Child, a fellow labourer\n--The work in Ratcliff Highway--Strangers' Rest for Sailors--\"Welcome\nHome\"--\"Bridge of Hope\"--Miss Macpherson's twenty-first voyage to\nCanada--Explosion on board the \"Sardinian\"--Child-life in the Galt\nHome--The Galt Home now devoted to children from London, Knowlton to\nthose from Liverpool, and Marchmont to Scottish Emigrants\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII.\n\n1879-1880.\n\nExperiences among Indians--Picnic in the Bush--Distribution Of\nTestaments--\"Till He Come\"--\"A Home and a hearty Welcome\"\n\n\nCHAPTER IX.\n\nQuestions and Answers--Sorrowful cases--Testimonies from those who\nhave visited Canada--Stewardship\n\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION\n\nBY\n\nTHE REV. JOHN MACPHERSON,\n\n_Author of \"The Life of Duncan Mathieson.\"_\n\n\nFrom East London to West Canada is a change pleasing to imagine.\nFrom dusky lane and fetid alley to open, bright Canadian fields is,\nin the very thought, refreshing. A child is snatched from pinching\nhunger, fluttering rags, and all the squalor of gutter life; from a\ncreeping existence in the noisome pool of slum society is lifted up\ninto some taste for decency and cleanliness; from being trained in\nthe school whose first and last lesson is to fear neither God nor\nman, is taught the beginnings of Christian faith and duty, and by a\nstrong effort of love and patience is borne away to the free,\nspacious regions of the western hemisphere, of which it may be said,\nas of the King's feast, \"yet there is room,\" and where even a hapless\nwaif may get a chance and a choice both for this world and the world\nthat is to come. This is a picture on which a kind heart loves to\nrest. But who shall make the picture real?\n\nGo and first catch your little Arab, if you can. I say, if you can;\nfor he is too old to be caught by chaff, and you shall need as much\nguile as any fowler ever did. Then with patient hands bestow on his\nbody its first baptism of clean water, a task often unspeakably\nshocking; reduce to fit size and shape a cast-off suit humbly begged\nfor the occasion, and give him his first experience of decent\nclothing. Thereafter, proceed to the work, sometimes the most trying\never undertaken, of taming this singularly acute, desperately sly,\nand often ferociously savage little Englishman, training him to be\nwhat he is not, or harder task still, to be not what he is. Having,\nby dint of much pains and many prayers, obtained, as you hope, some\nbeginnings of victory over the most wayward of wills, and the most\nunaccountably strange of mixed natures, with its intellectual\nsharpness and moral bluntness, its precocious knowingness and\nstereotyped childishness, its quickness to learn and slowness to\nunlearn, prepare for the next stage of your enterprise. Lay out your\nscheme of emigration, get the money where you can, that is to say,\ncall it flown from heaven and wile it out of earthly pockets,\nanticipate all possible emergencies and wants by land and sea, finish\nfor the time the much epistolary correspondence to which this same\nfragment of humanity has given rise, tempt the deep with your\nrestless charge, bear the discomforts of the stormiest of seas, and\ninwardly groan at the signs of other and worse tempests ready ever to\nburst forth in the Atlantic of that young sinner's future course; and\nwhen after many weeks of anxious thought, fatiguing travel, and\nlaborious inquiry you find a home for the child, fold your hands,\ngive thanks and say, \"What an adventure! What a toil! But now at\nlength it is finished!\" And yet perhaps it is not half finished.\n\nMultiply all this thought and feeling, all this labour and prayer a\nthousandfold; and imagine the work of a woman as tenderly attached to\nhome and its peaceful ways as any one of her sisters in the three\nkingdoms, who has made some twenty-eight voyages across the Atlantic\n\"all for love and nothing for reward;\" has, by miracles of prayerful\ntoil and self-denying kindness, rescued from a worse than Egyptian\nbondage over three thousand waifs and strays, borne them in her\nstrong arms to the other side of the world, and planted them in a\ngood land; meanwhile, in the intervals of travel, facing the perils\nand storms of the troubled sea of East London society at its very\nworst, and from a myriad wrecks of manhood and womanhood, snatching\nthe stragglers not yet past all hope, and, in a holy enthusiasm of\nlove, parting with not a little of her own life in order that those\ndead might live.\n\nThe outer part of the story alone can be told: the inner part only\nGod and the patient toiler on this field can know. Yet the inner work\nis by far the greater. The thought, the cares, the fears, the\nprayers, the tears, the anguish, the heart-breaking disappointments,\nand the fiery ordeals of spirit by which alone the motive is kept\npure and the flame of a true zeal is fed,--in short, all the lavish\nexpenditure of soul that cannot be spoken, or written, or known,\nuntil the Omniscient Recorder, who forgets nothing and repays even\nthe good purpose of the heart, will reveal it at the final award, is\nby far the most important service as it is ever the most toilsome and\npainful.\n\nIn the work of the kingdom of God on earth the true worker is in\npoint of importance first. Apart from the wise, holy, beneficent\nsoul, even the truth of the Gospel is but a dead letter. It is in the\nintelligence, loveliness, magnanimity and sweetness of a human\nspirit, touched finely by His own grace, that the Holy Ghost finds\nHis chief instrumentality. Preparation for a good work is usually\nbegun in early life, and the worker, whose story is to fill the\nfollowing pages, unconsciously learnt her first lessons for this\nservice in her father's house. There was, indeed, seemingly little to\nbe learned of any rare sort in the quiet village of Campsie, where\nlife passed as peacefully as the clouds sailing along the peaceful\nheavens. Almost the only break in the even tenor of those days was an\noccasional sojourn in the house of her uncle, the Rev. Dr. Edwards, a\nminister of the United Presbyterian Church in Glasgow, where that\nvenerable soldier of the cross still lingers, as if halfway betwixt\nthe Church militant and the Church triumphant But whether in the\nfather's house or in the uncle's manse, kind and truthful speech was\nthe coin current, a good example the domestic stock-in-trade, and an\ninterchange of cheerful, loving service the main business. It was a\nquiet school, whose very hum was peaceful; and yet the schooling was\nthorough; things strong often grow as quietly as things feeble. The\noak rises as silently in the forest as the lily in the garden. Strong\ncharacters, too, under any conditions of life, school themselves much\nmore than they are schooled. Active, inquisitive, resolute, and\npossessing a fair share of the national _perfervidum ingenium_,\nnot without some tincture of those elements of the Scottish character\nknown as the \"canny\" and the \"dour,\" our worker early developed that\nrobust vigour of mind and body which has so long stood the wear and\ntear of severely trying work.\n\nOne passage of significance in the family history deserves notice,\nespecially as suggesting a peculiar feature in her early training and\nsupplying a link in the chain of providential events. In work among\nthe young her father was an enthusiast. With a heart bigger than her\nown family circle, her mother took in two orphans to foster and rear.\nThus in the work of caring for the outcast and the forlorn Annie\nMacpherson was \"to the manner born.\" Inheriting her father's\nenthusiasm and her mother's sympathetic nature, the quick-witted,\nwarm-hearted girl would not fail to note the equal footing enjoyed by\nthe stranger children, and would know the reason why: the much tact\nemployed to keep the new and difficult relations sweet would engage\nher attention; and the exceeding tenderness with which the motherless\nlittle ones were treated, would be a very practical Gospel to our\nyoung scholar in Christian philanthropy. Were matters sometimes\nstrained? did little jars arise and a shadow now and then gather on\nthe faces of the strangers because their own mother was not? The wise\nfoster-mother would set all right again by some merry quip, some\ngleesome turn, some one of those playful gleams of humour which\nfurnish a key to the secret of successful work among the young. To be\na mother to those orphans, to make life in its duties and joys, as\nfar as possible, the same to them as if they had not lost their own\nmother, ay, and to teach them to gather the brightest roses from the\nthorniest bushes, was at once a good work in itself, and a model for\none who was destined to similar service, only on an immensely wider\nscale and on a tenfold more difficult field. The sisterly fostering\nof the orphans was a providential training for her future life-work.\nTo learn to love and to serve over and above the claims of mere\nnatural affection, could not fail to enlarge the heart and awaken the\nsympathies of a quick, susceptible child. Little did her mother know\nwhat she was doing when she took the orphans to her bosom. She only\nthought to make a warm home and a bright future for the hapless pair;\nbut in effect she was preparing a warm home and a bright future for\nthousands of the poorest children on God's earth.\n\nBut there was something better in store. Girlish days swept by much\nas usual--the rapid growth of warm thought and feeling making each\nrevolving year a continuous springtide, an opening summer. At\nnineteen, Annie Macpherson looked out on a world that always promises\nmore to youthful eyes than it ever fulfils. Eager hope was drawing\nmuch on a future whose furthest horizon was Time. Suddenly a shadow\nfell. A word spoken by a friend was the vehicle of a divine message.\nA more distant and awful horizon arose to view: Time with its hopes\nand joys, like a thin mist in early morning, vanished in the light of\neternity; and quickly from that young heart, pierced with a new\nsorrow, went up the prayer, \"God be merciful to me a sinner!\"\n\nHow little the world understands that same old prayer. Yonder afar\noff stands a man who, having trafficked in all iniquity, having\nmatured in wickedness, and perfected himself in the fine art of\ndodging truth and conscience, is at length found out in the thicket\nof his own vices by a bull's eye that glares on him like hell. Well\nit befits such an one, even the world admits, to smite upon his\nbreast and cry for mercy. But for a girl in her teens, an innocent,\nmerry-hearted, pure-minded young thing, to raise a cry for mercy like\na very publican or a prodigal, is confounding to the world's sense of\npropriety and measure in things; and hence that world is angry, and\nin effect repudiates the need of so much mercy, of so much abasement\nand urgency in a case like this. The root and rise of this cry for\nmercy the natural man does not understand; but that soul knows it\nright well, where the lightnings of Omniscient Holiness have gleamed\nand the shadows of God's anger have fallen.\n\nThe cry was heard. Light arose on that troubled soul, the Saviour\nappeared and drew the sinking one out of the waters. Even where there\nis little to be changed outwardly, conversion is always followed by\nremarkable effects; the light of the morning is like a new creation\non the cultivated field as well as on the barren moor. Our young\nconvert saw everything in a new light. She understood now, as she had\nnot before, why her mother, stealing precious hours from sleep,\nwearied her fingers and weakened her eyes with the self-imposed task\nof providing for the necessities of children not her own. If a ruling\nmotive is one of the greatest things in the secret of a human life,\nthe grandest of all forces on earth is the love of Christ. This she\nfelt, and it was to her a divine revelation. From the feeble\nstarlight of natural sympathies she had passed into the clear day of\nChristian affections, and she now knew the secret joy and power of\nself-sacrifice. A hundred lessons and practical illustrations given\nher by both her parents were suddenly lighted up with a new meaning,\nand clothed with a beauty she had not heretofore seen, and a power\nshe had not hitherto felt. All she had learned before of truth, and\nprudence, and kindness, she learned over again, and learned with the\nquickness characteristic of the young convert. Very soon her whole\ntreasury of knowledge and feeling, of experience and character, was\nlaid with youthful jubilance on the altar of the Lord. From that hour\nshe began to work for Christ with an intensity of enthusiasm that\never since has known no abatement.\n\n\n\n\nGOD'S ANSWERS.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\n1861-1869.\n\nPrayer of Hon. and Rev. Baptist Noel--Residence in Cambridgeshire--\nVisit to London in 1861, and first attendance at Barnet Conferences--\nVisit of Rev. W. and Mrs. Pennefather--East of London, 1861--Left\nCambridgeshire, 1865--Work in Bedford Institute--1866: Voyage to New\nYork and return, 1867--First girl rescued--Matchbox makers--First boy\nrescued--Revival Refuge open for boys and girls--1868: Home of\nIndustry secured--1869: Opened.\n\n\nThe winter of 1860-61 is a time to be had much in remembrance before\nthe Lord. It was then that the East of London, with all its sins and\nsorrows, was laid as a heavy, burden on the heart of His faithful and\nbeloved servant Reginald Radcliffe.\n\nBefore the commencement of his labours, a few Christian friends met\nfor prayer at the invitation of the Hon. and Rev. Baptist Noel. The\nEast of London, and its \"stunning-tide of human care and crime,\" was\nnot the only thought of that revered man of God. His faith looked\nforward to greater things, and one well-remembered petition was, that\nblessing through the work then to be begun in that deeply degraded\nand neglected region, might not be stayed there, but might flow from\nthence to far-off lands. One then present, the Dowager Lady Rowley,\nwas not long permitted to sow precious seed with her own hand, but\nwas instrumental in the fulfilment of this petition, as it was\nthrough her leading that Miss Macpherson's voice was first heard in\nthe East of London.\n\nAt that time Miss Macpherson was residing in the neighbourhood of\nCambridge with her sister and brother-in-law, Mr. Merry, and, was\nalready a worker in the Lord's vineyard.\n\nShe thus writes of the year 1861:--\n\n\"It was a turning point in my life. I made a pilgrimage to London to\nattend the preaching of Reginald Radcliffe in the City of London\nTheatre, Shoreditch. There I met Dr. Elwin. On the following evening,\nat the Young Men's Christian Association, Great Marlborough Street,\nhe introduced me to Lady Rowley, Mr. Morgan, and many other Christian\nfriends. Through them I was led to attend the next Barnet Conference,\nwhere I learned what it was to wait for the coming of the Lord.\"\n\nWith this bright and blessed hope she returned to work with a\nstrength and power before unknown. Many souls had already been\nawakened, but the full tide of blessing had not yet come. In the\nvillages around her hundreds of labourers were employed in digging\nfor coprolites, a fossil which, when ground, is useful as manure.\nAmong these men were many of the wildest wanderers, and Miss\nMacpherson's heart was deeply stirred for their spiritual welfare,\nand her time and strength were given to reach them by every means in\nher power. She had established evening schools, lending libraries and\ncoffee-sheds, and of these and further efforts she wrote:--\n\n\"Second to the preaching of the gospel, we lay every laudable snare\nto induce men to learn to read and write. In doing this, spare time\nis occupied to the best account, and the enemy is foiled in some of\nhis thousand-and-one ways of ensnaring the toil-worn navvy at the\nclose of day.\n\n\"The more our little band goes forward, the more we feel that drink,\nin all its forms and foolish customs, must be resisted,--first, by\nthe powerful influence of a felt example; and secondly, by gently and\nkindly instructing the minds of those amongst whom we labour as to\nits hurtful snares. We are accused by some of putting this subject\nbefore the blessed gospel. God forbid! But when we look on every\nreclaimed one and know that this was his besetting sin, we regard the\ngiving it up as the rolling away of the stone before the Saviour's\nvoice, 'Come forth,' can be obeyed.\n\n\"These first endeavours to spread the gospel story in a more\nenlarged way were made in villages where the Rev. C. H. Spurgeon had\nlaboured when not yet twenty years of age, and where souls had been\nblessed through the youthful preacher. Some of these converts became\nmy helpers, and are co-workers to this day.\n\n\"It was in 1863 that I first became an almoner for others, whilst\nfilled with a desire to build a missionhall among the coprolite\ndiggers in Cambridgeshire.\n\n\"The friends attending the Barnet Conference heard of my wish and\nshared my burden.\"\n\nThe following letter to Dr. Elwin shows the sympathy that he felt in\nher work:--\n\n\"My DEAR FRIEND,--Thanking you for your daily remembrance of my\ncontinual wants in this the Lord's work among these poor migratory\ncoprolite diggers, I must say it was indeed refreshing to think that\nthis little hidden vineyard was laid on your heart to present to the\nLord at the Bristol Conference. The answer has come, and now it is my\nblessed privilege to ask you to rejoice and praise our loving Father\nfor another six souls born anew. Yes, dear brother, they are those I\nhave laid before you again and again to plead for, that the dead form\nof godliness might be broken down. Though diggers, they are residents\nin a neighbouring village, and have attended my ploughmen's Bible-class\nfor some years. From the mouths of many witnesses, in a series\nof outdoor gatherings every Lord's day evening in the past summer,\nthey have heard, on their own village green, a present, free, and\nfull salvation.\n\n\"Is it not kind of the Master to employ us feeble women in His\nservice, by allowing us to use our quiet influence for Him, and to do\nmany little things, such as inviting wanderers to listen, providing\nhymns and seats, also refreshment for those sent to deliver the\nKing's message? And oh! it is indeed a hallowed privilege to be a\n'Hur,' to hold up the hands of the speaker, and watch the index of\nthe soul as the message of love or of warning falls; to slip in and\nout of the group, and meet the trembling soul with a blessed promise,\nor grasp the hand with Christian sympathy. Then for us women such\nservice affords opportunity of giving the little leaflet or book,\nsuch as the case requires, and following it up in the home with Bible\nin hand.\n\n\"The Lord was very good in sending me helpers, _i.e._, brothers,\nto speak during all those summer Lord's-Day evenings. On one occasion\nI was left alone, and yet not alone. At another time my faith was\ntried. No one had come to speak. The people had gathered. I opened my\nTestament on the passage, 'Come and see' (John iv.) If the Samaritan\nwoman was led so boldly to say to wicked men, 'Come and see,' surely\nmy Lord knew my burden, and my need for a brother to speak to that\nvillage gathering. We sang a hymn. I was led to pray. On arising from\nthe grass, a young man came round the corner and said, 'Miss, the Lord\nhas laid it on my heart to come here and preach to-night. Can I be of\nany service?' He took for his text, 'Yet there is room.'\n\n\"I know you like to trace the links in the chain of blessing, so I\nwill enter a little into detail. One village displayed the most\nperfect outward form of all that is considered correct as to the\nusing of means. There were clubs, saving of money, young men well\ndressed and regular at their place of worship, four nights a week at\ntheir evening school; but oh! my friend, not one soul of them with a\nwarm heart towards the Lord Jesus Christ. They read and answered my\nquestions on Scripture better, and sought after the library books\nwith more interest, than any in the other villages; but it was all\nhead-work, no heart; all intellect, no love. On Christmas Day six of\nthese joined our coprolite party to tea, and from eight to ten solemn\nprayer seemed laid on every heart for them; and again the following\nevening nineteen young men met to pray still for this village. Last\nevening eighteen Christians of various denominations met in a cottage\nat this said village. There was no formal address, but after earnest\nprayer, one of the brethren felt this passage laid solemnly on his\nheart, 'To-day, if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts.'\nThen some converted stone-diggers pleaded for a blessing. The answer\nof four years' prayers came, and the feeble infant wail was heard\nfrom one after another amid weeping and sobbing. Surely the angelic\nhost had songs of praise while, in that holy stillness, these young\nmen had a sight of themselves. Oh, pray on that our faith waver not,\nfor we believe we shall see still greater things.\n\n\"You remember the village where you preached upon 'Jesus passing\nby.' There is now a band of more than a dozen praying young men\nmeeting constantly in their little outhouse.\n\n\"The more we go forward in this labour of love the more evident it\nis that the cursed drink is our great difficulty. This stone must be\nrolled away. Another evening home for these men is a stern necessity,\nand must be provided; a place which they may call their own. Each\nbuilding would cost 30 pounds. The men would furnish it cheerfully and\nsupport it nobly. Two such buildings have been erected, are now in\noperation, and answer beyond my most sanguine expectations. Morning,\nnoon, and evening, groups of men, while at their hasty meals, are\nwilling to listen to the Holy Scriptures or whatever else may be\nbrought before them.\"\n\n\"The memory of the just is blessed.\" It is sweet to recall any\nincident in the life of him who will ever live in the hearts of many.\nMiss Macpherson thus records the day of blessing:--\n\n\"It was at a meeting in July 1864, at Mildmay Park, that it was laid\non my heart to gather together, before the harvest-time, the\nstone-diggers, villagers, and their friends, and to invite the Rev. W.\nand Mrs. Pennefather to see face to face the hundreds of souls for\nwhom they had wrestled with God. Early in the afternoon of the day\nappointed, streams of poor men and women came, having walked distances\nof from two to ten miles to be with us. Conveyances brought earnest\nlively Christians from Cambridge, and, including the stone-diggers,\nthere were representatives from more than thirty towns and villages.\nOn the arrival of Mr. and Mrs. Pennefather, great was our joy; and who\nof you cannot imagine our beloved friend in the midst of this\nmultitude, of warm hearts, as with tears in his eyes he exclaimed,\n'This is another conference'? Gatherings on the grass were formed as\ntables were insufficient, and our dear friend went in and out among\nthem, every feature showing forth the love with which God had filled\nhis heart. His loving eye alone discovered poor Tom, lately out of the\nworkhouse, standing trembling, and afraid to approach the party;\nbehind the tent tears of joy streamed after he had secured, amid the\nrush for tea, a supply for the wants of this poor Tom. A lovely sunset\nwas shedding its radiance over the humble gathering, when Mr.\nPennefather rose and spoke to them of 'the coming glory,' first\nreading Luke ix. 25-35; and knowing that many before him would as\nChristians be called upon to endure ridicule from ungodly companions,\nhe pointed out to them that in all the Gospels which speak of the\nTransfiguration, the event is preceded by an account of the\nChristian's path of self-denial. After an earnest address to the\nunsaved, this delightful gathering was closed by his telling them that\na little offering had been made at Mildmay Park, and that, by the help\nof that money would now be presented to each man and woman,\n(stone-diggers and boys included), a pocket Testament, to be used in\nthe intervals of harvest toil.\n\n\"Many are their struggles in resisting bad companionship and drink,\nin trying to improve in reading, in seeking to clothe themselves, to\nhelp their parents, to work for Jesus with little light, and less\ntime, and few talents. Oh, how much do they glorify God compared with\nsome in other circumstances, who have been surrounded by heaven-breathing\nassociations all their days! Well, indeed, can we understand that\nverse, 'The first shall be last, and the last first.'\"\n\nScenes of a different character must now be described.\n\nSad and deeply humiliating as the sights and sounds of the East End\nof London still are, none who now visit the vast region lying\neastward of St. Paul's can realise the sense of desolation that\noverpowered one's spirit when beholding it at the time Mr. Radcliffe\nbegan his services in 1860-1861. At that time the condition of the\nmillions who existed there was ignored by those dwelling in more\nfavoured regions. No railways had been as yet constructed by which\nvisitors could come from the north and west. The space now occupied\nby the great railway stations in Broad Street and Liverpool Street\nwas then crowded with unwholesome dwellings, well remembered for\ndeaths in every house. No centres of usefulness where Christian\nworkers could meet for prayer or counsel then existed. The Bedford\nInstitute had not then been built, and no Temperance Coffee-Palace\nhad even been heard of.\n\nThe power of the Lord had been very present to wound and to heal in\nthe City of London Theatre and at other services held by Mr.\nRadcliffe, and the young women who had been blessed were invited to\nmeet for a week-evening Bible-reading and prayer-meeting, and for\nthis purpose Lady Rowley rented a room in Wellclose Square. In this\nmeeting, and in Lady Rowley's mothers' meeting in Worship Street,\nMiss Macpherson began the ministry of love which has extended so\nwidely. She afterwards visited the homes of the poor, and the toil\nand suffering she witnessed, especially in those where matchbox-making\nwas the means of livelihood, lay heavy on her heart. With _her_\nfeelings of pity were always quickly followed by practical effort. In\nthe midst of the winter's distress, one of the most cheering gifts\nreceived was from her praying band of coprolite diggers. After a\nwatchnight service, they had spent the first moments of the\nconsecrated new year in making a gathering from their hard-earned\nwages. Miss Macpherson had placed the East of London foremost in the\nlist of subjects to be remembered at their prayer-union every Lord's\nDay. Little did the praying band think that in fulfilling this\npetition, the Lord would take their beloved leader from among them.\n\nIt was in 1865 that Miss Macpherson was guided of the Lord to leave\nscenes endeared to her by many hallowed associations, and to\nencounter the trials and seek the blessings of Christian work in the\nEast of London. Her first efforts were in answer to an invitation\nfrom the Society of Friends to hold classes for young men, both on\nthe Lord's Day and on week evenings, at the Bedford Institute, a\nbuilding lately erected by that Society, and which stood out\nconspicuously as a monument of Christian love. On the week evenings,\ninstruction in reading and writing was the inducement held out to\nattend. The first fruits may be seen in G. C., once a violent\nopposer, afterwards a valuable helper in Canada, and now a preacher\nof the Gospel in China. The work at the Bedford attracted so much\ninterest, that many helpers were drawn to it from other parts. The\nSunday Bible-classes became an object of remarkable interest. Perhaps\nsuch an assemblage has seldom been seen. Many tables were filled in\none hall with men, in another with women, many of whom were very\naged, all with large-print Bibles before them, and each table headed\nby some earnest teacher, all at the close being gathered together for\nthe final address.\n\nOther Gospel meetings were also held at the Bedford, but Miss\nMacpherson's labours could not be confined to this spot. In several\nlittle rooms poor Christian women were gathered for prayer, and\ndepots for tracts were established, and Scripture texts placed in the\nwindows, in streets which were never so lighted before. But these and\nall other efforts for the poor East End were interrupted in the\nautumn of 1866. She felt the Lord called her to accompany her sister\nand brother-in-law, Mr. Merry, with their young family across the\nAtlantic. Mr. Merry's object was to settle his four sons in the\nWestern States of America. The voyage proved most perilous and\nstormy. On arrival in New York, Mr. Merry's health entirely broke\ndown, and the medical opinion given was that nothing would restore\nhim but return to his native land. In March 1867 they were welcomed\nback with exceeding joy. How mysterious did this trial appear! Why\nwere those who had sought the Lord's counsel so earnestly, permitted\nto undertake a voyage apparently so useless, and accompanied by so\nmuch anxiety and suffering? How little could any one then conjecture\nthat the Lord was thus training His children for the great life-work\nbefore them! Not for the welfare of their own family were Mr. and\nMrs. Merry to be permitted to settle in those broad western lands;\nbut many voyages were to follow, and they, and subsequently their\nchildren also, were to be fellow-helpers in the glorious work of\nfinding homes on earth, and training for a heavenly Home, thousands\nof children who would have been otherwise homeless and uncared for.\n\"What I do, thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter.\"\nBlessed hereafter! when we shall see _all_ the way the Lord our\nGod has led us; not a smooth way, not an easy way. \"The soul of the\npeople was much discouraged because of the way;\" \"but the Lord led\nthem by _the right way_.\"\n\nWith her usual energy, Miss Macpherson again entered on her God-given\nwork among the poor of the East End, and at once resolved to do all in\nher power to help the destitute children with whom she came in daily\ncontact.\n\nIn the very month of her return, the first girl was rescued and\nreceived into her own Home, then at Canonbury. Her story was thus\nwritten at the time:--\"E. C., aged sixteen, was sent to my lodgings\nto know if I could provide a home for her. In August 1866 the father\nof this poor girl had bidden her farewell as she was leaving home on\nan excursion with the Sunday-school to which she belonged. On her\nreturn, cholera had numbered him among the dead. The mother threw\nherself into the canal, and, though restored, was lying helpless in a\nworkhouse. E. C., who had before been learning dressmaking, was\ntossed about from one poor place of service to another--her clothes\nall pawned, or in tatters--till her last resting-place was on the\nflags. Then she applied at the Rev. W. Pennefather's soup-kitchen in\nBethnal Green, and slept in the room at that time rented above it.\nThe two following days were occupied in vain endeavours to procure\nadmittance into one of the existing Homes for girls, the third, in\npreparing clothing for her, while, at the same time, _no way_\nappeared open for her to be received anywhere. When her clothing was\nready, our first visit was to a sufferer paralysed and convulsed in\nevery limb, at times compelled to be fastened to his bed,--one whose\ngarret reminded one of the dream of Jacob; for answers to prayer were\nso direct, it seemed as though heavenly visitants were ever ascending\nand descending. He prayed, and while he was yet speaking, the Lord\nsent His 'answering messenger.' Miss Macpherson had felt it laid on\nher that day to come to the East End to my help, though knowing\nnothing whatever of the present need. When poor E. C. returned from\nthe baths and washhouses in her clean clothing, (having sold her\nformer rags for twopence-halfpenny), she was met by the loving offer\nof a home. She seemed afraid to believe it, and followed, as if in a\ndream, the friend so mercifully raised up for her. She was afterwards\nplaced in service with a Christian friend, and her two little\nbrothers were among the first inmates of the Revival Refuge.\"\n\nMost mercifully for the poor little matchbox-makers was Miss\nMacpherson's return ordered at this time. Much sympathy had been\nawakened concerning them, and much help had been sent for their\nbenefit from the kind readers of the \"Christian\" paper. They numbered\nmany hundreds, and Miss Macpherson undertook care and responsibility\nconcerning them, for which the strength and powers of an older\nlabourer were totally unfit. In this, and countless other instances,\nMiss Macpherson has proved herself ever ready to \"fulfil the law of\nChrist\" (Gal. vi. 2). The case of these infant toilers had rested on\nher heart from the first moment she had been made acquainted with\ntheir sufferings. The first sight of them is thus described by her\nown pen:--\n\n\"In a narrow lane, having followed high up a tottering spiral\nstaircase till we reached the attic, the first group of tiny,\npalefaced matchbox-makers was met with. They were hired by the woman\nwho rented the room. The children received just three farthings for\nmaking a gross of boxes; the wood and paper were furnished to the\nwoman, but she had to provide paste and the firing to dry the work.\nShe received twopence-halfpenny per gross. Every possible spot, on\nthe bed, under the bed, was strewn with the drying boxes. A loaf of\nbread and a knife stood on the table, ready for these little ones to\nbe supplied with a slice in exchange of their hard-earned farthings.\n\n\"This touching scene, which my pen fails to picture, gave me a\nlasting impression of childhood's sorrows. Never a moment for school\nor play, but ceaseless toil from light till dark.\"\n\nMiss Macpherson's first attempt for their benefit was to open\nevening schools, the inducement to attend which was the gift of sadly\nneeded clothing. These schools were opened in various localities, the\nchief gathering being held in a house kindly provided for us by\nCharles Dobbin, Esq., still one of our unwearied benefactors.\n\nNot only reading, but the art of mending their tattered garments was\na new thing to them, and their outward condition was such, that when\nfor the first time a country excursion was planned for them, it was\nwith the greatest difficulty they were made fit to appear.\n\nWhilst making every exertion to raise the matchbox-makers from their\nhitherto almost helpless state, her heart yearned over their\nbrothers. A tea-meeting was given for boys by the veteran labourer\nGeorge Holland, at the close of which one lad was noticed so much to\nbe pitied, that it was felt, if nothing could be done for the others,\nhe at least must be saved.\n\nMoney was not plentiful, the need of the East End was then\ncomparatively little known, but a young believer, the son of that\nhonoured servant of the Lord, W. Greene of Minorca, had just set\napart a portion of his salary to help some poor, London boy, and the\nletter telling this was on its way from the Mediterranean when this\nlad's history became known. Thus he was educated, and eventually\nraised to a position in which he became a helper of others.\n\nMany other homeless boys were found among that evening's guests, and\nMiss Macpherson felt it was impossible permanently to raise their\ncondition without receiving them into a Home, where they could be\ntaught and trained to regular work. The Lord gave the desire, and\nthrough the active sympathy of E. C. Morgan, the editor of the\n\"Christian,\" the means were provided. A house was found at Hackney,\nand named the Revival Refuge, where thirty boys could be at once\nreceived. A few weeks afterwards, looking at these bright,\nintelligent young faces, it was difficult to believe in the dark\nsurroundings of their earlier years. So great was the encouragement\nin caring for them, spiritually as well as physically, that Miss\nMacpherson could not rest without enlarging the work, and a\ndilapidated dwelling at the back of Shoreditch Church \"was fitted up\nto receive thirty more boys.\"\n\nIn the house first mentioned, besides the matchbox-makers' evening\nschools, mothers' meetings and a sewing class for widows were\nconducted by Mrs. Merry, and the upper storey was devoted to the\nshelter of destitute little girls. But in these, as in all Miss\nMacpherson's undertakings, the Lord blessed her so greatly that more\naccommodation was required for the constantly increasing numbers.\n\nThe needed building was provided in a way that could have been\nlittle conjectured, but the Lord had gone before. Along the great\nthoroughfare leading from the Docks to the Great Eastern Railway,\nlofty warehouses had taken the place of many unclean, tottering\ndwellings formerly seen there. During the fearful visitation of\ncholera in 1866 one of these had been secured as a hospital by Miss\nSellon's Sisters of Mercy, and water and gas had been laid-on on\nevery floor, and every arrangement made for convenience and\ncleanliness. When the desolating scourge was withdrawn the house was\nclosed, and many predicted that it would never be used again. In the\nfollowing year Mr. Holland suggested how well it would be to secure\nit for a Refuge. The doors had been closed twelve months when Mr. and\nMrs. Merry and three other friends entered the long-deserted\ndwelling, and joined in prayer that where death had been seen in all\nits terrors, there souls might be born to God, and that the voice of\npraise and prayer might be heard within those walls which had once\nresounded with the groans of the dying. Then the doors were locked,\nand for twelve months more remained as before. Then they were again\nopened, and on a gloomy winter's evening, with one candle the vast\nunlighted dwelling was again entered. The little company included R.\nC. Morgan, Charles Dobbin, and Henry Blair, of the Madras Civil\nService, whose interest in the work now begun, only ended with his\ndeath. Through the kindness of these friends the building was\nsecured, and the rent promised, but then a new difficulty arose. It\nhad been hoped that Mr. Holland, who had first suggested the effort\nto secure the building, would have been willing to undertake the\ncharge, but the work at George Yard was too dear to be given up. And\nnow, who would bear this burden? It could hardly be believed that any\nwoman would undertake the responsibility, for women had not then been\ncalled forward in this country so prominently as they now are. Here\nmay be seen something of the Lord's purpose in having permitted Miss\nMacpherson's voyage to New York. In that city she had seen the faith\nand courage the Lord had given to women to \"attempt great things\"\n_for Him_, and the day is well remembered when many prayers were\nanswered that she would accept the post. It is a post far advanced\ninto the enemy's territory, for the adjoining streets are known as\nthe \"Thieves' Quarter.\" Three thousand, it is supposed, have their\nheadquarters here. In the square mile in the midst of which the\nRefuge, (now called \"Home of Industry\"), is situated, 120,000 of our\npoorest population are to be found. From the first Mr. and Mrs. Merry\ngave themselves as willing and invaluable helpers to the enormous\nwork connected with the undertaking. It appeared great from the\nbeginning, but little could any one have imagined how it would go on\nspreading and increasing. It is difficult, or it may be impossible,\nto name any form of distress or any class which has not been here\nrelieved and blessed. Every hour of the day, and even far on into the\nnight, the voice of praise and prayer has been heard in some part of\nthe building. Even in the vaults beneath the pavement was a little\nsanctuary made. Under the very stones, before trodden by them as\nhomeless wanderers, some have joined in asking the Lord's blessing on\nthose who had rescued them.\n\nIn February, 1869, the Lord granted us the desire of our hearts, and\nthe Home of Industry was opened with praise and prayer. \"The Lord had\ndone great things for us,\" but far more than any heart then,\nconceived were the blessings yet in store.\n\nOn February 22, Miss Macpherson wrote as follows in the \"Christian\":--\n\n\"BELOVED HELPERS,--To-night how your hearts would have rejoiced to\nhave seen me and my happy hundreds of little toiling children in our\nnew schoolroom in the Refuge. How varied their feelings! One\nwhispered, 'It was here my mother died of the cholera.' Another, 'Oh!\nI was once in this ward before, so ill of black cholera.' Dear\nchildren! our prayer was that it might still be a house of mercy to\nmany a sin-wearied soul. We have never had such a large schoolroom\nbefore, nor the advantage of desks. Their joy knew no bounds when\ntold to invite their mothers to come one afternoon in the week to\nhelp me to sew and to earn sixpence, my object being twofold,--to\nsecure an opportunity of telling them the gospel, and to endeavour to\nhelp them in the management of their homes and little ones.\"\n\nThe following will show something of the trials attending \"holding\nthe fort\" in such a spot:--\n\n\"Last night I felt it right to sleep at the Refuge for once, so as\nto be able to enter into all its needs. No words can describe the\nsounds in the streets surrounding it throughout the night;--yells of\nwomen, cries of 'Murder!' then of 'Police!'--with the rushing to and\nfro of wild, drunken men and women into the street adjoining the\nbuilding, whence more criminals come than from any other street in\nLondon. At three o'clock the heavy rumble of market-waggons\ncommenced, and then the rush of the fire-brigade. Thus much by way of\nasking special prayer for those whom God has made willing to live in\nthe midst of such surroundings. On the other side of the building is\nan empty space, known as 'Rag Fair,' filled in the morning with a\nhorde of the poorest women selling the veriest old rubbish. We are\nthankful to have among these a faithful Christian woman, who, though\na seller of rags, is able to testify of the great love of the Lord\nJesus.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\n1869-1870.\n\nEmigration of families--A visitor's impressions--The great life-work\n--Emigration of the young, begun 1870--First party of boys to Canada\nwith Miss Macpherson and Miss Bilbrough--Their reception--Mr. Merry\ntakes second party of boys--Miss Macpherson returns to England and\ntakes out a party of girls--Canadian welcome and happy homes--\nCanadian pastor's story.\n\n\nEmigration had now for some time been in view as the only means of\nrelieving the chronic poverty of the East of London, and in April\n1869 a circular to this effect was issued by Miss Macpherson and Miss\nEllen Logan. Fifty families were selected as being suitable for such\nhelp, and these were gathered together at a farewell tea-meeting\nbefore leaving for Canada, all expressing deep thankfulness for the\nopening given to them. The preparations for the voyage of these\nfathers, mothers, and little ones required much thought and labour,\nboth for their temporal and spiritual welfare, but from the very\nbeginning of the work, sisters in Christ came from a distance, giving\nhours or days as a labour of love, and besides personal help on the\nspot, many busy fingers were at work in their own homes. The first\nparty was followed by others, all involving much care and labour.\nBefore the close of the year very encouraging accounts were received\nfrom many of the travellers, and the contrast was great between their\ncondition in the new country and that which might here have been\ntheir lot. Whilst this important work was being carried on, evening\nreading and sewing classes for the little matchbox-makers, and\nmothers' meetings, were continued without intermission, together with\nthe teaching and training of boys begun at the first Homes; and on\nthe Lord's Day, besides the very large gathering of matchbox-makers,\nevery effort was made to bring all around under the sound of the\ngospel. A stranger thus describes his impressions after a visit to\nthe Home of Industry, November, 1869:--\n\n\"'The mighty cry of anguish' that has gone up for so long from the\nEast of London has, thank God, touched many a heart, and led some to\ncarry God's answering messages in person to the suffering poor, and\nothers to help in the lesser service of gifts.\n\n\"Determined to see how the matter stood as regards one portion of\nthat great mass of misery, I gave myself up to the skilful guidance\nof one whose whole life is spent in the service of God and His poor.\n\n\"Leaving the rail, we proceeded to visit the sick-bed of one of the\nvoluntary workers in the Refuge. We found him recovering from a\nsevere attack of enteric fever complicated with pneumonia of the\nright lung. A fine, handsome young man, once the leader of the\nsinging in a philharmonic club, now the devoted servant of God, his\nwhole anxiety seemed to be as to when he could return to his work.\nDuring our visit, it was most touching to see the tenderness and\nanxious care of his companion, a young man called Fred, a labourer in\nthe large wine vaults at the docks, who, though smelling of wine, and\nhis clothes saturated with the fumes of spirits, was a staunch\nteetotaller; and judging from the intelligent way in which he\nanswered our questions, would be a valuable witness before any\ncommission of inquiry into the practices which wine-sellers term\n'mixing,' but which he vulgarly called 'adulteration.' Every night\nduring the many weeks of illness Fred had paid his friend a visit,\nand watched over him with all the love of a Jonathan to a David.\n\n\"We now pressed him into our service to conduct us through some of\nthe many licensed lodging-houses and thieves' kitchens, which abound\nin the neighbourhood of Spitalfields.\n\n\"On our way we met two little girls, matchbox-makers. The outline of\ntheir lives was given in a few moments. The father, a drunkard, had\nabsconded six years ago, leaving his wife and six children to\nstruggle with awful poverty as best they might, having previously so\nbeaten and kicked his wife about the face, that she had become almost\nblind. 'Where's father now?' 'In the workhouse, stoneblind.'\n\n\"In a room with a roaring fire were seated some thirty men and a few\nwomen with infants. The landlord's reception was anything but\ngracious. In answer to our 'Good evening,' he growled out, 'We don't\nwant talk; those men want bread.' And hungry enough many seemed. So\nwhile one was sent for a supply of bread, which was received with\nunmistakable gladness, and devoured greedily, we spoke to them of\nthat living bread which came down from heaven. All were interested,\nand one young man seemed to wince and to be ill at ease when the love\nof God was spoken of. I could not but feel that conscience was at\nwork, perhaps memory carrying back his mind to a godly mother, who\nonce had spoken the same loving words, but had gone to her rest in\ntears.\n\n\"We then entered a licensed lodging-house accommodating 350. This\nwas a sad sight, because three-fourths of the men were unemployed\npoor, chiefly dock-labourers, willing and glad to work, if work could\nbe got. On many a face there were stamped hopelessness and apathy.\nTwo poor fellows were sipping a cup of tea, without milk or sugar,\ngiven to them by a poor man, but they had not a morsel of bread; and\nthis was their breakfast,--a late one truly, for it was ten at night.\nOut all day in search of work, their last coppers were paid for the\nnight's lodging, and a cup of poor tea was their only meal. It made\none's spirit groan to think of the misery that sin and selfishness\nhad wrought for these poor fellows.\n\n\"In the next house the inmates were mostly thieves. But here is one\npoor fellow, a workman, but with no work; he has been out in the\nstreets three nights, and now one of his companions pleads with us\nfor three-pence to procure him a night's rest. We peeped into several\nother such dwellings, but the same story was repeated in each. In all\nwe were struck with the kind reception we met with, evidently due in\npart to the presence of our companion, who, although a lady, feels\ncalled of God to labour among these dens of misery, where there is so\nmuch to do and _so few to do it_, and to the fact that we lent a\nkindly ear to their tale of distress, and did what lay in our power\nto relieve the immediate pressure of the very destitute. But, above\nall, we were thankful to meet with such a spirit of hearing, and a\nready attention when Jesus was lifted up as the Saviour of sinners.\n\n\"We now entered a court to visit a poor woman whose husband had died\nsuddenly the week before. It was between nine and ten, and we found\nthe widow had been washing, the clothes hanging from lines in the\nroom. Her two children, aged nine and eleven, were busily employed in\nmatchbox-making.\n\n\"The rapidity and neatness of these little human machines were truly\nmost remarkable; the number of boxes made in a day, from half-past\nsix in the morning to ten at night, was something fabulous. The floor\nof the room was covered with boxes; they earned a shilling each a\nday; often days passed when they were unable to get work to do. Poor\nchildren! thin and wan-looking, life seemed a terribly serious thing\nto them, their days spent in incessant toil when work was plentiful,\ntheir nights--well, they had a bedstead with a bundle of dirty rags\nfor a bed, but not a stitch of bedclothes; the clothes the children\nwore were their only covering at night.\n\n\"In another court we found a silk-weaver hard at work,--from eight\nin the morning to eleven at night. This man, a Christian, had\nformerly been a weaver of velvet, but finding that a living could not\nin any way be made out of it, in an evil hour he was tempted to go\ninto a skittle-alley as a helper. Here, though receiving good wages,\nhe found he could not be happy,--could not 'abide with God;' so he\ngave it up, and now he is earning barely tenpence a day; but hard as\nhis lot is, he is happy in the consciousness of doing right, and\nstill manages to spare a little time to take his reading-lesson from\nthe Bible, and to tend a flowering-plant, his only companion, which\nrepresentative of the vegetable world seems to have nearly as hard a\nstruggle to live as its master.\n\n\"Our next visit was to a poor old woman between sixty and seventy\nyears of age, surrounded with every discomfort, and troubled with\nconstant cough and weakness. Apparently she had only a few days to\nlive, but she was able to rejoice in Jesus as her Saviour, whose\npresence even then made all things bright.\n\n\"The next visit was to a poor dying girl; in a room so small that\nthere was only a margin of about three feet round two sides of the\nbed for standing ground, the floor covered with rags, (her mother\nbeing a rag-mender), lay one, who, though poor and miserable, was yet\nan heir of glory, and was upheld in all her wretchedness by Him who\nwas sent to be 'the Comforter.' We thanked God for these two bright\nspots, where divine light and love were seen and felt.\n\n\"At the Home of Industry we had been invited to take tea with two\nhundred and fifty destitute widows. The testimony of one of these, a\nclean, tidy old woman, was very precious. She had once been in\naffluent circumstances and drove her carriage; her fortune lost in\none day, she was now reduced to poverty, but, 'Sir,' she said, 'I\nwould not go back to it all and be as I then was; no, not for all the\nworld.' Possessing Christ as her own, she felt she had the riches of\nGod, and knew that there was an inheritance reserved for her in\nheaven, incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away.\"\n\nThe great lifework of Miss Macpherson and her devoted family may be\nsaid to have begun this year. The need of emigration may be expressed\nin her own words:--\n\n\"Boys came to us for shelter instead of going to empty barrels,\nrailway arches, and stairways. We found they were grateful for all\nthat was done for them. The simple gospel lesson was our lever to\nlift them into new thoughts and desires. The sharp dividing knife of\nthe Word of God would discover the thief and liar, and rouse the\nconscience to confession more than anything beside. But our walls had\nlimits, and our failures in finding employment for many away from\ntheir old haunts became a great difficulty, and the God-opened way of\nemigration to Canada was pressed upon us.\"\n\n\"Thy God hath commanded thy strength.\" To the astonishment of many,\nMiss Macpherson expressed her determination to pioneer the first\nband, and He Who of old sent forth His disciples two and two, was\nmindful of the present need, and so strengthened the heart of a young\nsister (already deeply interested in the work, and singularly gifted\nin many ways) to lay all at the feet of her Master, and to offer to\nshare whatever toils and trials might be in the way. \"Ye have not\npassed this way heretofore.\" It was a new way, an \"untrodden way.\"\n\nWe have now been for many years so accustomed to hear of the kind\nwelcome given in Canada, and the prosperity of the young emigrants,\nthat we cannot realise the faith and courage required by Miss\nMacpherson, and her co-worker, Miss Bilbrough. Many misgivings arose\nin the hearts of some at the thought of these two sisters in the Lord\narriving uninvited in a new land where neither owned a friend, and,\ngreatest of all, fears were entertained that those who had known the\nwild roaming life of city Arabs might defy the control and authority\nof the leaders. But how vain were all these fears! Wisdom had been\nasked of the Lord in every step of the way, and He had given\n\"liberally,\" according to His gracious word. How blessedly was the\ntitle of Counsellor as well as Leader and Commander of His people\nthen fulfilled! The following description of the departure of the\nfirst party was written at the time:--\n\n  \"Our souls are in God's mighty hand,\n  We're precious in His sight.\"\n\nThese words, sweet and true at all times, surely never sounded\nsweeter than when sung by the band of young emigrants gathered for\nthe last time within the walls of the Refuge, which to many of them\nis hallowed as no other spot on earth can ever be. _How_ precious\nin His sight, none can tell but He who watched over those young\nwanderers, and surrounded them with the loving care and prayers which\nstill follow them to a distant land.\n\nThe beloved helpers at a distance, who have toiled, and collected,\nand borne to a throne of grace the burdens of their beloved sister in\nthe Lord, Miss Macpherson, will like to know every detail, even to\nthe outward appearance of those once ragged, shoeless wanderers. Now\nthey stood in ranks ready to depart, dressed in rough blue jackets,\ncorduroy suits, and strong boots, all made within the Refuge, the\nwork of their own hands. All alike had scarlet comforters and\nGlengarry caps; a canvas bag across their shoulders contained a\nchange of linen for the voyage, towels, tin can, bowl and mug, knife,\nfork, and spoon; and one kind friend, the last day before starting,\nbrought them a present of a hundred strong pocket-knives. A Bible, a\n\"Pilgrim's Progress,\" and a little case of stationery, were provided\nfor each, and while they stood thus indoors, singing their last\nfarewell, a dense crowd filled the street without, having waited for\nhours in the pouring rain. It was with difficulty the police could\nkeep struck with the sight of the boys, all remarking that they had\nnever seen more intelligent countenances, and one observed, after\nhearing something of their history, \"This is real religion.\"\n\nLiverpool was reached at 4 A.M., and all went at once on board the\n\"Peruvian.\" Then came a trial of patience,--they had to wait some\nhours for breakfast,--but restraining grace was so manifest\nthroughout, that one's heart was continually lifted up in praise and\nthanksgiving for this mercy as well as for countless others, and most\nespecially for the loving-kindness of the Lord in strengthening and\nsupporting His beloved servants at the time of parting.\n\nFrom want of space, it appeared impossible, (as far as could be\njudged from the first day's experience), to gather all the boys\ntogether, but even amid the difficulties attending first going on\nboard, Miss Macpherson succeeded in holding a little service with a\nportion of them. Some of the passengers and crew gathered round; all\nwere remembered in her supplications, and a deep solemnity rested on\nall. Then she called on those boys who knew what it was to draw near\nwith assurance to the throne of grace to ask for blessing, and, with\nher undaunted energy, exhorted them not to be afraid to speak for\nJesus. Prayer was followed by the oft-repeated hymn,--\n\n  \"There is a better world, they say,\n  Oh, so bright!\"\n\nThe tender brought on board a band of Christian friends, who once\nmore thronged around her, till the parting signal was given, and then\nthe last sounds heard on leaving were, \"Yes, we part, but not for\never,\" and \"Shall we gather at the river?\"\n\nThe following note of cheer quickly arrived, to the joy of many\nanxious hearts and the praise of a prayer-hearing God:--\n\n\"On Board the 'Peruvian,' off the Coast of Ireland, May 13, 1870.\n\n\"MY DEAR SISTERS,--Fearing lest in your anxiety for us you may have\nimagined a rough night for the first, I send a few lines to assure\nyou that all is love, even to the smallest details. Each rolling wave\nreminds me of that word in the Epistle of James, 'Let him ask in\nfaith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the\nsea, driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that\nhe shall receive anything of the Lord.' Many a faithful prayer has\nascended for a prosperous voyage; prosperity of soul is often\nrealised by being kept in the lowest place, and when my boys told me\nhow ill some of them had been in the night, and how they had,\nnotwithstanding, held little prayer-meetings, crying to Jesus in the\nmidst of what to them seemed a storm, I rejoiced. Thus trial sends us\nto Jesus, the Captain of our salvation.\n\n\"With the exception of two, all are on deck now, as bright as larks;\nthey have carried up poor Jack Frost, and Franks, the runner. It is\nmost touching to see them wrap them up in their rugs. Michael Finn,\nthe Shoreditch shoeblack, was up all night caring for the sick boys;\nhe carries them up the ladder on his back. Poor Mike! he and I have\nexchanged nods at the Eastern Counties Railway corner these five\nyears; it is a great joy to give him such a chance in life. Oh, to\nwin his soul to look to Jesus for everlasting life!\"\n\nThe following extract will tell the answer to the many prayers by\nwhich Miss Macpherson was upheld, and how assuredly it was the Lord\nwho had guided her way across the pathless deep:--\n\n\"Mr. Stafford, the agent at Quebec, would willingly have kept the\nhundred boys there, but we only left him eleven, and brought the rest\non to Montreal; and there too they were anxious to keep them, and\nsaid if it were made known, in three days we should not have one\nremaining. As it was, we left twenty-three, and all in excellent\nsituations. Some of the best were picked out, numbers of them as\nhouse-servants. Then we left eight at Belleville, half way between\nMontreal and Toronto.\" These boys were left in charge of Mr. Leslie\nThom, who had acted as schoolmaster at the Home of Industry, and\nwhose help was invaluable on arrival in the new country.\n\nMiss Macpherson's youngest sister, Mrs. Birt, thus writes concerning\nthe departure of the second family, so readily sent out in answer to\nthe invitations of dear friends in Canada:--\n\n\"I am sure our dear friends will feel exceedingly pleased and\ngratified to hear that the departure of our second band of boys for\nCanada this year, under the care of Mr. Merry, took place on the 21st\nof July, leaving our hearts filled to overflowing with thankfulness\nand praise for the very marked way in which the Lord has led us on\nstep by step.\n\n\"Little did we think, a month ago, that it would be possible in so\nshort a time to select, teach, and outfit seventy boys, and to soften\ntheir manners, even if we had the necessary money for their expenses.\nBut the Lord has most wonderfully brought it all about in His own\nway. The money was sent, boys anxiously in search of employment came\nbeseeching help, the needful work for their outfits was accomplished\nin far less than the usual time by faithful widows, who sewed away as\ndiligently as though each had been making garments for her own son.\nAn active, earnest, clever teacher was also provided by the Lord, to\ngive to these rescued ones that punctual and diligent, daily\nattention that seemed to us so important. Even the postponement of\ntheir sailing from the 14th inst. to the 21st inst. was overruled for\ngood; Mr. Merry was enabled to become more personally acquainted with\neach, and we know that 'the good seed of the Word' was sown in many\nhearts, we trust to bear fruit. On reaching the ship, we were told\nthat our band would have the benefit of a place set apart for\nthemselves, whereas, had they sailed the previous week, they would\nhave been crowded up with other emigrants. After three days' rest we\nreturn, the Lord willing, to the Refuge, to select and prepare a band\nof young girls. Our sister Miss Macpherson writes to us that she has\nbeen besought most earnestly by the Canadian ladies to send them out\nsome little English maids; and that they promise to watch over them\nand care for them as if they were their own.\"\n\nAfter the arrival of Mr. Merry in Canada with the second party of\nboys, Miss Macpherson returned to England and wrote as follows:--\n\n\"My BELOVED FELLOW-LABOURERS,--You will be surprised to hear that,\nafter a pleasant voyage, with renewed health, I am again in my\nprivileged place of service in the East of London. My song of praise\nis very full. The Council of the county of Hastings has given me a\nhouse capable of holding 200, free of all expenses, situated in the\ntown of Belleville, Ontario, leaving the management in my hands,\nentirely untrammelled by conditions. Thus a work of faith is now\ncommenced on Canadian shores, where our little street wanderers can\nat once be sent and trained under our own schoolmaster, Mr. Leslie\nThom. My friend Miss Bilbrough, assisted by the Christian ladies of\nthe town, has undertaken to furnish this Distributing Home in\nreadiness for Mr. Merry's arrival. There all will undergo a training,\nand will be kept till suitable situations are appointed for them.\"\n\nAfter remaining a short time in England, Miss Macpherson,\naccompanied by her sister, Mrs. Birt, returned to Canada with the\nthird party of young emigrants, numbering over a hundred.\n\nThe following is an extract from Mrs. Birt's first letter after\ntheir arrival:--\n\n\"In my memory are associated two scenes connected with the pretty\npark in which the Distributing Home is situated, scenes that can\nnever be forgotten; first, the long procession of the tired and weary\nlittle travellers, wending their way up the carriage-drive, the\nclear, starlit sky overhead, and the quiet, bright full moon shining\ndown on their upturned faces, as they stood in front of their new\nhome, and sang so earnestly--\n\n 'Praise God, from whom all blessings flow,\n  Praise Him, all creatures here below;'\n\nand secondly, on awaking the next morning and looking out, the sight\nof the whole party scampering about the park, just like so many\nlittle wild animals let loose from a cage, rushing about under every\ntree, as if trying whether their freedom was real. I had to call my\nsister to look at them; and in mind we carried them back to London at\nsix o'clock in the morning, and felt it was indeed good for them to\nbe thus in Canada. How longingly we wished we could fill the\nDistributing Home with just such a number every month of the year,\nfor certain it is we could find places and homes for them all.\"\n\nA little later Miss Macpherson wrote:--\n\n\"Yesterday afternoon Miss Bilbrough drove us out into the cleared\nbackwoods to visit some of our children. The country was charming;\nwoods and green valleys, with every now and then rich orchards laden\nwith rosy apples; the long Concession roads, forming at times\nmagnificent avenues, in which here and there a maple, which had\ncaught a cold blast, prematurely showed the lovely autumnal tints so\npeculiar in richness to this country.\n\n\"Everywhere we called the warmest hospitality was shown us, very\nlike the 'furthy auld kintra folk' of Scotia in days lang syne.\n\n\"Our first recognition was a boy named Ambrose, of the second\ndetachment; he was busy in the farmyard, but soon, with a bright\nface, came to the side of our vehicle, telling us he was so happy and\nwell; indeed, it required no words to assure us of this. Our next\ncall was to one of the first settlers of fifty-eight years ago, still\nliving in the house he had at first erected. His dear wife, on\nhearing of the arrival of the little English orphan children, could\nnot sleep all night, but had her horses put into the team, and drove\nin to Belleville, and for the Lord's sake, who had been so good to\nher and hers, took away two, one for herself and one for her married\ndaughter, whose home had never rung with the voice of a little\nprattler. It was great joy to see that they loved and cared for these\nlittle waifs as though they were their very own; my heart alone\nknowing whence they had been taken, and their little memories still\nkeen as to the awful contrast of former want and this present\nabundance of food, fruit, and kindness.\n\n\"With this dear, pious couple, we drank tea. Such a spread at this\nmeal is never beheld in the old country. Around my cup of tea were\nseven different kinds of choice dainties at the same time. This is\ntheir way, and it is done with few words but warm welcome. The\nhomespun, well-worn coat and well-patched shoes of our aged host were\nall forgotten when listening to his intelligent remarks on men and\nthings; and though seventy-eight years of age, every faculty of head\nand heart seemed to keep pace with the times. He was a Wesleyan\nMethodist, and with pleasure told us of the erection of their new\nZion, whose glistening tinned spire we could see rising among the\nwoods at no great distance.\"\n\nMiss Bilbrough wrote at this time:--\n\n\"Miss Macpherson has been able to spend during this summer much of\nher time in visiting among the different farms where our children are\nlocated, within some twenty or forty miles of Belleville in the\ncounties of Hastings and Prince Edward. She would start some sunshiny\nmorning on a week's tour, dining with one farmer, having tea at\nanother's, and passing the night at some special friend's, Charlie,\nthe mission horse, receiving the best of fare; while next day the\nfarmer harnesses his horse and takes her round to the neighbouring\nfarms where the little English emigrants have found a resting-place;\nand oh! the joy of these children to see again the well-remembered\nface, and hear the cheery voice of her who had first seen and\nrelieved their misery in the old country, and now bringing fresh\ncheer and comfort in the new! With what haste the table is spread and\nsoon loaded with substantial food, and afterwards what opportunities\narise for a few words of counsel! Some verses are read from the Word\nof God, and then kneeling down, we and the new friends would commit\nthe child to the care of Him who has said, 'I will never leave thee\nnor forsake thee.'\n\n\"Here, too, the numerous tracts and books brought from England,\n'God's Way of Peace,' 'The Blood of Jesus,' 'British Workman,' 'Band\nof Hope,' and 'The Christian,' often containing a letter from Miss\nMacpherson, are eagerly sought after and read; and when passing along\nthe road, Charlie seems now instinctively to stop when meeting some\npedestrian, that out of our well-filled handbags may be given some\ntract or book.\"\n\nThe following is a record of days of travel in the backwoods:--\n\n\"MARCHMONT, BELLEVILLE, _October_.\n\n\"My friend Miss Bilbrough and I started, after an early dinner,\nfrom Marchmont, having declined the kind offer of a friend's\nconveyance, preferring to go by the usual stage-waggon, as our object\nwas to study the country people, and know those with whom our little\nones mingle. In so doing we increase our opportunities of\ndistributing books and tracts,--a new thing in these outlying\ndistricts. We ask prayer for a blessing on these, and for every dear\nboy and girl who has been under our care, that the Holy Spirit may\nbring to each mind the remembrance of the truth in Jesus, which has\nbeen set before them. Our faith is from time to time strengthened by\nseeing one after another joining the Lord's people.\n\n\"The novelty of our position was increased when the driver and our\nfellow-passengers, seven in number, discovered that we were the\nfriends of the orphan children. Their politeness was touching. We had\nto take the best seat, the curtains were drawn down to shelter us\nfrom the wind, and the driver strove to interest us by telling us\nhistories of such of our boys as he knew at different points of his\njourney.\n\n\"For miles the country seemed well cleared, except where portions of\nforest were left to supply wood for the years to come. The cedar-rail\nfence and 'Concession roads' marked all into well-defined portions.\nOn these roads the homesteads are built in every variety of style,\nfrom the log-hut built of cedar-trees laid one upon the other,\ncemented together, and roofed with bark, to the stone and brick\nedifice, with barns and stables, and other surroundings, like unto\none of our own old country farmhouses.\n\n\"Our fellow-travellers were farmers, returning from Toronto Fair.\nThey seemed amused and willing to listen to our conversation with the\ndriver, and received our books most politely.\n\n\"The 'lumbering district' stretched away northwards, some seventy-five\nmiles from where the giants of the forest had been felled. The\nrecollections of our fellow-passengers were interesting as to the few\nyears ago, when the very country we were passing through was a dense\nmass of similar unhewn timber. Now on every side there were homesteads\ntelling of plenty, and enlivened by rosy, healthy little ones. Who\nwill question the desirability of thus peopling our Father's glorious\nlandscapes, and gathering up our poor perishing children from our\novercrowded dens and alleys, where they are dying by thousands yearly\nfor want of pure air and sunshine, many becoming criminals ere they\nscarce leave their mother's knee?\n\n\"The past encourages us to hope that He will not permit us to go\nbefore Him, and will both send sufficient strength for the day, and\nsufficient means for the support of all He would have us rescue from\nmisery, by bringing them under the influences of a pious home,\nplacing them in Sabbath schools, and above all, gathering them\nbeneath the sheltering wing of the loving Shepherd.\n\n\"We arrive at length at Roslin, and soon find the pretty house of\nour friend Dr. H---, where we are warmly greeted for the Master's\nsake, and ere long introduced to the only little baby prattler, its\nmother, and her widowed sister. They had lived in the city, had\nvisited the old country, were friends of Mr. Gosse, and readers of\n'The Christian.' Hence we soon found that though in a Canadian\nbackwood settlement, we had tastes and topics in common, and one\nlonging especially united us--the burden of precious souls to be won\nfor Him we all loved.\n\n\"Through a chain of circumstances, Dr. B--- had obtained one of our\nboys, who had been engaged in a similar capacity in a suburb of\nLondon, but had lost his situation, and become an orphaned wanderer\nin our great city. His knowledge of dispensing was a recommendation\nfor his appointment to another doctor; and, to my great joy, hitherto\nhe had conducted himself so well, that in all the neighbourhood\naround other boys were so much in demand, that we now have no less\nthan forty children in that district among the farmers.\n\n\"My friend, ever a true helper as secretary, remembered that a small\nboy named Smith, who had left a mother sorely fretting after him,\nlived near, and proposed to go and get a report of him at once. The\nDoctor's conveyance soon was at the door, and in less than an hour my\nfriend returned with a bright account of the comfortable home and the\nhappiness of its young inmate.\n\n\"The short hours after tea swiftly passed in conversing over the\nbasket of books and tracts, many of these the gathered-up stores of\nmy friends, which when read had been sent to the Refuge, and were now\nbeing spread freely in Canadian homes. We also talked over the\nprinciple which we were endeavouring to work out with these\nfriendless children, namely, that as the Lord Jesus had given Himself\nto save us, so we ought to reach out the hand of love, and endeavour\nto snatch others from lives of misery and want. If we cannot open our\nown doors to the lost and wayward; ought we not to help in finding\nout those who can, that the lost and wandering lambs outside in the\nwilderness might be gathered beneath a sheltering wing inside some\nhappy fold?\n\n\"Dr. H--- and his intelligent wife and sister held a long\nconversation with us on the method best suited for those whom we are\nseeking to benefit--whether to educate them for a series of years in\nour institutions in the old country, or to afford them only a\ntemporary residence with us, where their character, temper, and\ntalents could be studied for a few months with a view to determine\nwhat family they would suit best. Our experience with the three\nhundred children now placed out and watched over by our co-labourers\nin Canada brought us to the latter conclusion, and the testimony of\nothers in Germany was to the same effect.\n\n\"Pastor Zeller, who himself founded an orphan asylum at Beuggen, had\nlong before strongly advocated the placing of bereaved children in\nChristian families as the very best method of training them.\nCommenting on this, M. de Liefde observes--'An establishment which\ncontains from fifty to seventy children (and this surely is only a\nsmall one), however well managed, cannot help being unnatural in many\nrespects. Nature seldom puts more than twelve children together in\none house; quite enough for a man and his wife to control, if due\nattention be given to the formation of the different characters and\nthe development of the various talents. The training of a band of\nchildren beyond that number cannot help assuming the character of\nwholesale education. The larger the number, the greater the\nresemblance of the establishment to a barrack; it becomes a depot of\nready-made young citizens, got up for social life at a fixed price,\nand within a fixed period of time. No wonder that they often turn out\nunfit for practical realities, and uncured of inveterate defects.'\nThe noble Immanuel Wichern felt this objection so forcibly, that his\nfamous 'Rauhe Haus' institution is like a village of families, each\nhomestead with its house-father and house-mother, and its twelve boys\nor girls, as the case may be. He considered that he could not\notherwise do justice to those whom God had committed to his care than\nby bringing the principles of family life to bear upon each\nindividual.\n\n\"In the course of conversation we asked, how it was that so far from\nthe city they had heard of our having boys to dispose of, and it was\npleasant to hear that the weekly 'Christian' was the link that led\nthem to depute a relative to watch for our passing through Montreal.\nFamily worship closed this day of sweet service.\n\n\"The next morning our kind host studied the various Concessions in\nwhich our children had been located, and soon the 'democrat' (a\npeculiar carriage suited for this country) was brought to the door,\nand the doctor, and his sister accompanied us for the day's drive.\n\n\"The day was balmy, like one of our bright June days, and beeches\nand maples, firs and cedars, were beautiful to behold in their autumn\nloveliness.\n\n\"Our first call was at Mr. V---'s. He was a widower, and, finding\nhis home lonely, had sought at Marchmont for a little one to love and\ncheer him. He had taken the twin-like brothers, Freddy and Tommy,\nwhose sweet little faces bore some resemblance to his own. We found\nthe children at school, looking hearty and happy in the playground as\nwe passed the schoolhouse. Mr. V--- was from home, but his mother, a\npious woman, received us most kindly, and spoke affectionately of the\nchildren. She took us to see her lovely flowerbeds of annuals, all\nlaid out with taste in front of the wooden house, and tended by her\nown hands when house-work was over. My heart longed for the joy of\ntelling the happiness of these children to the aged pious grandmother\npining away in want and sickness, and forsaken by her own son, the\nfather of these boys.\n\n\"Passing onwards, we drove past a rosy-cheeked little fellow\nclimbing a bank. A month in the fresh air had so changed him from the\ndelicate, pale, thin boy, that we looked again ere we recognised\nAlfred Bonkin. His widowed mother will sing for joy to hear of his\nbeing thus educated, clothed, and fed, and growing up to an honest\nlife.\n\n\"Alfred was 'fixed up' (to use a Canadian term) with two others of\nour children in a family settlement. One was a grown-up lad, employed\nin farm work, and the other a little matchbox-maker. The venerable\ncouple who had adopted them had won our hearts when calling upon us\nat the Home. They were both over eighty years of age, had thirty\ngrandchildren and six great-grandchildren, and yet room to love our\nlittle ones, and not miss the 'bite and the sup.' It was washing-day;\nbut the old lady left her tub 'right away,' and hoped we would not be\n'scared,', by her being in a bustle, but just 'take off,' and she\nwould soon spread the table? We spoke of our long round of calls, and\nwith difficulty we got away, not before we had been laden with a\nbasket of the finest apples we had ever seen, and had promised to\ncome and pay a long visit next time. From all we witnessed, we could\nnot but rejoice in the way God had opened homes and Christ-loving\nhearts to receive our perishing little ones.\"\n\n\"Peace and plenty smiled on every hand. Tears came as a relief when\nfondling little Annie Parker took my hand, saying, 'Tome and see my\nfather's new house!' The memory came back of Mr. Morgan, Mr. Holland,\nand a few friends meeting with me in John Street to form a 'Little\nGirls' Home.' Two years have now passed since Annie and her whole\nfamily were carried to the Fever Hospital. Both the parents died; the\nfour girls took a room, and lived by matchbox-making. Annie and\nMaggie were the youngest, starved and ragged beyond description.\nSince that time they have both been cared for, have learnt their\nletters, and can now read and write. Surely the most inveterate\nopponents to emigration could not but approve of and seek a blessing\non such a change. Where in all England could we have found, in a few\nweeks, hearts and homes for forty adoptions? These families are\nthrifty and homely--spinning, weaving, knitting, knowing what small\nmeans with a blessing can do, and are the very people to train up our\nchildren for a common-sense battle with the difficulties of life.\"\n\n\"We were interested in observing the forethought displayed in laying\nup stores for the winter; apple being peeled, quartered, strung upon\nstrings, and dried either in the sun, or over the kitchen stove;\npumpkins cut into parings and dried, &c.\"\n\n\"All that remained at this late season (October) in the fields was\nthe buckwheat. When this is cut and placed in stacks, its red roots\nare exposed, affording a pleasant contrast to the dark green of the\nup-springing fall-wheat. More immediately around the houses, lay the\nimmense yellow pumpkins, still attached to their dying stems.\"\n\nThe time for Miss Macpherson's return to England now drew near, and\nwith a heart filled with thankfulness for the mercies they had\nalready experienced Miss Bilbrough offered to remain at Marchmont, to\nbrave alone the first Canadian winter, and with Mr. Thom's help to\nwatch over any case of difficulty that might arise among those who\nhad come out; for as yet the work was an experiment.\n\n\nA CANADIAN PASTOR'S STORY.\n\n\"Annie and Maggie, the children before mentioned, were taken out to\nCanada by Miss Macpherson, and were at first unavoidably placed in\nfamilies residing at some distance from each other. The younger one\nwas brought back to the Marchmont Home on account of a peculiar lisp,\nwhich her master's children were acquiring from her. Almost\nimmediately another farmer called for a girl to assist his wife in\nthe care of her little ones. He saw little Maggie, cared nothing for\nher lisp, and would have her away with him. On taking down his\naddress, it was found that he lived on the farm next to that where\nthe elder, sister was placed. It was near the end of the week, and on\nthe next Sabbath morning an unexpected meeting occurred, feelingly\ndescribed in the following verses. The incident was related to Miss\nMacpherson by the pastor himself.\"\n\n  Come now, a story, dear papa,\n    Now find a knee for each;\n  You said, papa, that once you heard\n    Two little sisters preach\n\n  A better sermon far than you:\n    Jane says that cannot be.\n  We want to know, so tell us now,\n    Before they bring the tea.\n\n  Come then, my darlings, you must know,\n    Beyond the wild deep sea,\n  In London's streets, these sisters grew\n    In want and misery.\n\n  Their parents died, and they were left,\n    Poor girls, in sore distress;\n  Ah! dear ones, may you never know\n    An orphan's loneliness!\n\n  But kindly hearts, which God had touched,\n    Felt for them in their grief;\n  He taught them too the surest way\n    To give such woes relief.\n\n  Away from London's crowded streets,\n    They bade the sisters come,\n  Within our brave, broad Canada,\n    To find a pleasant home.\n\n  A pleasant home for each was found,\n    But far apart they lay;\n  And thus apart the sisters dwelt\n    While long months rolled away.\n\n  Poor little girls! 'twas very sad;\n    They were too young to write;\n  And no one guessed the quiet tears\n    Poor Annie shed at night.\n\n  Among our Sabbath-scholars soon\n    I learned to watch her face;\n  A quiet sadness on her brow\n    I fancied I could trace.\n\n  One summer's morning, Sabbath peace\n    Filled all the sunny air,\n  And all within God's house was hushed,\n    To wait the opening prayer;\n\n  When up the aisle a neighbour came,\n    With hushed but hasty tread;\n  And by the hand with kindly care\n    A little girl he led.\n\n  A sudden cry ran through the church,\n    A cry of rapture wild;\n  And starting from her seat we saw\n    Our quiet English child.\n\n  \"Sister! my sister!\" was the cry\n    That through the silence rung,\n  As round the little stranger's neck\n    Her eager arms she flung.\n\n  And tears and kisses mingling fast,\n    She pressed on lip and cheek;\n  For silent tears can sometimes tell\n    What words are poor to speak.\n\n  Then soft o'er cheek, and brow, and hair,\n    Her trembling fingers crept;\n  Then heart to heart, and cheek to cheek,\n    Those loving sisters wept.\n\n  Nor they alone, for strong men sobbed;\n    Women stood weeping by;\n  And little ones looked up amazed,\n    And asked what made them cry.\n\n  Oh, broken was the prayer we prayed,\n    Scarce could we raise the hymn;\n  And when God's holy book I read,\n    My eyes with tears were dim.\n\n  And yet we felt the Saviour there,\n    Right in our midst that day;\n  \"Will you not love my little ones?\"\n    We almost _heard_ Him say.\n\n  No need of laboured words that day\n    Long hardened hearts to move;\n  Well had the sisters' meeting preached\n    The lesson, \"God is Love.\"\n\n  His heart had felt their childish grief,\n    The while they mourned apart;\n  His loving-hand had wrought the plan,\n    To bring them heart to heart.\n\nS. R. GELDARD.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\n1870-1871.\n\nWorkers' meetings at home of industry--Training home at Hampton\nopened--Personal experiences--Welcome in Western Canada--Help for a\nGlasgow home--Scottish ferryman--\"Out of the mouths of babes and\nsucklings.\"\n\n\nBefore the close of the year Miss Macpherson had returned from\nCanada, and at the usual monthly meeting for workers was again\nenabled to tell of the goodness and mercy that had followed her.\n\nOne of the great needs of the East End which has already been\nmentioned, was that of some central spot where Christian workers\nmight meet for prayer and counsel. This need was abundantly met at\nthe Home of Industry, open at all times, with a welcome and words of\ncheer ready for the servants of the Lord from every part of the\nworld. The workers' meetings, once a month, have given opportunities\nfor hearing tidings of the spread of the gospel in the \"regions\nbeyond.\" Those who had hitherto been standing idle have been aroused,\nand many who have long borne the burden and heat of the day have been\nrefreshed. It would be difficult to reckon the number of those who\nhave in the Home of Industry first heard the summons from the Lord to\n\"go forth,\" as \"messengers of the glory of Christ,\" and are now\ntoiling in distant lands.\n\nThe difficulty of keeping a number of active restless spirits within\nthe hounds of a house in the position of the Home of Industry,\nwithout one inch of yard or playground, and in the midst of streets\nin which it was unsafe for one of these boys to be seen, can hardly\nbe imagined. It was a subject of the greatest astonishment to a\ndescendant of Immanuel Wichern's that in such circumstances Miss\nMacpherson was enabled to keep them under control. It was, however,\nmost desirable to find some place where their active energies could\nbe employed in some sort of training for the Canadian out-door life.\nMiss Macpherson thus refers to her thankfulness that such a spot was\nfound:--\n\n\"Those who share with us the burdens of this work will rejoice to\nhear that we have now a Home in the country, where we can cultivate a\nfew acres, and where the children can become efficiently trained for\nCanada under the superintendence of Mr. and Mrs. Merry. It is\nsituated near the village of Hampton and is now being furnished. This\nwill enable me to rescue another hundred from street-life at once.\nWhat a boon from the Lord Whom we serve!\"\n\nIt proved to be just what was needed, as is shown by the testimony\nof another friend:--\n\n\"The Training Home at Hampton bids fair to be a most valuable\naddition to Miss Macpherson's scheme for rescuing these dear children\nif only for their health's sake; the pure air, the early hours for\nrising, the outdoor and spade exercise, the plentiful supply of real\nmilk, are all good; and the absence of all noise and excitement gives\na much fairer chance of seeing what the boys really are, and the\nprobability of their taking to Canadian life.\"\n\nThe next party was arranged to leave for Canada by the \"Prussian\" on\nthe 4th of May, and on this occasion one who had the privilege of\naccompanying them thus wrote:--\"I feel it as impossible to convey to\nfriends in England a true idea of the kind welcome accorded to our\npoor little ones, as it is to give to dear Canadian friends any\nadequate idea of the crowded misery of our own dens and alleys.\n\n\"It has scarcely been credited by some that so many hundreds of\nlittle travellers could have crossed the Atlantic in many successive\nvoyages and not have experienced one storm. How we realised the power\nof Him 'who stilleth the noise of the sea, the noise of their waves,\nand the tumult of the people!' for on this voyage, as on every other,\nit has been remarkable that no discord has arisen among her many\nyoung charges. The work begun on land was carried on at sea, and many\nyoung hearts were blessed of the Lord ere they left the ship. It was\npleasant to hear many testimonies in their favour among the\npassengers and crew; pleasant also to hear testimonies of\nthankfulness for Miss Macpherson's presence in the ship; for she\nlaboured unceasingly among the crew and steerage passengers as well\nas with her own special charges.\n\n\"Kind letters of welcome were received off Quebec. For a few hours\nwe were detained at Point Levi, waiting for the emigrants' train, and\nwatching with delight the sun descending and streaming with splendour\non the cliffs and magnificent river; some of the heights bare, others\nclothed with firs, all picturesque and grand. The evening star shone\nbefore us as we were carried westward; one of the little orphan girls\nsaid it looked as if watching over us to help us; and in the morning\nwe reached Montreal Junction, where one of the warm Canadian friends\nwho have welcomed Miss Macpherson so cordially entered the cars, and\nspoke very encouraging words to the young travellers, telling them\nhow he had himself been as dependent on his own exertions as any of\nthem could be, and how by perseverance in the situation he had first\nentered, he had risen from the humblest post to the highest, and had\nlong been in a position to help others. This friend is the\nsuperintendent of a large Sunday-school, and his scholars have\nundertaken the support of an English child.\n\n\"A lovely cloudless day was just dawning as we arrived at\nBelleville, and we were greeted at the station by the kind voice of\nMr. Henderson, one of the evangelists, for whose labours in Canada we\nhave had so much reason to praise the Lord. The sun had not risen\nwhen we were first taken across the blue rushing river Moira,\ncarrying with it the floating logs, felled far away, and borne by its\nrapid current to the Bay of Quinte, the beautiful shores of which we\ncaught sight of just 'as the crimson streak in the east was growing\ninto the great sun.'\n\n\"But we were now at Marchmont; and lovely as it was in the fresh\ngreen of spring, (the maples, not yet in full leaf permitting a\nglimpse of the bay,) yet all other feelings were lost in the joy of\nbeing welcomed by dear Miss Bilbrough, who had been watching for us\nall through the night. Miss Macpherson was allowed but few hours to\nrest before the throng of visitors came to welcome her, and to take\naway the newly arrived little ones. Among the first was a lady, the\nmother of eight girls, who had lost her only son, and who carried\naway, with tears of joy, a boy brought from Southampton workhouse.\nThere were farmers from many miles round, bringing their\nrecommendations from ministers or other well-known friends; there\nwere children who had been brought out the previous year, some\nearning good wages, and bringing their savings to Miss Macpherson,\ntoo full of joy to say much, but clinging round the one whom the Lord\nhad blessed in rescuing so many from want and misery. Among these\nwere three former little matchbox-makers, who had known more sorrow\nand care during their early years than is sometimes crowded into a\nlifetime. Tears on both sides were sometimes the only greeting given.\nPages might be filled with records of one day at Marchmont, records\nof the Lord's goodness to the fatherless and motherless, and those\nrescued from a worse fate still; whose parents would have dragged\nthem down into the haunts of drunkenness and sin, from which, in\nlater years, it would have been so much harder to reclaim them. Oh,\nthat many more in our own land could witness with their own eyes the\nboundless openings for work, and provision made for our poor children\nin the broad lands the Lord has so mercifully spread before us!\n\n\"The first experience I had of the home of a Canadian farmer was in\nthe neighbourhood of Stirling. Our drive was partly along the banks\nof the river Moira, which, perhaps, from being the first with which I\nwas made acquainted, has always appeared to me one of the loveliest\nin 'this land of broad rivers and streams.' After leaving the river,\nour road passed through woods, in which we saw wild flowers of larger\nsize and brighter colours than our own, though fewer in number; and\nfrom a rising ground we saw Stirling beneath us, and a few miles\nbeyond reached the dwelling of one who had come out with no other\nriches than the strength of his own hands. His house was humble in\noutward appearance, but contained every comfort, and was surrounded\nby orchard and garden, and many acres of cultivated land. Huge barns\nto hold the abundant produce are always the most conspicuous feature\nin every Canadian farm. Cattle, sheep, and poultry were all around,\nand all his own, and in his own power to leave to the sons growing up\naround him. In this family the sons were all following the father's\noccupation.\n\n\"In most families that I have seen, as a good education is within\nthe reach of all, some of the sons have preferred following the study\nof law or medicine; the farmers have therefore the more need of\nhelpers, and welcome the more eagerly the young hands brought out.\nThough we were quite unexpected, all but one of our party being\nperfect strangers, we were pressed with the usual Canadian\nhospitality to remain the night; and while our horse rested, our kind\nhost took out his own team and drove Mr. Thom to visit children\nsettled in the neighbouring farms.\n\n\"My next experience was that of a farm beyond Trenton, where one of\nthe boys was engaged. Our drive was along the bay, and the opposite\nshores of Prince Edward's county often reminded me of the Isle of\nWight as seen from the Hampshire coast. Our road first passed the\nDeaf and Dumb Asylum, a grand and spacious building, a mile out of\nBelleville, and then was bordered by orchards and rich cornfields,\nscattered cottages and farmhouses, with lilac bushes clustering round\nthe doors and verandahs. Outside every farmhouse may be seen by the\nroadside a wooden stand, on which are placed the ample cans of milk\nwaiting for the waggon to carry them to the cheese factories. No\nfear, it appears, is here entertained either of milk being stolen or\nof fruit being missed from the abundant spoils on either side the\nroad.\n\n\"At Trenton, beautifully situated near the head of the bay, a boy\nrushed out at the welcome sight of his friend, and farther on more\ngreetings of love and gratitude awaited her. The farm we this day\nvisited was one of more importance than the last. Four hundred acres\nof ground surrounded a well-built house, two stories high, and\ncovering much ground. In such a dwelling a handsome piano is seldom\nmissing, and here stood one in the inner drawing-room. Luxuries that\ncould be purchased for money were not wanting, but labourers were not\nso easily procured, and the contrast between the interior of the\nhouse and the rough approach to it was most remarkable.\n\n\"So much must necessarily be done with so few hands, that time for a\nflower-garden, or even the making of a neat footpath, cannot be\nfound. The mistress of the house looked sadly worn and wearied from\nwant of help in her indoor labours.\n\n\"Within easy reach of this house stood a much smaller one, built by\nthe owner of the farm for himself and his wife to retire to whenever\ntheir eldest son should choose a bride and undertake the farm. This I\nhave seen elsewhere in Canada and have also known the heir of the\nproperty to go out for the day helping at another farm, where no\nlabourer could be found in the neighbourhood. No contrast could be\ngreater to one coming from the sight of the constant distress in the\ncrowded East of London,--distress arising from want of work, food,\nlight, air, and room to live and breathe in, and the comfort here\nbeheld and experienced through the abundance of all; the pure fresh\nair, the sight of 'God's blessings growing out of our mother earth,'\nthe ground ready to bestow so rich a return for all the labour\nbestowed on it, and the only want that of the human hands--the hands\nthat, in our own land, are to be had so easily, that human beings are\nexpected to work like machines, and human frames are used as though\nmade of brass or iron.\"\n\nMiss Macpherson was not permitted to remain many days quietly at\nBelleville. The call came for her to go farther into Western Canada,\nand this eventually resulted in the establishing of the Home at Galt.\nThe journey is thus described in her own words:--\n\n\"Believing that our gift was to pioneer, we left our dear friends\nembosomed at Marchmont among the bursting maple trees in loveliest\nspring-time. At early dawn on May 23rd we started, with a party of\ntwenty of our boys of different ages, for Woodstock and Embro, a\ndistrict of country where thousands of Scotch families have settled,\nand where there has been a wave of blessing from the Lord, through\nthe faithful preaching of evangelists in the past year. Therefore we\nlonged to 'spy' the land, not so much to gain an increase of dollars\nor more cultivated land for our boys, but our object was to find\nhearts that had been awakened to newness of life; and we trusted that\nwith such our children would be nourished by the sincere milk of the\nWord, and grow thereby into godly men and faithful witnesses of the\nLord Jesus.\"\n\n\"At the close of a long and hot day's travel, we reached Woodstock;\nand though a single telegram had been the only announcement of our\nexpected arrival, warm hearts greeted us. Next day the boys were\ngazed at, admired, wished for, questioned, and _feted_, until we\nbegan to fear lest they should be spoiled by seeing the great demand\nfor them, and the eagerness with which they were sought after, being\nconsidered, as they term them, 'smart boys.' With ourselves it was a\nday of much prayer for the needed wisdom. And in the afternoon,\n(being the Queen's birthday, and kept by loyal Canadians as a\ncomplete holiday), the dear boys went off with us through shady\ngroves for a walk. We went into a cemetery, and read together from\nour penny Gospels the 9th of St. John. But here we were found out,\nand invited to one of the loveliest country-seats we had ever seen.\nIt had been an old Indian settlement, and from its groves we had a\nview of the distant woodlands clothed in richest foliage. On a\nbeautiful lawn, the old Scotchman, with tearful tenderness, fed our\ndear boys with unaccustomed dainties, and jugs full of new milk.\"\n\n\"In the evening a Scotchman arrived from a still more western\ndistrict, Arkona, deputed by his neighbours to come for seven more\nboys. We could, however, only spare him five. The boy he took from us\nlast year had behaved so well, that the demand had increased. Then\ncame those painful leave-takings; and to see great boys of sixteen\nand seventeen sobbing, was no easy work for my clinging heart; but He\nwho scattered His disciples, and went Himself by lonely pathways,\nknew our need, even at this time.\"\n\n\"Next day we went farther inland, nine miles beyond the railroad, to\nEmbro. There we found 'democrats,' each with a pair of horses, for the\nboys and luggage, in which they went off in high glee, under the care\nof a good man of my own name; and for myself and friend, a Highlander\nlong frae the hills of our native land, had sent a carriage and pair\nof splendid spirited horses.\"\n\n\"Our party of boys had by this time considerably decreased; and had\nthey been hundreds instead of ones, of similarly trained boys, there\nwould have been no difficulty in distributing them into good homes.\"\n\n\"Canada is just now in a most prosperous state. Farmers' sons do not\nremain at home, but either, enter professions or stores, or go\nfarther West to colonise. Hence the need of further help, which is\nmet by our boys, who take their place, beginning with the A B C of\nfarm-work, or, as Canadians express it, 'choring round.'\n\n\"This new district was very pleasing to a Scotch eye--hill and\ndale, rich woods, substantial farmhouses, richly cultivated orchards,\nbeautiful with blossom; picturesque views of gushing rivers in wild\ngorges, with grand old monarchs of the forest telling the tales of\nyears gone by, ere the emigrant's axe had laid their companions low.\"\n\n\"We reached a lovely village, and were warmly welcomed by 'Macs' of\nevery name, reminding one of childhood's summers spent in the\nHighlands of old Scotia. Here we were at home; the sweet assurance of\na Saviour's love shone in the faces that now surrounded us; we were\non the trail of an evangelist, and Jesus 'lifted-up' had been beheld,\nmaking faces beam with thankfulness to Him who had given Himself for\nthem.\"\n\n\"The kind McAuley, who had opened his house and heart in expectation\nof the whole twenty boys from London, had himself been overwhelmed\nwith love-offerings in the shape of food the good neighbours had sent\nin, vying with each other in showing kindness to the orphan and the\nstranger.\n\n\"Ah! what a power and privilege is granted to us women, in that we\nare permitted to arise and second the work of the evangelist by\nshowing our faith by our works, and giving to the Christians in this\nland of plenty and _no_ poverty objects upon which to work out\ntheir love! Words fail to depict the extreme tenderness and delicate\nattention shown to us, for Jesus' sake, during the forty-eight hours\nwe spent in the midst of this kindred people.\n\n\"In the evening the old Scotch kirk was filled to the door, and\nafter the singing of some sweet hymns and several heart-breathings of\nprayer, we spoke of the dealings of the Lord in this mission among\nthe children of our million-peopled city. Whilst doing this, it was\ndifficult to realise that we were not at home, among the dear\nbrothers and sisters who are wont to meet with us for prayer at the\nHome of Industry.\n\n\"The thank-offering to the Lord at the close was spontaneous, also\nthe supply of food sent in by the farmers, and which was sufficient\nfor a hundred children. It seemed almost more than my poor heart\ncould bear when I called to mind the starving multitudes gathered in,\nand ravenously devouring the morsel of bread dealt out to them in\nLondon. It made me long that the Christian women of our land would\nrise up in some great national movement, and help many thousands of\nour oppressed families to come out to this land of plenty, where\nmillions of acres are crying for labour. It is no romance nor ideal\nof a heated brain, but a plain, practical way of showing our\nChristianity, this bearing the burdens of many a sinking, crushed-down\nfamily.\n\n\"The much-dreaded Canadian winter is really the most enjoyable\nperiod of the whole year, and when it is over one hears of nothing\nbut sorrow that 'winter's noo awa.'\"\n\nMiss Macpherson had intended returning to England in October, but\nwas delayed for a time by many calls for service. From Montreal she\nwrites:--\n\n\"Strike another note of praise for the answer to the many prayers of\nour Glasgow fellow-labourers. A friend in Scotland has been stirred up\nto give 2000 pounds in order to build an Emigration Refuge in that\ncity, that homeless lads may be trained for Canada. Let us unite in\nasking that ere long similar Homes may be opened in Edinburgh and\nLiverpool, where poor and oppressed orphans abound. Before returning\nto you, we trust that corresponding Homes on this side will be in\ncourse of preparation, one in the East and another in the West, so\nthat when the 150 young emigrants arrive at Quebec, fifty can proceed\nat once to each Home for distribution.\n\n\"We leave Marchmont accompanied in our mission carriage by two boys;\nand these two have histories which contain a lesson for all boys.\nTheir antecedents in England were much the same--orphanage, want of\ncaretakers, misery. One is still self-willed, having no mercy on\nhimself, a runaway from the home in which we had placed him, and was\nbrought to us a second time by the police as homeless. We are now\ntaking him back to his master to hear all about the grievances, and\nfind out that they arose from his determination not to go to school.\nA boy that does not value the opportunities afforded him, but prefers\ngrowing up in ignorance, must suffer for it sooner or later. May all\nboys who read this determine to apply themselves to every lesson\nheartily; each difficulty overcome will render it more easy to master\nthe next.\n\n\"The other boy was one of the first hundred; he arrived by train\nfrom Toronto at midnight, and rang us up, expecting admittance, for\nhe felt that he was coming home to see his friends, his master having\ngiven him a holiday. This boy, though utterly alone in the world,\nsnatched by us from a life in London stables, stands there, at\nfourteen, a self-reliant little man, with his purpose in life\nclearly defined. He is not many minutes in the house before he\ndiscloses the joy it is to come home, and tells us how he has as good\na suit of Sunday-clothes to put on as any gentleman.\n\n\"Next morning he sits during Bible-lesson in the schoolroom side by\nside with the ne'er-do-weel. Both are received for Jesus' sake, the\none in his poverty and self-will, the other in his good suit and\nself-complacency, but both still wanting the 'one thing needful' to\nfit them for the home and mansions on high. Whilst endeavouring to\nexplain how Jesus had loved them, and wrought out a righteousness for\nthem, and was as willing to receive them as we had been, and that He\nhad a large and loving heart, and cared for the many hundreds still\nwandering about in the great city, tears filled the eyes of the\nlittle group. Just picture what we felt as J--- P---, in the most\nhumble and childlike way, put his hand in his pocket and drew out\ntwenty-five dollars, saying, 'Miss, that will bring another.'\n\n\"My words ceased, and a choking feeling came into my throat as the\nlesson was being learnt by half-a-dozen of self-willed returned boys.\nMuch we longed that all our children could have witnessed this scene.\nVery few of them, except the selfish and depraved, would like to be\nbehind J--- P--- in having the privilege of giving us so much\nencouragement in this work.\n\n\"The first year J--- P--- received no wagers, only his food and\nclothes; now, his services having become valuable, he gets six\ndollars a month. He has purchased for himself a silver watch, a good\novercoat, and has also returned most honourably his passage-money,\ntherefore he has received his neatly framed and beautifully\nilluminated discharge, to hang up, showing he is now no longer a poor\nemigrant.\n\n\"J--- holds that the habit of saving the cents is the secret of\nsuccess, and he intends plodding on until he can purchase a farm of\nhis own, and we think it will not be very long before he does so, if\nhis life is spared. Thus he accompanies us as a son, and as such is\nreceived and lodged in the various homes we visit.\n\n\"It was most amusing to hear him tell the runaway sitting by him in\nthe carriage how to get on and advise him not to give way to his own\nwill and his own temper.\n\n\"By boys this advice is more easily given than taken, as was proved\nin this case. We left the boy on his promising that he would be\nobedient and go to school. But the subtle enemy, ere the day was out,\ngave this boy of fourteen years old the idea of being his own master,\nrather than live out that wondrous word of four letters, _obey_.\nAgain he escaped from a good home, and after wandering many miles,\nknocked late at night at a ferryman's, and asked for food. Here\nRobert Jack, a kind Scotchman, recognised the English corduroy, and\nat once met him with, 'You are one of Miss Macpherson's' boys.' He\nwas fed and lodged, and strange to say, next day we were led, in the\ncourse of our journey, to cross that very ferry. The young runaway\nseeing us from the window exclaimed, 'Oh! here comes Mr. Thorn,' and\nwould have hidden away from our sight, knowing he was doing wrong,\nfor he would not understand that we were his friends, willing to help\nand love him. Oh, may all boys who read this seek earnestly to\nbelieve that Jesus is their very best Friend, and He only can remove\ntheir self-will and blindness of heart!\n\n\"In crossing the ferry early in the summer, we had spoken faithfully\nto this ferryman, and had sent him the 'Life of Robert Annan' by\npost. They had been schoolfellows together, and after reading the\nbook, he got many others to read it also. This small sixpenny gift,\naccompanied by prayer, had done a work. Robert was willing to become\na co-worker with us, and is now trying to train to honest industry\nour little self-willed runaway. Thus we hope that in the log-hut of\nthe Scottish ferryman he may learn to read and write, and that the\nblessed Spirit will work on the hearts of both master and boy.\n\n\"The experience of yearning over this orphan boy moved our hearts to\nspeak of Jesus, who bore with such long-suffering love our own\nrebelliousness ere we came to Him.\"\n\nThe story has been told before of the first poor girl rescued in the\nEast of London through Miss Macpherson's blessed agency, one whose\nfather had died suddenly of cholera, whose mother had thrown herself\ninto a canal, and, though rescued, had been, through drink, a source\nof misery to her children. The eldest brother [Footnote: This boy,\nnow a shoemaker, has written asking to be allowed to have one of the\nlads, as an apprentice.] of this poor girl, about sixteen years of\nage, had been brought out the previous year to Canada, and appearing\none day at Marchmont, I thought from his looks and dress that he was\none of the farmers' sons come to engage a boy, little thinking that\nso short a time had passed since he was destitute as the poorest\namong them.\n\nIn England we are so accustomed to the sorrowful sight of neglected\nchildren, it can hardly be imagined by us how such a fact strikes a\nCanadian. Often have I seen the tears in the eyes of the farmers at\nthe sight of little ones brought so far to seek a home at such an\nearly age. This was especially the case with regard to little Annie\nreferred to in the following lines, the youngest of three sisters\nleft motherless in a workhouse. When I last saw this little sufferer\nhealth and strength had been given to her, and she was the pet of all\nin a home of comfort.\n\n\n  \"OUT OF THE MOUTHS OF BABES AND SUCKLINGS.\"\n\n  \"From the mouths of babes and sucklings,\"\n    Was the Psalmist's grateful word,\n  \"Thou hast perfected Thy praises,\"\n    And I thank Thee, gracious Lord.\n\n  And e'en yet from infant voices\n    Words of wondrous meaning fall,\n  And the Christian's heart rejoices,\n    For he knows his Father's call.\n\n  Little Annie sat beside me,\n    Smiles upon her baby face;\n  Early sorrow, early suffering,\n    On her cheek had left their trace.\n\n  Little feet, too weak to wander\n    Where the merry children play;\n  'Neath the flickering aspen shadows,\n    By broad Quinte's sunny bay.\n\n  Thoughts of pitying love came thronging\n    As I thought how Jesus came;\n  How He blessed the little children,\n    How He healed the sick and lame.\n\n  So I asked the little maiden,\n    \"Annie, Jesus cares for you--\n  If we saw Him now beside us,\n    Can you think what He would do?\"\n\n  Strangely solemn, seemed the answer,\n    (Listen, sisters o'er the sea);\n  \"Jesus, just to you would give me,\n    And would bid you care for me.\"\n\n  English sisters, rich and gifted!\n    Ask your hearts, Can this be true?\n  Christ hath many a homeless orphan,\n    Is He saying this to you?\n\n  \"Take this child and nurse it for Me?\"\n    Will you dare to say Him nay?\n  Dare to let His children perish,\n    Or in evil paths to stray?\n\n  If too stately are your dwellings,\n    Send them hither, let them come;\n  In our fair Canadian homesteads,\n    Gladly we will make them room.\n\n  Room where orchard boughs are dropping\n    Fruit that waits their hands to pull;\n  Room to rest, and room to labour,\n    Room in home, in church, in school.\n\n  When the winter snow lies sparkling,\n    They shall share our winter joys,\n  Tinkling bells and merry sleigh-ride,\n    With our laughing girls and boys.\n\n  When our maple pours its nectar,\n    They shall share the luscious treat;\n  Where the woodland strawb'ries cluster,\n    Glad shall stray their little feet.\n\n  When our Sabbath-scholars gather,\n    They shall join the joyous throng;\n  Sweet will sound their English voices,\n    'Mid the burst of children's song.\n\n  Sisters, shall we share the blessing?\n    Bring the lambs to Jesu's fold?\n  _Ours_ are homes of peace and plenty,\n    To _your_ hands He gives the gold.\n\n  S. R. GELDARD.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\n1872.\n\nThe need of a Home further West--Burning of the Marchmont Home--Home\nrestored by Canadian gifts--Miss Macpherson and Miss Reavell arrive\nin Canada--First visit to Knowlton in the East--Belleville Home\nrestored by Canadian friends--Help for the Galt Home--Miss Macpherson\nreturns to England--Miss Reavell remains at Galt.\n\n\nIn her first letter on returning to England Miss Macpherson writes:--\n\n\"BELOVED FELLOW-WORKERS,--Once more at home among the old familiar\nscenes in the East of London, the sadness and the sin shadows our joy\nand thanksgiving. My first visit in the immediate vicinity of the\nRefuge I shall not soon forget.\n\n\"Taking good news of Andrew in Canada to his mother, I found his\nfather lying dead drunk in one corner, and his little brother lying\ndead waiting to be carried off to the grave by the parish in the\nother.\n\n\"In the first low women's lodging-house, I found a poor misguided\ngirl asking me, 'How's my little sister?'\n\n\"Passing on to Mr. Holland in George Yard, I cheered him with\nanswers to his many inquiries as to the placing out of his rescued\nones.\n\n\"Many a warm shake of the hand I had from poor costermongers and\ngrey-headed men, for what had been done for their belongings in\ntaking them from the sin and want around.\n\n\"My way is now open to go forward, as means permit, to rescue girls\nand train them for Canada or for service in England.\"\n\nMiss Macpherson goes on to tell of the purchase of the Galt Home,\n300 miles westward, and states the need in these words:--\n\n\"We found that to educate our Canadian family, and thoroughly fit\nthem to be of value to the farmer, a few fields to work upon would be\nan advantage, that they might see the effects of new soil and\nclimate, in the growth of vegetables, shrubs, and farm produce.\"\n\n\"Thou hast tried us as silver is tried. We went through fire and\nthrough water, but Thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place.\" This\nwas the experience of the beginning of the year 1872. Miss\nBilbrough's letter brings to mind Deut. xxxiii. 12.\n\n\"BELLEVILLE, _January 29_, 1872.\n\n\"DEAREST ANNIE,--It is indeed difficult to begin a letter to you,\nwhen I know you always open our letters feeling sure of good news.\nAnd yet this one brings you the best you ever had. Lives spared, I\ntrust, to work more than ever for Him who hath done such great things\nfor us. Our song is one of continual thankfulness and praise, and I\nknow you will join us in giving thanks. Our beautiful Home lies in\nruins, only the walls standing, and there is one little grave dug by\nBenjamin Stanley's, containing the ashes of little Robbie Gray.\n\n\"I hardly know how to begin, it still seems so terrible and real.\n\n\"We had had a happy Sabbath. We were to have an early breakfast next\nmorning, and I awoke in the night thinking it was daylight. Miss\nBaylis came to my door, which was shut, saying, 'Miss Bilbrough,\nthere's smoke!'\n\n\"I jumped up, and oh, the feeling, when I saw the house full of\ndense white smoke! I knew well what it must be. I rushed to Mr.\nThorn's room, he was sleeping heavily, but I roused him, saying the\nhouse was on fire; then I went down to the boys, Philips and Keen,\nwho were in the schoolroom, called them up and told them to save the\nchildren, and rushed upstairs, nearly choked, calling 'Fire!'\n\n\"Mrs. Wade, Miss Baylis, Miss Moore, all came out. Downstairs I ran\nagain and unfastened the front door, and went to the corner of the\nverandah. Philips was getting out the children, and the flames were\ncoming on with frightful rapidity; it was blowing a perfect\nhurricane, and the whole building was enveloped in smoke and ashes; I\nran back half-way upstairs to see if I could get a dress, or my\ncash-box, or watch, but I was too much suffocated, and had to get back\nto the front door. Mrs. Wade, Miss Baylis, and the children, were\nmaking for the fence. I saw Mr. Thorn, and called to him to search\nagain with Philips for the children.\n\n\"The intense cold in the snow seemed almost worse to bear than fire.\nWe all climbed the fence and ran to the nearest house. Poor Mrs. Wade\nhad got her hands frozen, even in that short time, as the thermometer\nwas about twelve or fifteen degrees below zero.\n\n\"Here we called over the names of the children; some were here, some\nin another house, sitting over the stove with bare legs and only\ntheir little shirts on. Soon little Robbie was found missing, but\nPhilips had lifted him out, and he had been seen running with the\nothers; we suppose that the poor child, blinded with smoke, ran to\nthe front door, and then went through into the schoolroom, the place\nhe knew best, where he must soon have been suffocated. It was all\nover in a few minutes, all around was fearfully bright and lurid. The\nengine came, but was of course too late, the fire spread with such\nterrible rapidity.\n\n\"We sat almost stunned with fright and cold. Soon the Shearings and\nElliotts came, bringing clothes, &c., and we went to dear Mrs.\nElliott's house in a sleigh. It was not four A.M., and the fire was\nalmost out, burning round the verandah and the window-sills.\n\n\"Oh, how our hearts went up in thankfulness to God for sparing\nmercies! A few moments more, and we dread to think of what might have\nbeen. Miss Baylis' door being ajar, the smoke got in; mine was shut,\nmy room was free, but I saw the light on the window. Miss Moore was\nin Miss Lowe's bedroom; she could not realise it, and, after being\nfirst roused, was going to bed again.\n\n\"As soon as it was daylight I went with Mr. Thorn to see the ruins.\nAll around the melted snow had frozen like iron; the thermometer,\nwhich was hung on the verandah, was found uninjured; nothing was\nfound but a table and one stove; all gone. Books, papers, clothes,\neverything; but there in the blackened ruin lay distinctly the\ncharred frame of little Robbie. Mr. Thorn went for Dr. Holden and a\ncoffin, and the remains were brought to Mr. Elliott. Dear little\nfellow, he was the most prepared of any of the little ones to go.\nThis is such a comfort to me now.\n\n\"I had gathered the little ones round me in the evening before the\nfire, when the others were at church, and we had sung some sweet\nhymns. I made Robbie especially stand beside me, and made him sing\nalone. 'I will sing for Jesus,' was the hymn he chose. He sang it\nsweetly. How little did I think in a few hours he would be singing\nthe 'new song' before the throne! His history in our book is very\ntouching. 'Robert Gray, aged six; a happy little man, who can say\nlittle or nothing about himself.' The rest of the page is blank, as\nhe had never been away from Marchmont. An inquest was held over the\nbody. We wished it especially, so that we might have an investigation\nas to the cause of the fire.\n\n\"Dearest Annie, when I think what it might have been, and the grief\nof all at home, and the intense sorrow, oh, it makes one so thankful!\nI felt Jesus very precious through it all, recognising His hand in so\nmany ways. I had had much blessed communion with Him that Sunday, and\nseveral seasons of sweet prayer. I can fully realise that for me it\nwould have been all right, if the Lord had ordered it otherwise; but\nfor the sake of those at home I bless God for life spared, and trust\nearnestly the Lord may give us all increased power and spiritual\nlife. Having passed through 'the fire,' may we also receive the\nbaptism of the Holy Ghost. And oh, may our lives be more and more\ndevoted to His service! Not our own, but bought with a price, may we\nlive more and more unto Him who hath loved us!\n\n\"Miss Moore was out at nine o'clock in the woodshed; all was safe\nthen. Mrs. Wade locked the doors at ten with stable lantern in the\nwood-shed (the boys' summer dining-room), and then all was safe; the\nfire in the kitchen stove was out. She came shivering in to-prayers a\nlittle after ten. The parlour fire was nearly out, and Miss Baylis\nand I were quite cold. The fire upstairs was not lit, nor had any\nashes been taken up on Sunday morning. If any had been removed on\nSaturday, they were placed in iron vessels in the first kitchen. The\nfire broke out in the further corner of the wood-shed. The cause is\nso far quite unknown, and will, I suppose, ever remain so.\n\n\"I send you the account of the inquest, and other papers, as I know\nwell it is better to see and know all particulars. I cannot, however,\ntell of all the kindness and sympathy we have met with--a telegram\nfrom Mr. Claxton, offering money, &c., Hon. George Alien wishing to\ntake the children; Mr. Eason: 'I am praying for you, can I help by\ncoming?' numbers of friends coming with clothes of every kind;\nsubscriptions got up to start a new Home immediately; sewing\nsocieties at work and ladies canvassing the town in every direction\nfor help to furnish another Home at once. I could not even begin to\nparticularise our friends. Mr. Flint came up at eight, begging me to\ncome to his house.\n\n\"This afternoon we have buried little Robin. The service was held in\nMr. Elliott's church.\n\n\"How often we have thought of home friends during the last few days,\nand longed that you might not hear the news in any way till this\nreaches you, which will be nearly three weeks! and now you must fancy\nus happy at our work again, and as much under the loving care and\nprotection of our God as ever, trusting only to Him for everything,\nthat whether absent from the body, or still in the flesh, we may be\nmore and more filled with faith and love for the Lord's work.\n\n\"Wednesday. We seem each day to realise only more fully our\nmarvellous escape. The firemen say they never remember such a night,\nnor saw a house burn so rapidly. Now every one is so kind; things\nkeep pouring in for the new Home;--it is to be Canadian this time,\nnot English. Mr. Flint says he has written to you, telling you all,\nbut he could not tell you one quarter of the kindness we have met\nwith on every hand.\n\n\"Oh, that verse in Isa. lxiv. II, is so expressive:\n\n\"'Our beautiful house where we praised Thee is burnt up with fire,\nand all our pleasant things are laid waste.' What a ruin Marchmont is\nnow! the blackened ashes all around--nothing but the walls standing.\nI feel such mingled feelings as I look at it--all the happy days we\nhave spent there--the holy associations never to return again.\n\n\"'We have no continuing city here,' was the text which filled Mr.\nThorn's mind, and it is one we hope more than ever to keep before us.\nThis trial seems to have given the four of us deeper sympathy and\ninterest together. So nearly entering eternity together, and yet\nsaved, we trust, to render more devoted service to the Master, for\nhaving passed through this fiery trial.\n\n\"I can hardly bear to think of all the sorrow you are feeling for\nus; but oh! let thanksgiving and praise be uppermost. It is the one\nthought that fills our minds. We are wonderful in health, no cold,\nand are as occupied as possible, looking after the children, and\npreparing for the new Home. Happily, Charlie the horse, the sleigh,\nand the buffalo robes are safe, and most useful we find them now.\n\n\"I am so thankful that it will be nearly three weeks ere you know,\nand you must think of it as past and gone, and, if possible, just at\nfirst see the beginning of great good in making the work more known,\nand rousing the sympathies of others.\"\n\n\n      What, Marchmont gone!\n  That pleasant Home nought but a memory now;\n  And yet, in humble thankfulness we bow,--\n      Father, Thy will be done.\n\n      It was but lent:\n  Thou wilt not that Thy children fix their heart\n  On aught below: theirs is a better part--\n      A treasury unspent.\n\n      Still are its memories dear!\n  The maple shadows that around it lay,\n  Stirred by the breezes from the silvery bay,\n      Or bathed in moonlight clear--\n\n      How fair were they!\n  Lovely when decked with earliest buds of spring,\n  Loveliest when radiant autumn came to fling\n      A glory on each spray.\n\n      Oh home of praise and prayer!\n  Where glad sweet voices raised the morning hymn,\n  Pleaded for blessing in the twilight dim,\n      Or thrilled the midnight air.\n\n      Can we forget\n  The meetings and the partings we have known?\n  The welcome glad, the farewell's sadder tone--\n      Ah, we remember yet.\n\n      We were not there\n  When thro' its halls the fierce destroyer swept;\n  But God was watching, while our dear ones slept--\n      Safe were they in His care.\n\n      All safe with Him;\n  Yes, for our Robbie \"sings for Jesus\" now\n  In sweeter tones, with far more sunny brow,\n      And eyes no tear's can dim.\n\n      They wait His word--\n  Stanley and Robbie side by side--and we\n  Caught up together with them soon shall be\n      For ever with the Lord.\n\n  S. R. GELDARD.\n\n\nAll former kindness was as nothing compared to that now received, as\nwill be seen by the following from Miss Bilbrough:--\n\n\"BELLEVILLE, _February 2, 1872_.\n\n\"I know that many many prayers are now being offered for us, and\nthat the Lord is answering them every minute, giving us sustaining\ngrace and wisdom, and help as to the future. I knew it would be five\nweeks before I could hear from you, and I could trust that all we\nmight arrange here would meet your approval, as it has generally done.\n\n\"However, the Belleville people, with Mr. Flint at their head, quite\ntook the matter out of my hand, being determined that they would\nprovide and furnish themselves a still better house than Marchmont.\nThe sympathy awakened is great, and the pleasure of friends at\nhearing that we could have a large substantial house on the Kingston\nRoad for our orphan children was equally so. Mr. Flint has secured it\nfor three years, the Council paying the rent and taxes, and\nsufficient is already gathered to furnish it. So that when the first\narrivals come in May, all will be ready for them.\n\n\"How good the Lord is! even out of apparent trial He brings the\ngood. We had been praying for special blessing, and in this way,\n(strange as it seems to us), we do recognise the answer.\"\n\nIn March, Miss Macpherson writes:--\n\n\"BELOVED FRIENDS,--While you are reading this, my pathway will again\nbe upon the mighty deep. The Lord willing, I look to leave Liverpool\nby steam-ship 'Scandinavian,' March 7th. Miss Reavell, who has for\ntwo years been our scribe in the Refuge, accompanies me. Your prayers\nhave gone up that blessing may be ours, as a little band of feeble\nworkers for our Lord, and if He has been pleased to try our faith by\nthe trial of fire, shall we not praise Him for anything His loving\nhand doth send us? And as one has beautifully said, 'What God takes\nit is always gain to lose.' Heaven is nearer now our little Robbie is\nthere; Jesus is dearer, and has quickened us all by His constraining\nlove.\n\n\"My object in going now to Canada without children is twofold.\nStrength being given, my desire is to visit the new districts, where\nI hope in the coming summer to place out the hundreds now under\nexcellent training and holy influence here and in Scotland, and to\nfind out Christian families who may be willing to receive them on\narrival. Plead that the Holy Spirit may fill with power those who are\ndaily seeking to win these wanderers back to the fold.\n\n\"Secondly, I wish to make use of the late sad calamity, and God's\nwonderful interposition in saving life, so that the teaching may not\nbe lost upon the hundreds of immortal souls connected with our\nmission.\"\n\nIt is impossible to describe the eagerness with which the arrival of\nthese dear friends was looked for, and day after day, those in\nservice in and around Belleville would come with the hope of seeing\nthem. And among these were former match-box makers, who had been\nrescued from such depths of sorrow; one of whom had already saved\nfrom her wages sufficient to pay her brother's passage out, besides\nbringing offerings of her own work towards the furnishing of Miss\nMacpherson's room in the new House. Through many dangers they were\nbrought safely, in answer to many prayers, but Miss Reavell had\nsuffered much on the voyage, and one special instance of the Lord's\ncare I cannot help here recording, \"They shall abundantly utter the\nmemory of Thy great goodness.\" Miss Reavell had been a most diligent\nand necessary labourer at the Home of Industry night and day. At sea\nher strength seemed to fail; she only existed on oranges, and the\nlast orange was gone. In the midst of a fearful storm, signals were\nmade by another vessel that they were without food, and the life-boat\nwas put off from the steamer, carrying to the distressed vessel a\nbarrel of flour and pork In return, a thank-offering came in the\nshape of two boxes of the best oranges, the ship being from Palermo,\nbound for New York with a cargo of fruit. \"Even the very hairs of\nyour head are all numbered.\"\n\nThe visit of Miss Barber, a Canadian lady of influence, to the Home\nof Industry, was the means of interesting friends in the Eastern\nTownships' Province of Quebec, and of leading them to open a Home at\nKnowlton.\n\nThe following letter is from Miss Macpherson:--\n\n\"The year's experiment in this new district will enable us to test it\nas to whether it will be a suitable one for our children; if so, it\nwill not cost many pounds of English money. The old house we have\ntaken was formerly a tavern, and its ball-room will make us an\nexcellent dormitory; the rent is only 20 pounds, and is paid entirely\nby a Canadian. Should the children thrive under the fostering care of\nour dear friend Miss Barber (now doubly dear to us all after the\nwinter of help she has given us in the East of London), there will be\nno difficulty in establishing a permanent Home, built of brick, half\nof the necessary sum having already been subscribed in and around\nSheffield, Leeds, and Nottingham; and the other half our friends in\nthe province of Quebec have freely offered to collect. Thus will those\nboth on this side and at home share the benefits; the old country\nseeing hundreds educated that might otherwise in a few years become\nexpensive criminals, and the new country, receiving, ere habits are\nfixed, young life which, in future, will call Canada 'the home of its\nadoption.'\n\n\"Though, according to all accounts, this is an uncommonly heavy\nsnow-season, I have no fears for the children, the air is so dry and\nclear, and well fitted to invigorate their frames. This morning I\nstarted about five o'clock, and soon forgot the fear which had crept\nover me but a week ago, when I took my first winter journey among\nthese snowy hills. 'Knowledge is power,' and the experience of dangers\nmet and passed gives quietness and confidence.\n\n\"You will be imagining that owing to these prolonged snow-storms all\nwork is stayed. Not so; everything goes on most vigorously--lumbering,\ncarting, cutting wood for summer's need. Ladies seem\nalways busy; yet as it is often seen, those who have most to do can\nbest arrange to be at leisure. There is an education of forethought\ncaused by having to watch against the heat and cold; this has deeply\ninterested me in the practical manner in which they are going to work\nin furnishing this Eastern Townships' Home. In return for the\nkindness shown to this Mission, may the whole district be spiritually\nblessed, and may our loving Lord be the joy and strength of each\nfaithful labourer!\n\n\"The heavy calamity that it pleased our Father to send by fire, has\naccomplished in a few weeks that which would otherwise, humanly\nspeaking, have taken many years to make known. Our motives and\nprinciples of service were all new, and even our simple faith and\ntrust in prayer were often misunderstood. Though we had travelled\nseveral thousands of miles in Canada, seeking to stir up Christians\nto aid us in finding and watching over the right home for our\nchildren, we had no medium on this side like 'The Christian,' by\nwhich we could communicate with those like-minded, and tell them of\nour burdens.\n\n\"The Hon. B. Flint tells us how the hearts of his fellow-townsmen\nwere moved with compassion on hearing of the destruction of the\nChildren's Home, on that terrible night, and that some of them\nattempted to ascend the hill and offer aid, but had to turn back,\nunable to face the hurricane and tempest.\n\n\"The citizens of Belleville have contributed freely towards\nreplacing the Home, and the Lord's dear children all over the land\nhave sent their love-offerings. The County Council received\ntestimonies from many of the homesteads concerning the six hundred\nchildren placed out round Belleville, and generously contributed 500\ndollars to show their esteem for the work. The funds in hand led Mr.\nFlint, after the withdrawal of the rented house at first proposed, to\npurchase a freehold of three and a quarter acres, possessing a good\nhouse and out-buildings, which were adapted to our use by the\naddition of dormitories, and furnished by the aid of the ladies of\nBelleville. This Home is now given to us for so long as it shall be\nused by our mission band in connection with the emigration of\nchildren to this district.\"\n\nIn April, a detachment of thirty elder boys arrived, to be followed\nquickly by others.\n\nIn June 1872, when 150 emigrants arrived, 50 children were sent to\neach of the three Homes now opened to receive them, and for several\nyears this order was observed, until other arrangements were made to\nmeet the growing character of the work.\n\nThe following tells of the progress of the Galt Home:--\n\n\"Many will wish to know how this Home at Galt shapes itself, and\nwould be amused at the varied occupations of the past week.\n\n\"A Canadian springtime is very brief, so we have had to buy a span\nof horses and a plough, and, with the aid of other neighbours'\nploughs, the corn and clover seed will soon be all sown. The ladies\nof several churches have met in the council-chamber, and worked at\nall household gear, others superintending the house arrangements, and\npurchasing necessary things.\n\n\"My part has been that of a faithful recipient, giving praise from\nhour to hour to Him who hath laid my every burden here on His own\nchildren's hearts. The past little season has been to me a precious\nrest-time, seeing others work. We expect to be all in order by the\narrival of our next party. The threshing-floor we have transformed\ninto a dining-room; one of the barns is fitted up as a dormitory. The\nchaff-house makes a lavatory; and, from the interest around, we do\nnot expect to keep our little men very long out of the homes waiting\nfor them.\n\n\"The love-tokens here, as at home, are varied in their character.\nOur farmer's wife has set us up with poultry, another with eggs; a\nlittle boy brought us his pet hen as an offering; indeed, wherever we\nturn, some kind thought is shown, and our hearts are gladdened, and\nour faith is able to rejoice at the prospect of returning home, and\ngathering up another thousand precious young immortals from the\ndepths of our sin-stricken cities, and placing them out in homes\nwhere Jesus is loved.\"\n\nIn June, Miss Macpherson was welcomed back with warm thanksgivings,\nhaving left the Home at Galt under the wise and loving care of her\nfaithful companion, Miss Reavell. In after years Mr. and Mrs. Merry\ndevoted themselves chiefly to this branch of the work, and have been\nthe watchful and tender foster parents of this ever-varying family.\nIt would be hard to say whether Mrs. Merry's presence was more valued\nhere, or among the sorrowful widowed mothers in Spitalfields.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\n1872-1874.\n\nLetter from Rev. A. M. W. Christopher--Letter from Gulf of St.\nLawrence-Mrs. Birt's Sheltering Home, Liverpool--Letter to Mrs.\nMerry--Letter from Canada--Miss Macpherson's return to England--\nLetter of cheer for Dr. Barnardo--Removal to Hackney Home.\n\n\nThough human praise is not sought, we cannot but feel peculiar\npleasure in giving the following testimony from a servant of the Lord\nso much revered as the Rev, A. M. W. Christopher of Oxford:--\n\n\"Of all the works of Christian benevolence which the great love of\nChrist constrains His servants to carry on, with which I have become\npersonally acquainted, not one, has impressed me more deeply, by its\ngreat usefulness, than the work of God carried on by Miss Macpherson\nand her fellow-labourers. She has in three years transplanted more\nthan twelve hundred boys and girls from almost hopeless circumstances\nof misery and temptation in Great Britain, to healthy, happy,\nindustrious homes in Canada. And this has not been all; daily efforts\nhave been made in faith and love during the period of training, and\non the voyage, and in the Distributing Homes in Canada, to win these\nyoung hearts for Christ by means of the Gospel. There can be no doubt\nthat God has blessed these labours of love to bring many to Himself\nin the Lord Jesus.\n\n\"When I was in Canada last September, I made three special journeys\nexpressly to visit Miss Macpherson's three 'Distributing Homes' at\nGalt, Belleville, and Knowlton, respectively in the west, centre, and\neast of the Dominion.\n\n\"On September 10, 1872, I left Toronto at 5.30 A.M., and travelled\n113 miles to the east along the Grand Trunk Railway to Belleville,\nwhich is 220 miles west of Montreal. I took the Lady Superintendent,\nMiss Bilbrough, by surprise. Her sister was with her, having lately\nbrought over a hundred boys. These two young but experienced\nChristians are evidently full of faith and energy and delight in\ntheir work and of lore to the children. About a thousand boys and\ngirls brought out, or sent out by Miss Macpherson, had passed through\nthe Home in three years. She has herself placed out 800 boys and\ngirls, 600 of whom are in homes around Belleville. She meets with the\nkindest reception from the farmers with whom she has placed these\nchildren. _She could place out a thousand more if they were at once\nsent out_, the demand is so great. All the orphan children under\nnine years of age are adopted by farmers who have no children, to be\ntreated exactly as if they were their own. Miss Bilbrough, and also\nthe Lady Superintendents at Galt and Knowlton, never place a child in\na home unless the farmer brings a testimonial from his minister.\n\n\"The burning of the Home very much touched the people of Canada, who\nhad learned to appreciate the efforts for good connected with it; and,\nunasked for, dollars from kind Canadians poured in. Miss Bilbrough had\ndaily to write thanks to many. More than 3000 dollars (600 pounds)\nwere soon sent in, and instead of renting a house, they were able to\nbuy the first-rate one they now occupy, and which was given to Miss\nMacpherson, with so much kind feeling, by the Canadians.\n\n\"I was equally interested in the work of Miss Reavell in the Home at\nGalt, to the west of Toronto. This had only been established a few\nmonths before I visited it. Here also I was greatly impressed by the\npatient, painstaking Christian lore of those who had charge of the\nchildren. The children looked healthy, and happy, and ready for work.\n\n\"The last Home I visited was at Knowlton, an eastern township of the\nQuebec Province, south of the St. Lawrence. I heard that Miss Barber,\nthe Lady Superintendent, was nursing some of the children who had the\nsmallpox. I went to see her. It was quite clear that the love of\nChrist constrained her to devote herself with all her heart and\nstrength to the children committed to her care. I spoke with the\nuninfected children before I saw her. I was interested to see how\naccustomed they had been whilst in this Home to be treated with love.\nSoon three little ones climbed upon my knees, whilst I talked of\nJesus to them and the elder ones. Miss Barber is a lady of good\nposition, the half-sister of the excellent Judge of that district,\nlately Minister of Agriculture in the Dominion Government. In early\nlife she had very bad health, but has been raised up frond great\nweakness to work most diligently for Christ among the children who\npass through her Home. Her brother, the Judge, and his wife, who live\nat Knowlton, zealously do all they can to help the good work.\n\n\"Many in England know better than I do the great work for God, carried\non in connection with Miss Macpherson's 'Home of Industry,' Commercial\nStreet, Spitalfields, and the similar Homes at Glasgow, Edinburgh,\nDublin, and Liverpool. Others may visit these, and have their hearts\nstirred up to help forward the work by what they see in those Homes;\nbut Canada is a great way off, and, as an independent witness, I\ndesire to bear the strongest testimony to the Christian usefulness of\nthe work, and to the faithful, the wise and careful manner in which it\nis carried on. A far greater number of children might be thus\ntransplanted with the best results, under God's blessing, if\nsufficient means were supplied to Miss Macpherson. May I not hope that\nthe great love of Christ will constrain those who read this paper to\nsend help promptly, so that this work may be extended, and that many\nmore children may be rescued. Remember, dear reader, the love of your\nSaviour for little children. _'Look not every man on his own things,\nbut every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you,\nwhich, was also in Christ Jesus'_ (Phil ii. 4, 5). 10 pounds will fit\nout, and pay the passage of a child. How can 10 pounds be better\nspent? Try, dear reader, and raise 10 pounds among your friends, if\nyou cannot give it yourself. Or do what you can, however little that\nmay seem to you to be. The matter is urgent, the season is passing\naway. Pray send help at once, and strive to interest your friends in\nthe work. How many more might be rescued! What a contrast there is\nbetween the photographs of the miserable, hopeless children, taken\nwhen they are received at the Homes in this country, and the\nphotographs of the same children after they have been a few months in\nCanada; I have many such contrasts with me. They would move you to\nhelp this work of love. But, the love of Christ must be the great\nmotive; yet we should not forget that the Holy Spirit taught St. Paul\nto write, _'He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and\nhe which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every man\naccording as he purposeth in his heart so let him give: not grudgingly\nor of necessity, for God loveth a cheerful giver'_ (2 Cor. ix. 6, 7).\"\n\nIn May of this year, Miss Macpherson took out another party of young\nemigrants, and writes as follows:--\n\n_\"On board 'Circassian,' Gulf of St. Lawrence, May 5th, 1873._\n\n\"MY DEAR FELLOW-WORKERS,--Hitherto our blessed experience has been\nthat 'The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by Him, and the\nLord shall cover him all day long;' 'The eternal God is thy refuge,\nand underneath are the everlasting arms.' Our song is one of\nunmingled praise, and our little band is strengthened and invigorated\nby the voyage,--no storm permitted to alarm us by day or night We are\nnow entering the mighty Gulf, and passing through fields of ice; but\n'He who hath compassed the waters with bounds, and divided the sea\nwith His power,' maketh a right way for us and our little ones.\"\n\n\"Morning and evening, my dear fellow-workers have been enabled to\ncontinue sowing precious seed in these young hearts, so soon to bid\nus farewell. Our steerage has been the rendezvous, when weather\npermitted, of those who love praise and prayer. In quietness and rest\nwe have sought to renew our strength by waiting upon the Lord;\nholding up your hands by prayer, dear fellow-labourers, grasping the\nprecious fulness of the promises, for you as well as for ourselves,\nthat every opportunity given you upon Rag-market, in the courts and\nsorrowful dens around our Home, in every small room prayer-meeting,\nor-when you gather around the Word, may have been used, and\naccompanied by the 'demonstration of the Spirit' and signs following.\"\n\n\"We have to-day realised answers to your prayers for us, whilst\ncutting through miles of ice, going at the rate of two knots an hour,\nbut all has been peace and safety.\"\n\n\"We are now beyond the vast acres of frozen sea, and every hour\nbrings us into a warmer climate, and nearer to our desired haven.\nThose interested in our little band, may rest assured it has been a\nhappy voyage with each one. Not _one_ case of disobedience has\ncaused us anxiety. Early to sleep and early on deck has given good\nappetites, as all their brown and rosy cheeks do testify. At this\npoint of our journey we recall the experience of May 1870, entering a\nway unpassed heretofore. Now can we praise with a full heart, and\ntestify that His own 'I wills,' in Isa. xlii. 16, have been realised\nby us as a little band.\n\n\"We are now about to land with our 1520th child, our twelfth voyage,\nwithout a storm, thousands of welcomes from warm hearts awaiting us.\nOpen doors in scores of towns around each of our three missionary\ncentres, ready to receive the evangelists who travel with us. We ask\ncontinued prayers that they may be young Stephens, filled with faith\nand power, and that we maybe guided in the right distribution of the\ntracts and books we carry with us.\n\n\"And oh, dear pleaders, remember the many lonely, little hearts we\nare finding homes for; it is very sorrowful work unbinding, as it\nwere, the little twinings their sweet, obedient ways have already\nbound around us. Many were writing letters this morning ready to post\nwhen landing, but very many had not a love-link to earth. One little\nfellow said, 'I ain't got nobody to write to but you.' The one most\nlonely as to earth's relationships will soon become a solitary one\nset in a family; and again, if permitted, we shall return and gather\nin another family from the sad, sad, million-peopled city.--Yours, in\nthe bonds of the Gospel,\n\n\"Annie Macpherson.\n\n\"P. S.--May 7. We have landed under the brightest sunshine, on a\nwarm, balmy June-like day, feeling deeply thankful for all our\nheavenly Father's mercies. A deputation of Quebec Christian sisters\nawaited our touching the shore. What a bond is ours in Christ Jesus!\"\n\nAllusion has been made to the Home opened by Mrs. Birt at Liverpool;\nand the following letter will show the heart-rending nature of the\nscenes occurring there as in London:--\n\n\"August 7.\n\n\"Dear Friends,--On the 12th of May last we opened the above Home,\nand there were present on the occasion more ladies and gentlemen\nwhose hearty sympathy seemed with us, than the large room could\ncomfortably hold. One little destitute fellow was presented as the\nfirst to enter for protection and kindly care. Since then\n_ninety_ poor tiny creatures have been admitted, and these alike\nshare in the love, attention, and comfort found within the walls of\nthis happy Home.\n\n\"Through the great kindness of the friend who placed the premises at\nour disposal, we have obtained an additional room, which enables us\nto rescue some little girls, many of whom are orphans, who dragged\nout a miserable existence by begging for food, and sleeping wherever\nthey could find shelter; others, worse off, were, through their\nrelationship, running every risk of being reared to a life of infamy\nand ruin. Others are the children of widowed mothers, who say they\nare willing to work, but finding none of a continuous character, have\nrapidly sunk to a condition of wretchedness from which it seems\nimpossible they can rise.\n\n\"Seventy have rapidly progressed, and are so obedient and anxious to\nplease, that so far as training in this country is concerned, they\nare in a fit state of preparedness for emigration to Canada; and from\nthe statements received from our sister, Miss Macpherson, of the\nincreased and increasing demand from Canadian families for useful\nboys and girls, to assist them in their house and farm duties, we do\nthink that these should be taken without delay to the comfortable\nhomes waiting to receive them,--homes in which they will be trained\nto habits of industry, usefulness, and saving.\n\n\"The boys' clothes are near completion, and the girls' outfits are\nbeing made, and greatly helped on by the kind-hearted exertions of\nChristian ladies in Liverpool and Birkenhead, who have brought to the\nSheltering Home their own sewing-machines, and plied them at full\nspeed on our behalf at the weekly sewing-meetings held on Wednesdays,\nfrom eleven till five P.M. At these gatherings, much to the\ngratification of the ladies, the little ones whose garments they were\nsewing, have sung for their pleasure children's sweet hymns of praise\nto Him by whose love they were being cared for.\n\n\"My heart, and the hearts of my few but loving helpers who live with\nme in the Home, have been nearly broken this afternoon by witnessing\na sight so terrible, that we hope and pray we may never see the like\nagain. A most depraved, drunken, and wicked father, set on by two\nwomen more wicked (because more cunning) than himself, dragged out of\nour Home by main force two dear little girls he had himself, when\nmore sober, besought us many times to take in. They knelt, they\nprayed, they begged as for dear life to be left in the Home; when,\nrefused by him again and again, they saw he was urged on by the women\nto drag them out, they gave way to their poor little wills and\nscreamed, 'I won't go with you! I won't go with you! I know where you\nwill take us to! You never cared one bit for us, but now, that we are\nclean and comfortable, and learning to read, you wish to take me\nback. If you do, I will get something to take my life away, rather\nthan live with you!' And by the man's sheer force they were carried\nscreaming from the Home; and the last thing we heard, through their\nshrieks, was the father uttering threats we cannot repeat. I ran to\nmy little room to hide myself and weep; but I heard them screaming\nstill, as the poor girls made one more desperate effort at\nresistance. Though now it is three hours since, I hear their\nscreaming yet; and, dear friends, I think I shall hear it till I die.\nAs a little band, we are completely petrified, bruised, and sore,\nquivering in every nerve, looking up earnestly to God to know His\nWill, and praying that we may have all the other dear ones left to\ntrain for Him; for the Roman Catholic spirit is bitterness itself\nagainst thus teaching the little ones.\n\n \"'Jesus loves me, this I know,\n   For the Bible tells me so;\n   Little ones to Him belong,\n   They are weak, but He is strong.'\n\n\"Dear friends, pray for our little ones. Money is useful, personal\nhelp is useful; the thoughtful gifts we receive from time to time are\nuseful; but prayer--which 'moves the hand that moves the world'--is\nmore useful than all beside. Pray for our children; for those we\npurpose taking to new homes in a distant land, that they may never\ndisgrace the Home they have been sheltered in; and for those who have\nbeen torn away from us, that they may be preserved from temptation,\nand from becoming a curse. Then shall we joyfully take them forth,\nand in God's good time return, and again fill up this spacious Home,\nand feel it the greatest privilege of our life to labour among the\npoor neglected little ones of the streets of these large cities.\nShare then in the blessing wrapped up in the King's word, 'Inasmuch\nas you have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye\nhave done it unto Me.'\"\n\nHow great is the contrast in turning from these heart-rending\ndetails, to the following letters from across the Atlantic:--\n\n\"BELLEVILLE, _June 7th, 1873_.\n\n\"My dear Mrs. Merry,--I wish you had been with us to-day, and seen\npart of the result of all your patient toil and joyous service for\nthe Lord daring the past five years' work among His little ones.\n\n\"Knowing the joy it would be to so many of them to see dear Miss\nMacpherson, we sent out postal-card invitations to those living\nwithin 25 miles. Some few were unable to accept; but between seventy\nand eighty children, with their employers, came in one by one,\nlooking so brown and healthy. You would hardly recognise in the tall,\nslim youth, now quite a help to his master, a carpenter by trade, the\nlittle, tender-hearted George M--, eldest of three orphan brothers.\nIt hardly seems three years ago since their father stood up in a\ngathering of Christians, and with failing breath declared what the\nLord had done for his soul. Then you remember how quietly he passed\naway, leaving his three boys entirely in Miss Macpherson's care. All\ndoing so well in Canada--Fred and little Johnnie still in their first\nhomes.\n\n\"One great pleasure of the children was to roam over the Home under\nthe orchard blossoms, glancing over the books of photographs and\nrecognising some friend or mate with whom some far different days had\nbeen spent. Among the attractions were the tables of toys, pictures,\nbooks, &c., sent out by English friends; and here the little ones\nspent some of their hoarded cents, thinking so much of anything\nreally English. About twelve o'clock we gathered in the flower garden\nin front, while sandwiches, buns, and milk were passed round among\nthe children. Your sister sat with them chatting to them of old\ntimes, and answering many questions as to former companions and still\nloved though often silent English friends. Can you picture the eager\nlisteners to the familiar voice of one who was to them the link\nbetween the sorrowful past and the happy future?--a Bible lesson on\nthe lost sheep. My eyes often filled with tears when I looked at\ntheir bright faces, and blessed God for the open door for them in\nthis country. There stood Jamie D--, who, with his little brother\nHughie, formed one of the saddest photographs of childish wretchedness\neven Glasgow streets could produce; so bright, so well-dressed,\nthough still with a little of the old look of childish care.\nWilliam C--, the little fellow of four years old, whose mother died\nin India, and the father on his return sank in a London hospital,\nleaving little Willie friendless, was here with a lovely bunch of\nhot-house flowers ready to present to Miss Macpherson, and to receive\nfrom her one of the beautifully illustrated scrap-books made by\nlittle English children. Willie has been nearly three years in his\nhappy home, surrounded by all the influences of education and\nrefinement.\n\n\"Now the friends were gathering thickly, and listened while an\nearnest address was given to the boys by Miss Macpherson. When she\nceased, first one and then another gentleman stood up and gave their\nearnest, hearty sympathy with and approval of the work, and of the\ncharacter of the boys. And here I must tell you, in passing, we\nattribute much to the loving, tender training of your Hampton Home.\nIt is not that Canadian farmers would put up with _anything_, or\nthat a bad boy is so useful that his faults are overlooked; for here\nevery single boy is thoroughly known, and discussed over all the\ncountry side. Mr. Grover, from the village of Colborne, quite cheered\nour hearts with the good accounts of the twenty in his neighbourhood,\nmost of whom have joined his classes, and by their steady industrious\nconduct are recommending themselves.\n\n\"He said, 'I do not speak without personal experience. W. O--- has\nbeen two years in my employ, and a more truthful, upright, honest\nboy, I would not wish to have; he has left now to learn further about\nfarming, and I immediately applied for another one from Marchmont,\nand believe W. S--- will prove as successful and honest a servant.'\nThen the Rev. William Bell stood up and bore testimony to your\nfavourite Tommy--one of the rescues from Mr. Holland's Shelter, in\n1869. 'I have boarded now over a year in the good farmer's home,\nwhere Tommy S---lives. He is as good, and truthful, and honest a boy\nas I would wish to have about a house; and his master so appreciates\nhis services that he gives him fifty dollars for his first year.\nThese boys are in every way a blessing, and advantage to our\ncountry.' Mr. V., who has been already alluded to, said, 'I sought\nguidance and direction from the Lord before I came to the Home, now\nnearly three years ago, and then I only intended to take one boy; I\nhave never regretted I took two. Except one or two days, they have\nnever missed school; indeed I do not believe any one could hire them\nto stay away. I know that their labour morning and evening repays me\nfor any expense I am at, and they can be at school all the time.'\nMiss Macpherson then told these two boys, F--- and T---, of her\nlast visit to their grandmother in the tidy attic in Bethnal Green,\nand how pleased she was to receive the five dollars they had sent\nher. Mr. Ward, a farmer from Sidney, had brought his little boy,\nTommy S---; and Johnnie, the brother, had come from a home across\nthe Bay of Quinte. So there was a touching meeting, and many\nexperiences for the two brothers to relate, during one month's\nabsence. Mr. Ward told how he intended to educate his boy, and\ntrusted he might yet fill some prominent position, for which by\nnatural gifts he seemed well qualified. Speaking of the religious\ncharacter of the work, he said, 'I asked him who had taught him so\nmuch of Jesus? He told me he did not even know who He was till he was\ntaken into the Refuge; but now he knows about Him, and of His love\nfor little children.' I know you will like to hear particulars of H.\nW---, whose sad history excited so much sympathy, and for whom the\nnoble-man's little son gave up his pet pony that he might have the\nmoney to emigrate him. Well, you could not tell the round-faced,\nhappy boy, to be the same. He brought four dollars he had earned\ntowards his passage money; is in a good home, and doing well. Also of\nGeorge and Mary F---, who met, after ten months' separation, so\nchanged that they hardly recognised each other. How it would cheer\ntheir kind rescuer's heart (Mr. George Holland) could he see them\nnow! but I knew nothing, not even such joy as this, could tempt him\naway from his special work; so I sent the children, to their great\ndelight, to the town to get their likenesses taken to send him.\n\n\"Altogether the day was a most happy one. But no onlooker could\nfully understand the deep, rich joy of looking into those happy\nfaces. Only those who had watched over and prayed with them from the\nbeginning could at all enter into this peculiar feeling; and many\nearnest prayers ascended that these loving, tender hearts might be\nwon for the Saviour, and from among them many ambassadors for Jesus\nmight yet go forth. And for you too, dear friend, that you may be\nstrengthened and helped; ever remembering the promise, 'Cast thy\nbread upon the waters; for thou shalt find it after many days'\n(Eccles. xi. i).--Yours, in sweet work for the Lord,\n\n\"Ellen A. Bilbrough.\"\n\n\"My very dear Sister,--Could you but see me this morning, started on\nmy peregrinations in these snowy regions, you would be amazed. The\npoor worn head perfectly well, after a whole week in the quiet,\nrestful Home at Knowlton, where children are being trained,\nsewing-meetings and Bible-readings held, farmers conversed with, and\nmy privilege has been to hold up the hands of my two companions, who\nwent forth to address Sunday-schools or to preach the gospel.\n\n\"Fancy me starting yesterday morning, fixed up in my delightfully\nwarm fur cloak, and many other ingenious devices, to defy the cold,\nwintry blast, a drive of eighteen miles. During the journey we\nstopped twice. The first time we met with one of our once poor,\npale-faced rescues, Katie D---. What a change, now happy and useful,\ncompared to the time when we sheltered her from the dreaded return of\nher drunken father from prison!\n\n\"As the night closed in, the cold caused us to hasten to our\njourney's end as quickly as the strength of our Home horse would\nadmit of. But cheery was it to be told by our friend, as we passed\none farmhouse after another, 'We have a boy here and a girl there\ndoing well.' Sometimes it would be, 'We have had to move a boy; his\ntemper did not suit; but since he has been back to the Home, and\nplaced out again with a firmer master, he is doing much better.' A\nvery hearty Canadian welcome awaited us. Ushered into a warm room,\nour wraps taken off, soon we were seated, enjoying a 'high' tea. It\nsnowed all night, and drifted in at every crevice of our bedroom\nwindow.\n\n\"Snow fell all day, and to my idea it seemed improbable for many to\ngather for a meeting. The village street was enlivened all day by the\nconstant passing of the sleighs, with merry jingle of bells. It was\nindeed a new scene to witness the gathering of a meeting to hear of\nthe orphan and destitute children, whose cause we had come to plead,\nand contradict a report which had gone forth in their district, that\nit was a mass of jail-birds we had brought from England.\n\n\"As we arrived, a farmer kindly offered to broom the snow from our\nfeet--a process all seemed prepared to do for each other. Then, in a\ngood-sized hall, about fifty of all ages gathered around an immense\nstove--ministers, doctors, and farmers, with their belongings. Chairs\nin front of the stove were set for the minister and myself.\n\n\"After singing 'Rock of Ages,' etc., and prayer, it was so like a\nfamily, that it became easy just to tell real story after story as to\nhow we find the children, where the means come from, and what is\nrequired of those who receive them.\n\n\"The minister then present was one who, having heard of the work at\nthe commencement; had gone to the Home and received little Bessie,\naged ten. She now came up and gave me a hearty kiss, and then, so\nchildlike, showed me her new winter garments. Now who was Bessie? The\nchild of a surgeon who had rained his family by intemperance. The\nmother, a teacher in a ladies' school in Germany, earning her own\nbread, after a long and heavy struggle. Bessie is loved and is being\neducated in everything to make her a useful woman.\n\n\"Next morning we started for visits to several children. Found the\nfirst child gone to school. We saw her looking well as we passed the\nschool-house, and called her out. All we saw that day filled our\nhearts with deepest thankfulness. The meeting in the evening was held\nin the Congregational Church, well warmed and lighted, and a most\nintelligent-looking gathering. Ere long I espied one of the orphan\nlads, and called him to me, that he might speak for himself, knowing\nthat his own words would endorse the work more forcibly than anything\nI could say. He was a bright, intellectual looking youth of fourteen,\nwho in a most manly way answered me a few questions. In this way we\nare securing the prayers of God's dear children, and, we trust,\nopening many a heart and home for those who may yet come forth from\nthe dens of sin and iniquity of our great cities.\n\n\"Our Canadian horse seemed to enjoy the snow as much as we did, even\nthough the depth had tripled since our leaving home. How much on this\njourney we have learnt of the continued loving-kindness of our\ncovenant-keeping God, making our fears fly, and giving protection\nfrom the stormy blasts, in forms so comparatively new to us. Every\nperson is so kind to us that we are so glad we have been led to yield\nto this service as a child. Many a door, we trust, will soon be wide\nopen for earnest evangelists to come and be fresh voices, cheering\nour brethren who are labouring on in these small towns away from the\nfront.\n\n\"Pray on for us, as a band, that we take not one step _before_\nthe Lord, but that we hold not back on account of our weakness or the\nfear of man. Ask for us that we may each one live so close to the\nLord, that we may be fitted to deal personally with those we meet\nwith.\n\n\"We are frequently holding up your hands and praying that daily the\nLord will send the means with the children, and that you all be\nsustained in health. Grace and peace be with you all--Yours, in sweet\nfellowship, A. MP.\n\n\"Eastern Townships, Prov. of Quebec, November 18, 1873.\"\n\nIn March, 1874, Miss Macpherson returned from Canada filled with\npraise for the encouragement met with. She had been enabled to plead\nthe cause of her children before many in positions of influence,\njudges, merchants, lawyers, and doctors. A choice of two hundred\nhomes, amidst the love and affluence of that country, were now\nawaiting her little rescued ones. Her own joy was increased by\nreceiving the letter of which she thus writes:--\n\n\"The enclosed letter will cheer our brother Dr. Barnardo, by showing\nwhat a home God has provided for a dear little boy he was permitted\nto rescue and train. Surely the departed mother, from whom our\nbrother received the child, would feel that the Lord is indeed the\nFather of the fatherless.\n\n'DEAR MISS,--I embrace this early opportunity of letting you know\nhow well pleased we all are with, and how much we like, little Henry\nTuppen. He is such a willing, obedient, and loving fellow, he has won\nall our hearts, and we feel very much attached to him already. Many,\nvery many thanks to you and your fellow-labourers for the invaluable,\nyes, priceless, lessons he has received under your kind care. Surely\nthis is much more than \"the cup of cold water,\" and \"you shall in no\nwise lose your reward.\" Oh, may we discharge our duty as you have\ntowards this dear little orphan! My visit to you and your home that\nmorning was a great blessing to me; never shall I forget it. To hear\nthat dear little fellow sing \"Bright Jewels,\" and look around over\nthe group of little ones, far from native home, and father and\nmother, brother and sister, and think, \"These are the jewels,\nprecious jewels,\" it seemed to bring heaven near. And truly the\nSaviour was present. I never think of it but the tear starts, and a\nsilent prayer is offered that the Lord will give them all good\nChristian homes, and that they may be all 'bright jewels,' and great\nshall be your reward. Their heavenly Father sees it all.\n\n'But I am forgetting my main object in writing to you, which is to\nask you if the little girl, the elder of the two whom we saw, is yet\nprovided with a home. If not, we have room for her, and should be\nglad to have her. She would be such good company for my sister, who\nis at home with mother. She would be treated in every way as a\ndaughter and a sister. Father is very sorry he did not bring her that\nmorning. It seems he thought of it then, but wished to talk it over\nwith the rest of the family.'\"\n\nMiss Macpherson adds:--\n\n\"Who is the little girl asked for to become a daughter and sister?\nNone other than the little Eliza who was found deserted seven years\nago, when only a few weeks old, and who has been most carefully\ntrained since then by our beloved sister-labourer, Miss Mittendorf,\nwhose toil among infant wanderers deserves the deepest gratitude of\nthe children of God.\"\n\nThe Homes at Hampton, endeared as they were by recollections of many\nblessings, were this year vacated. The distance from Spitalfields had\nalways been a great strain on the strength of wearied workers, and\nboth time and fatigue were spared by removal to Hackney.\n\nThe opening of this Home is thus mentioned:--\n\n_November 5_, 1874.\n\n\"On Saturday, the New Home situated in London-fields was opened with\nprayer and thanksgiving. It consists of two large old-fashioned\nhouses thrown into one, and the situation is, for the neighbourhood,\nremarkably open and airy. Many friends assembled, Mr. Dobbin\npresided, and suggested, at the opening of the meeting, an analogy\nbetween the Home of Industry, with its various stations, and the pool\nof Bethesda 'having five porches.' Much prayer, and praise followed,\nand worshipful hearts told themselves out in love and adoration. Such\nhymns as 'Call them in,' 'Till He come,' and 'More to Follow,' aptly\nexpressed the aspirations and hopes of the earnest workers. Mr.\nMerry, Mr. Maude, and others spoke, and then Mrs. Birt, only two days\nsince returned from Nova Scotia, gave accounts of the success of the\nrecent voyage, when eighty-three rescued children found happy homes\non the other side of the water, and most touching particulars of the\ndeath of little Dickie, who went actually into the earthly harbour,\nand entered the heavenly haven of rest at the same time. In the\nbustle of arrival, 'he was not, for God took him.'\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\n1875-1877.\n\nMrs. Way's sewing--class for Jewesses--Bible Flower Mission--George\nClarice--Incidents in home work--The Lord's Day--Diary at sea--\nLetters of cheer from Canada.\n\n\nThe Home of Industry has been already likened to the Pool of\nBethesda with its fine porches. Many sights there have been peculiar\nto itself, and in no instance has this in past years been more\nremarkable, than in the meeting for Jewesses, which has been carried\non ever since the year 1870. From fifty to seventy daughters of\nIsrael are gathered weekly, through the Lord's blessing on the\npatient, unwearied labours of his honoured servant Mrs. Way. Greatly\nindeed should she be honoured, for she diligently sought out these\nlost sheep, when few comparatively could be found to \"care for their\nsouls.\" When first told of \"the name at which every knee shall bow,\"\nmuch scorn and contempt were manifested, but Mrs. Way is now cheered\nby many signs of the Spirit's work, and when a hymn of praise to the\n\"Crucified One,\" is heard from the inner hall on the ground floor,\nvisitors may be startled to know the voices are those of Hebrew\nmothers.\n\nAgain the Pool of Bethesda is brought to mind, as love for the sick\nand suffering is shown in a way hitherto unthought of. In 1875, the\nHome of Industry became a centre of the now well-known Bible Flower\nMission. One of the much-loved helpers recorded this touching\nincident:--\n\n\"In the early spring of 1874, a snowdrop, primrose, and two or three\nviolets which had been casually enclosed in a letter from an East-end\nworker to Mrs. Merry, were passed round her sewing class of 200 poor\nold widows, 'for each to have a smell,' and then divided and given to\nthree dying Christians, one of whom breathed her last fondly clasping\nthem. From that time flowers were collected through the medium of\n'Woman's Work,' etc., and during the season distributed by the ladies\nat the Home of Industry among the sick in the neighbouring courts,\nand in different hospitals.\n\n\"Again the hedges, tipped with tiny coral buds, primroses, and\ndaffodils peeping up amid the brushwood, golden-eyed celandines and\ndaisies lifting their sweet faces with smiles of welcome, remind us\nof the near approach of the bright spring-time. But the heart is\nsaddened, and the joy of seeing this fresh burst of\nresurrection--loveliness is clouded, when we turn to gloomy, stifling\ncourts and lanes in the crowded cities, where gleams of sunshine scarce\never penetrate; the lives of whose miserable inhabitants are yet more\nutterly devoid of brightness; to whom the voice of spring is an\nunmeaning sound; to sick ones in these courts, who have no easier\ncouch for the pain-filled limbs than a heap of shavings on the hard\nfloor of a room filled with noisy children, and disorderly men and\nwomen; to other sufferers tossing feverishly in hospital wards, with\nnothing softer for the tired eyes to rest on than the endless stretch\nof whitewashed walls, the background of long rows of patients whose\nsad pale cheeks vie in whiteness with the sheets and walls: and the\ncry ascends?\n\n\"'Oh, that a tithe of the wealth of fragrant, many-coloured flowers\nso lavishly spread over gardens, fields, and hedgerows, could be\nbrought to cheer those who so dearly prize each separate bloom!'\n\n\"And once more down, deeper down, into the haunts of vice, smiling\nso sweetly with the radiance of heavensent gifts, these messengers\nmay go--ready-made missionaries--to open doors and hearts fast locked\nhitherto, but which must yield to their gentle influence; and thus\nprepare the way for the ministry of the word of salvation.\n\n\"Oh, that men and women surrounded by loveliness could see as the\nangels do!--strong natures, hardened by years of sin, whose stony\nhearts are melted at sight of the flowers, and weep (as only such\ncan) when the deep hidden springs are touched, and memory recalls\ndays of childhood's innocence, long, long past; lessons in that\nvillage Sabbath-school of the holy God; the story of the Son of His\nlove dying in die stead of guilty sinners, to raise them to the\nbright, pure land above, where is no sin, no curse, no sorrow, but\ncloudless day and endless rest and joy; and the spotless flowers seem\nto beckon them onwards and upwards, to seek and find the way thither;\nfor are not the flowers one of the first links in that chain of love\nwhich draws the poor, wearied, sinful heart up to God and heaven?\n\n\"Ah! and would to God the country folk might hear! ay, and that the\nsounds could penetrate into the halls and castles of our land; the\nsilent cry of hospitals with several hundreds of patients, and but\nrarely a flower?\n\n\"'I should _so_ like a little buttercup.'\n\n\"And the weary murmur of gladness that steals through the wards when\na chance bouquet is brought in; and the heartfelt blessings from many\ndying lips on the flower-gatherers.\n\n\"'Tell them we may never meet on earth, but we shall thank them in\nheaven.'\n\n\"Oh! could the veil be lifted for a brief moment and the dull ears\nquickened to catch the pleading accents of the blessed lord? '_Do it\nunto Me_'? none would longer count their flowers and fruit their\nown, the Royal seal would be seen on each, whether growing wild in\ncopses, or carefully nurtured in hothouse and conservatory, and these\ntreasures would be poured out for those so sadly needing them, 'For\nJesus' sake!'\"\n\n\nTHE BIBLE FLOWER MISSION.\n\nIt is needless to say that the appeal thus made has been answered by\nthousands of loving hearts. The work at the Home of Industry is thus\ncarried on:--Twice in the week one of the spacious floors is devoted\nto receiving these fragrant treasures, and dear friends from a\ndistance come, some of them many miles, and spend one or two hours in\narranging them, and attaching to each little cluster an ornamented\ncard with some message of redeeming love. By twelve o'clock the\nbaskets are generally filled, and all assemble to hear, either from\nMiss Macpherson or some other tried servant of the Lord, words of\ncounsel and cheer; and then to seek wisdom for the labourers, and to\nspread before the Lord the spiritual needs of those to whom they are\ngoing,--many cases continually occurring for whom the comfort of\nearnest united prayer is felt.\n\nWhen the lovely burdens are carried forth, it is hard for the\nbearers to resist the entreaties from many a doorstep for \"one\nflower, one single flower.\" Of the thankfulness with which they are\nreceived when they reach their destination, we might tell countless\ninstances, and of conversions through the messages they bring we\nbelieve not a few. Indeed who can say where the blessing ends? for\nthose who have found a blessing themselves will not keep the cards\nunder their pillow, but have sent them to soldier sons in India and\nChina, and to sailors afar off upon the sea.\n\nThe following lines were written by a poor woman, aged 70, in the\nMile-end Union:--\n\n\n  \"Many an eye with the film of death,\n  With fading pulse, and bating breath,\n  Have cast a look on those things so bright;\n  And perchance a prayer with electric light,\n  Has passed through the brain with magic power,\n  Brought to the heart by a beautiful flower.\n  Beautiful thought to bring to the sad,\n  Sweet bright things to make them glad.\"\n\n\nOf the numbers of labourers and abundance of texts and flowers\nrequired, some idea may be formed when it is mentioned that thirteen\nHospitals, four Unions, some containing over 1000 inmates, and one\nLunatic Asylum, are provided for from the Home of Industry. Nor is\nthis all. The secretary supplies Bible women and city missionaries\nwith flowers for solitary sick ones at home, and receives constant\nappeals from various, missions for these bright messengers of God's\nlove.\n\nWho can read the following without praise to the Giver of every good\nand perfect gift? Those who knew the condition of Spain had earnestly\nprayed for evangelists for that dark land. One (Senor Previ) was\nraised up through the instrumentality of the Bible Flower Mission,\nand the following extract, from the report of a workers' meeting, as\ngiven in the \"Christian,\" tells of his conversion, and the way in\nwhich the Lord led a fellow-labourer to join him in this almost\nuntrodden path.\n\n\"He came from Malaga in the summer of 1875 to the Ophthalmic\nHospital, Moorfields, for treatment. One afternoon, two ladies\nbelonging to the 'Bible Flower Mission' at the Home of Industry,\nbrought flowers and texts to give to the patients. One of the\nvisitors was about to offer a bouquet to the Spaniard, Senor Previ,\nwhen the nurse remarked, 'It's of no use giving him a text, for he is\na Roman Catholic, and besides he can't speak a word of English.'\n'Never mind,' was the reply, 'I will offer him a bunch of flowers,\nand then see what I can do.' But what about a text? Surely it was the\nLord's doing that for the _first_ time she had brought one\nwritten in French; and it was indeed appropriate? 'There is one God,\nand one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.' After\npointing him to the Great High Priest, she asked if he would accept a\nSpanish Bible. This he refused to do, saying, 'No, I cannot, for it\nis a bad, forbidden book; besides, I shall leave the hospital to-morrow\nmorning.' 'Nevertheless, I will send you a copy,' was the answer. With\ngreat difficulty the lady procured a second-hand Spanish Bible, and\nsent it off just in time for him to take away.\n\n\"Senor Previ then told us how, after studying that Bible for several\nmonths, the eyes of his soul were opened to see Jesus as the\n'_one_ Mediator.' Thus was fulfilled that promise so precious to\nall seed-sowers? 'My Word shall not return unto Me void.'\n\n\"Soon afterwards he entered Mr. Guinness's College, employing his\nfree time in distributing Gospels, &c., on board foreign ships, and\nassisting every Sunday at the services in the Spanish Chapel, thus\ngaining experience for future work in the vineyard. He spoke most\nwarmly of the kindness of Miss Macpherson, and the happy hours spent\nin the 'dear Home of Industry,' where, at a previous workers'\nmeeting, the ardent desire had first been kindled in his heart to\ntell the good news of Jesus, the 'one Mediator,' to his own\ncountrymen. For some time he prayed earnestly that the Lord would\nraise up a friend to go with him. This petition has been fully\nanswered.\n\n\"Mr. Lund then rose, and told us that whence, student in Stockholm\nthe desire to work in Spain had been laid on his heart for nearly\nfour years. He studied the language, but, seeing no opening, was on\nthe point of starting for America, when he received a letter from Mr.\nGuinness which entirely altered his plans. He came to London, and on\nmeeting Senor Previ, offered to accompany him to Spain. The two\nbrethren earnestly requested the prayers of the meeting for their new\nand difficult work.\"\n\nThe prayers here offered were more than answered. The first labourer\nhas fallen in the field, but others have filled the ranks, and the\nlight kindled in a dark place is now shining brightly.\n\nMiss Macpherson's own words here follow:--\n\n\"What is the cry from all ends of the earth? For men and women to\nwitness of a Saviour's love by His death and resurrection. And we are\nnot only to pray the Lord to send forth labourers into the fields\nthat are white, but to look at the things we oft call our own as\nbelonging to another. There are hundreds of young men and women who\nhave been brought to the truth, and whose souls long to be free for\nChrist's service, but they need a helping hand in little things.\n\n\"Let us pray that, from this mission, there may be many results such\nas the following letter shows. Six years ago the writer was the\nfirst-fruits after a winter's labour in the Bedford Institute,\nSpitalfields--a wild, musical Shoreditch youth. We offered to teach him\nto write. The Lord changed him, and he has ever since been a consistent\nChristian. He has been the means of leading his mother to the\nSaviour. He went to Canada, earning sufficient money to place himself\nthis winter at Oberlin College. I was asked if I knew of one suited\nto become an artizan-missionary among the tribe of the Basutos. His\nreply encourages our faith that many more, led thus simply on, may\nsoon go forth as working missionaries, after the pattern of St Paul,\nreaching souls by their simple, holy life, as well as by their\npreaching.\"\n\n\n\"OBERLIN COLLEGE, OHIO, _March_ 25, 1873.\n\n\"My DEAR MOTHER IN THE LORD,--Your welcome letter to hand on the\n22nd, and the book on the Basutos on the 24th. My soul doth bless the\nLord for all that He hath done for me. My soul was filled with praise\nwhen I read your proposition to go to Africa. I had been bound in\nspirit for you, as you for me, and I had been asking the Lord for\nmany days that He would incline you to write to me.\n\n\"Previous to receiving the same, I had cast myself upon the Lord\nmore than ever. I could not see my way to run in debt, and I was\nwondering whether I should go and work on the road; but I had a\nburning desire to labour most of all for Christ, and I was longing to\ngo South, or somewhere to tell the heathen of Jesus. But when I\nreceived your letter, I took it as an answer to prayer from the Lord,\nand I could hardly finish reading it before I was telling my landlady\nto rejoice with me. How blessed to trace the hand of the Lord in\nthis! I have learned by this to praise the Lord for what He has done,\nand it has enabled my soul to trust Him for what He has promised.\n\n\"Believing this call is of God, and after much prayer, I have laid\nmyself, all that I am or hope to be, upon the altar, for Africa, to\nlabour to lead souls to the Lamb of God, to the blessed Lord Jesus. I\nexpect to be consumed by the power of the Holy Ghost, to be fitted\nthrough Him for the work I am called to, to be used as the ram's\nhorn, to be spoken through, to lead souls to Jesus, not to receive\nthe praise of men, but of God.\n\n\"And I feel led to say, if it is for anything save for the glory of\nGod that I accept this call, to be used to the salvation of souls,\nmay the Lord take me home to Himself on sea or on land, that I see\nyou not in the flesh but in glory.\n\n\"I have written this in prayer before God to you, and this is my\nburning desire, to be used of God. I do pray the Lord to keep me, and\nput down all vain-glorying thoughts, which will naturally rise at\nsuch a point as this, and He is doing it. I want to see Jesus more,\nthe value of precious souls, and all the realities I profess.\n\n\"I have read 'The Rides in the Mission Field of South Africa.' I was\nmuch interested, and I had a longing to go, but I could see no place\nfor such a hope; I hare lent it to others here to read.\n\n\"I am reading 'The Basutos,' and I enjoy it; I am reading in prayer\nthat the Lord will show me what things would be necessary to take. I\nshall speak on this point presently.\n\n\"I had a letter lately from some of my old neighbours in Muskoka,\ntelling me of the conversion of a young man I had often spoken to and\nprayed for. I rejoice that my mother has given me up joyfully for\nAfrica, and I am so glad she continues bright in the Lord. I am\npraying that I may have the privilege of seeing them all brought to\nChrist, before I leave for Africa, I cease not to pray for you.--Your\nson in the faith, G. C.\"\n\nInterest in the Basuto tribe could not but be deepened from the\ntouching incident that in February of this year a feast for the\nlittle matchbox-makers was provided from the contributions of Basuto\nchildren,--those who had been blessed through the Lord's long-tried\nlabourers, Mr. and Mrs. Dyke. How little could any one then\nanticipate the deep waters through which those servants of the Lord\nhave since been called to pass.\n\nThe workers' meetings at the Home of Industry are often a time of\nmingled joy and sorrow. It is not alone the little emigrants for\nCanada who are sent forth, but many a brother and sister in the Lord,\nleaving home and kindred for His dear name's sake, have here been\ncommended with tearful prayers to His gracious keeping. The workers'\nmeeting in July this year was a season of peculiar interest, as\nGeorge Clarke, the first-fruits of the work, was present on the eve\nof his departure for China. The way had not been made open for him to\njoin the mission in South Africa, as he had desired, and since his\ndeparture at this time for China, he has laboured in connection with\nthe China Inland Mission, not once revisiting his native land.\n\nA few incidents in home work are here recorded:--\n\n\"Having asked the Lord to send those He would have rescued for Him,\nno less than _five_ children came to the Refuge last Wednesday.\nTheir touching histories need no comment.\n\n\"A struggling mother desires a start in life for her boy of ten,\nwhose stepfather subjects him to ill-treatment. The lady interested\nin him (for the woman attends her mothers' meeting) writes: 'William\nwould be saved from destruction, to which he is fast hastening from\nunkind treatment.'\n\n\"Arthur's story is summed up in his own words: 'I saw my father kill\nmy mother; he stamped on her when he was drunk, and killed her, and I\ncried out.' Then, turning to his new friend and protectress, the\nlittle fellow went on: 'But when I get a big man I'll work for you,\nand pay you back for taking care of me when I was a little boy.'\n\n\"The next group, clad in deep mourning, is brought by a professional\nopera singer: a babe in arms, a boy and girl aged two and four,\nevidently born in a much higher sphere--pretty, refined children. At\ntheir mother's death this young woman took charge of them, their\nfather having promised to pay 1 pound a week for their support;--an\nempty promise it proved, for the '_gentleman_' absconded, heavily\nin debt to many others. The children's friend can no longer afford\nto keep them, though she seems tenderly attached to them, and will not\npart with the baby as long as she can maintain it. The only way open\nto her was to let the children wander on the street, on the chance of\ntheir being taken up by the police and put in the workhouse, at the\nsame time risking her own imprisonment if discovered. Mercifully she\nheard of the Refuge, and came to beg a home for these deserted lambs.\n\n\"A widowed mother, whose failing eyesight prevents her sewing, and\nwhose earnings by charing cannot support herself and four children,\nheard Miss Macpherson speak at the Moorgate Street Hall Noon\nPrayer-Meeting, and was led to bring little Alice to her, pleading for\nChristian care. Amid many tears she tells of the wayward wilfulness of\nthe elder girl, out at all hours of day and night, and whose pernicious\nexample is too likely to ruin the little sisters.\"\n\nCould such cases be sent away, or a deaf ear turned to the cry of\nthese \"young children asking bread, and no man giving it them?\" (Lam.\niv. 4.)\n\nMiss Macpherson also writes:--\"Many of those, once the little match-box\nmakers, are now Christian girls taking our counsel and going as\nservants into Christian families.\n\n\"Thus our child-loving hearts cannot refuse to rescue the sorrowful\nchildren that come to us to escape the atrocities of the almost\nunacknowledged bloodless war that goes on in our midst. Most of the\nfifty rescues now under our care are here through the slain upon the\nbattle-field of drink, shaven heads telling the tale of neglect. The\nlast two motherless little girls sent to us were turned out by their\ndrunken stepfather.\n\n\"The leader of our class for mothers and widows says that it is\nalmost impossible to visit them, their unmurmuring sufferings are so\ntouching. In many of their little garrets almost everything is sold.\nAnd these are the saints of the Lord--those who will very soon go in\nto the King more than conquerors. Yes, these are they from whom we\nlearn our best lessons of trust and patience, how to deal with\nsceptics, and how to go down and share our crust with a suffering\nsister.\"\n\n\"Oh, friends, listen to a mother's sad words. 'Some days nothing all\nday. A little relief comes with the parish allowance; but many a\nmorning those hungry voices ask? _Mother, is this the day for\nbread?_' Hear in fancy your loved and cherished little ones asking\nthis, and you will feel for that mother's heart. She recalls one day\nthat she left them crying for bread; but she left _One_ with\nthem, the children's Friend. _He_ quieted them; and when after\ntwo hours the mother returned, she found them sleeping. 'But, oh,'\nshe said, 'that sight just broke-my heart, so starved they looked--even\nthe baby in Lizzie's arms--all just like little skeletons! I\ncouldn't help it; I just sat down and wept.' Only with tears could we\nhear such a tale. No other response would come as we took in the\npicture; and it did not mend our sorrow when she added, 'There were\nthousands such as these.'\" Oh, the _intense_ longing that her\nvoice could reach to those drawing-rooms yonder! Will not the echo of\nit, coming in this form, cause some, not in imagination merely, but\nin reality, to \"come and see?\" Climb the dark stair, and hear for\nyourself these melting stories, which will fill your heart with pity,\nand not leave you wondering what will interest next. What a\nprivilege, yea, high honour, it is to be allowed to take messages for\nJesus! It was stated lately in a crowded gathering of six thousand,\nas the misery of the poor was dwelt on, that if God were to ask the\nangels in heaven if any were willing to spend fifty or a hundred\nyears down here to befriend some? little shoeless, homeless boy, for\nwhom no Christian was caring, to tell him of Jesus, and lead him to\nheaven, 'why, in three minutes,' were the burning words, 'I don't\nbelieve there'd be an angel left within the pearly gates.'\"\n\n\"My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.\" That which is called the\nday of rest, is at the Home of Industry one of varied and incessant\nlabour; one day may serve as a specimen. Before the usual hour for\nmorning service, two of the lady-workers start for the Fenchurch\nStreet Station, to hold a Bible-class with the railway porters;\nothers at the same time leave for Bird Fair. Bird Fair would he a sad\nsight to witness on any day in any place, how humiliating it is to\nbehold on that which is called the Lord's Day in a so-called\nChristian land. Here, from eleven till one, dog-stealers parade their\nill-gotten prey, and crowds through which it is scarcely possible to\nmake one's way, are occupied in gambling and betting on them, and on\nthe beautiful pigeons here made such an instrument of sin. The\ncharacter of the neighbourhood may be, known from the appeal made by\ntwo poor boys who came on a week day to ask shelter from a blind,\nChristian woman. They were locked out of their own home (a bird and\nrabbit shop), for their parents were both out drinking, and they\nsaid, \"Father and mother keep sober only on Sundays, because there is\nmore business to be done.\" There, amid many interruptions, the Gospel\nis preached to those who would never hear it elsewhere. The preaching\nstation on this occasion was in a railway-arch, here the harmonium\nwas placed, and two brethren, who came purposely from a distance,\ngave the help so much needed; for the strain is great on head, heart,\nand voice. In the afternoon the spacious floor, well known to many\nwho attend the workers' meetings, is filled by adult classes of\nwomen. At the close an address is given, often by a returned\nmissionary, and many among these very poor of the flock bring their\nofferings, scanty in themselves, but surely much prized in the sight\nof Him whose love has constrained them; twice over has a precious\noffering been given to me for the Punrooty Mission--once from the\nadult classes, and again from the younger Sunday scholars. The adult\nSunday-school numbers more than 160 members. A class of working men\nis held below. The tea hour is one of peculiar interest. Many young\nmen who are engaged in business in the week, and give this day of\nrest to the business of their King, meet here after having spent the\nafternoon teaching in various schools. During this meal letters are\nread from far-off lands, often written by those who had formerly met\nhere, and who have gone from this training to dark places of the\nearth. Many subjects for prayer are thus brought forward and\nremembered before the Lord; then the building is again filled to\noverflowing. An infant class of ninety in one room on the ground\nfloor--when these disperse a Gospel meeting is held in this room,--a\nclass of factory girls in another, while above crowds of children\npress. But there is much outside work besides, to occupy every\nhelper. Lodging-houses in the thieves' quarters are visited, and\nservices held, and many hundreds are thus reached; and after nine\nP.M., when the labourers return from their varied spheres, all join\nonce more in praise and prayer, and many walk a long mile and more to\nreach their own homes, none using any vehicle or train oh the Lord's\nday.\n\nIt is impossible to follow every detail in this continually\nincreasing work, and only brief mention can be made of the goodness\nof the Lord in having once more preserved the lives of dear ones in\nCanada, when, in 1875, the Home at Belleville was again destroyed by\nfire, and again Canadian kindness and hospitality were manifested to\nthe utmost. Each summer's sun had shone upon band after band of young\nemigrants guided safely across the ocean, through the goodness and\nmercy of Him, \"Who carries the lambs in His bosom,\" and \"Who holdeth\nthe waters in the hollow of His hand.\" In the labour of watching over\nthese little ones on the voyage, as in every other, the Lord raised\nup helpers like-minded with those who bore the burden of the work. In\nMay, 1876, the twenty-second party sailed under the care of Mr. Merry\nand Miss Macpherson, and the following extracts are from her diary:--\n\n\"Friday, May 5.--Calm seas, children bright and happy, cloudless\nskies, weather charming and exhilarating, though cold. Morning spent\nover our Bibles. Time seemed to fly rapidly while we talked of 'the\nthings concerning the King.' In the afternoon the bracing air and\nbright skies invited vigorous exercise, and our Birmingham friend and\nI walked between two and three miles. Faith was our theme of\nconverse. May the result be that we both shall trust our God more\nthan heretofore, for ourselves and our work, and realise increased\nmeasure. (Phil. iv. 19) 'My God shall supply all your need.'\n\n\"Our children being on deck, we joined them in their games, and then\nassembled our large family in their separate steerages; and standing\nin the doorway between, I was enabled to address them and the\nhelpers--140 in all. Their evening hymn attracted the sailors, and this\ngave a double gathering on mid-decks. Our portion was Luke x. 38-42,\n'The one thing needful.' _Jesus_ the need of each one, ere leaving\nus. A saddened look fell over every little face, as we referred to\nparting, while many beamed with joy, as we talked of the meeting by\nand bye. We closed by singing 'Around the throne of God in heaven.'\nDuring this hour Mr. Merry held a solemn meeting among the sailors in\nthe forecastle. May the Lord Jesus scatter His saints to the four\nquarters of the globe, that His glory may be increased. If those who\ncannot go would only meet weekly, in twos and threes, and pray for\nthe foreign fields of perishing millions, surely we should see\ngreater results.\n\n\"This day ended in one of the most lovely of moonlight nights, and\nas we walked on deck we were ever and anon led to praise God and\nadmire the beauties of His hand. Venus was resplendent; very large\nand full of soft lustrous beauty, while an aurora shed some lovely\ntinges of colour across the sky. Our little group turned once more\ntowards the chart room, and sang a hymn of praise to 'Him who hath\nloved us.'\n\n\n  \"'If so much loveliness is sent\n  To grace our earthly home,\n  How beautiful, how beautiful\n  Must be the world to come!'\n\n\n\"Saturday, May 6.--At early dawn we were awakened from a long\nbrain-refreshing sleep by one of the officers gently tapping at our\ndoor, and in a whisper saying, 'A glorious sunrise.' We were soon with\nhim on the bridge, filled with admiration as we gazed upon the scene\nbefore us. The sun appeared rising from the ocean, its golden rays\nshedding a dazzling brilliance on all around. While we watched, the\nscene changed, and a misty veil beclouded the whole horizon, hiding\nfrom our view that which had been so lovely.\n\n\"After going down to an early cup of tea we sang our morning hymn of\npraise, and had a season of prayer; a very hallowed opportunity it\nwas, one which brought us again to feel our deep need of grace, to\nlive one more day to His praise and glory.\n\n\"About noon we bad another of those never-ending changes which are\nto be met with on this great ocean; the sun came out bright and warm,\nthe sky became brilliantly blue, and the sea was one sheet of ice\nfields as far as the eye could reach.\n\n\"Our noble Scotch ironclad rode on her way majestically, leaving a\npathway in the frozen fields to be seen for miles behind, and as she\nstruck her boom upon the massive sheets of ice, they seemed to\nvibrate and cause a movement in huge sheets on before and on either\nside. Some magnificent pieces, when touched by the ironclad's power,\nshiver into thousands of fragments, others pass our vessel's side,\nhard as iron, to be wafted on to the Gulf Stream, there to come under\na warmer influence. This Arctic scene causes our captain and his\nofficers to look rather serious, and they mount at times to the\nfore-topgallant mast. Did we but know the dangers which beset us\nthrough yielding to the allurements of the world, how often would we\nalso mount aloft, and get upon, our watch-tower and look out!\n\n\"You will naturally ask, How far did the ice reach? We were fourteen\nhours cutting through it, passing sixty vessels and two steamers\n(many of them fixtures), signalling those we came near. It was\ntouching to see a barque make efforts to get into our opened-up\npathway, but she could not make the short distance to reach the\ncleared waters. Those who watched throughout that long day as we\ntriumphantly, though slowly, broke our ice-girt way, saw seals\nbetween the fields of ice, porpoises and whales spouting and bounding\nin their glorious freedom, sea-gulls and small red birds flying about.\n\n\"Our little fellows were constructing allegories after the fashion\nof their last course of lessons on Banyan's 'Pilgrim's Progress.' The\nice field, they said, was like Satan, and the ship was like\nChristian; and thus they went on, as they sat looking over the\nbulwarks at the ice which so hindered our progress. There is not a\nchild who has not had his constitution braced by this most favourable\nvoyage. To-day we passed a steamer in the ice, which had started a\nweek ahead of us from Glasgow. How we realised at this time the\ncomfort and rest of having a captain and officers who were men of\nprayer.\n\n\"The gun was now fired to tell the dwellers at Metis to telegraph\nthe glad news to you that we were safe in sight of land, though there\nare still Amaleks to be overcome,--narrow straits lined with\nmountains full of minerals, which are a magnetic attraction to our\nironclads, and more ships have been lost here than anywhere else;\nfogs which come and go, ever keeping the sailor as he nears the shore\nin anxious trepidation; and shallows that require skill in sounding.\n\n\"Sunday, May 7.--A cloudy day, after a week of unspeakable\nloving-kindness and tender mercy. We could by faith hear His own voice\nwithin, saying 'My peace I give unto you.' Our children all day were\nmost obedient, and kind and loving to each other. We spent the\nmorning together, the last of the kind until we meet on that morning\nthat hath no clouds. Ere commencing our lesson, we asked a sailor to\nlift the hatchway wide open. This gave the suggestion for the\nsubject, 'The Man with the Palsy,' which was easily understood by\nsupposing the sailors with cords to let one more little boy down into\nour midst.\n\n\"The pilot met us at Father Point about 4 P.M., bringing a telegram\nof welcome from one of our dear Canadian friends, also a verse from\nPhilemon. Thus we feel assured loving hearts are prayerfully awaiting\nus on the shores we are nearing, a sweet symbol of the better land\nand the loved ones on before.\n\n\"Monday, May 8.--Mr. Merry was astir before five o'clock, and\nawaking the young helpers. Soon they were in the steerage among the\nchildren; commenced packing of blankets, &c., as we were expecting to\nmake the port soon after breakfast In this, however, we were\ndisappointed, as in Travers's Strait the Mineral Mountains attracted\nthe compass, and a dense fog hiding all headlands retarded our\nprogress, making it necessary to lower one of the boats to take the\nsoundings, and go before the great 'Sardinian,' showing her how to\nshape her course in the narrow way. A sweet reminder this to us that\nour Lord was so condescending as to use the possessions of a little\nlad when He needed the two small fishes. And we take encouragement\nthat many of our little ones are going on before, preparing the way\nin many a district by their sweet hymns telling of the 'wondrous\nstory,' for the devoted evangelists who are being raised up in Canada\nto follow with deeper revealings of the blessed Bible, winning\nprecious souls 'till He come.'\n\n\n  \"'I am coming! Are you working?\n    Short your serving time will be;\n  Are your talents idle lying?\n    Are you using them for me?'\n\n\n\"Such is the effect of fog at sea, that we are told it may be 6 P.M.\nere we arrive, and judging from all appearances, great caution is\nrequired in the Gulf at this time of year. At 11 A.M. we had a sweet\nseason of thanksgiving for the many mercies received. At twelve\no'clock the fog lifted, and the engine went on with its accustomed\nvigour. At 5 P.M. we neared the shore, and there stood a group of\nmore than a dozen young ladies, waving a welcome. Soon they were on\ndeck, and saluted us and our children, telling us they had borne us\nup in prayer before the Lord. After uniting with them in praise for\nthe unspeakable mercies by the way, we bade farewell to passengers,\nofficers, and crew, and sliding down the long gangway from the I\nbulwarks, felt our feet once more on _terra firma._ Shaking our\ncaptain's hand with a grateful heart for all his kindness to us and\nours, in a few minutes steam was up, and the 'Sardinian' on her way\nto Montreal.\n\n\"We then went to see the little ones having tea in an adjoining\nhall, while Mr. Merry was very busy among the agents and luggage. It\nbeing announced that the Quebec boat was ready to cross the river, we\nhad to part with our young friends, who told us they should all take\na deeper interest than ever in us now they had seen the bright faces\nOf our children. Front love to Jesus, they had met during the past\nwinter to make clothing, and presented me with a large case to take\non.\n\n\"After sending our telegrams to each Home, we found the first-class\ncars ready for our children, so we put every one at full length, and\nsoon all were soundly asleep, and we went on hour after hour.\n\n\"Tuesday, May 9.--We arrived at Montreal at ten o'clock, where a\nmost comfortable breakfast was awaiting us, with nice washing\naccommodation. Here we had the pleasure of meeting the Secretary of\nthe Emigration Department of Ottawa, who kindly gave us some sound\ncounsel on many points bearing upon our work of emigration.\n\n\"At eleven o'clock we heard the summons, 'All aboard!' and were soon\nagain on our way. We dined at Prescott, and then still westward we\ntravelled until midnight.\n\n\"All was mercy. For Sidney, our little delicate child, we feared the\ncold night-air would be too much, so the cry went upwards for\nguidance with regard to this precious orphan, whose story was so\ntouching. A Christian widow had sheltered his mother from the streets\nwhen the child was but two weeks old, and had kept him for five\nyears, but now, her failing eyesight rendering her unable to support\nhim, with a breaking heart she gave him up to us. All my desire now\nour journey was ending was to keep from making one special\nattachment, yet his delicacy drew us all more than ever to him.\n\n\"Owing to a telegram not having been delivered, about midnight one\nof the trying incidents of this part of our journey unexpectedly\noccurred. On arriving at Belleville, after awaking our sleeping\nfamily, we found neither friend nor conveyance awaiting us. Mr. Merry\nwalked the mile to the Home, and soon our waggon was ready to take\nback a few of the most exhausted ones, whilst our car was shunted to\na siding for the night.\n\n\"Wednesday, May 10.--Ere seven o'clock, by help of a large omnibus,\nwe were conveyed to the new Belleville Home, where we met with a warm\nwelcome. It was a day of reunion with loved fellow-workers, talking\nof the way the Lord had led us, and the trials and joys of the past\nyear. Twelve months ago, I left this Home a mass of ruins and burnt\nembers; now a new and more efficient one for the purpose is erected\non the same spot My beloved friend Miss Bilbrough has indeed had many\na burden to bear, but her testimony to the Lord's faithfulness is\ngreater than ever. Her heart is more and more devoted to the\nchildren, and to carrying forward the work in all its never-ceasing\ndetails.\n\n\"After a few hours' sleep, it was so very interesting to walk over\nour new and conveniently arranged Home. Truly our hearts were filled\nwith praise as we knelt together to thank the Lord. Towards the\nafternoon I was introduced to a young man who was working as\ngardener. We had brought him out from England in 1870, and he has\never since given great satisfaction to his employers, has paid back\nhis passage-money, joined the Church, and not long since was married\nto his late master's daughter.\n\n\"In the evening we walked into town, and met with 'Daniel's Band,'\nwhich is composed of seventeen Christian young men, who are uniting\nin prayer and work for the souls of their fellow-townsmen; and\nthrough their instrumentality many conversions have taken place, and\nthe churches have been stirred up to greater activity. Mr. Merry gave\na clear Gospel address, and another meeting being asked for, a\nBible-reading was arranged for the following evening. Thus we had the\nprivilege of witnessing for our blessed Master to about 200, and\ncheering the hearts of 'Daniel's Band.'\n\n\"Thursday, May 11.--Occupied the day writing English letters and\nreceiving friends. Also went to see an aged saint, who had from our\nfirst visit to these shores been a helper by her prayers.\n\n\"Friday, May 12.--Left Belleville for Galt soon after 6 A.M., taking\nwith us thirty-eight children, and travelling by rail along the\nshores of Lake Ontario. The morning hours passed quickly _en\nroute_, and as we neared Toronto, towns and villages became more\nfrequent and more attractive. At Berlin an unexpected kindness was\nshown us. Orders had been given to send us on by special train, so\nthat no delay was experienced in travelling the remaining fourteen\nmiles of our journey. Those who have travelled 3000 miles with a\nnumber of children can understand how this was appreciated by us,\nwhen every nerve was strained, and nature was yearning for a long\nsleep free from the shaking of the railway.\n\n\"At 5 P.M., on the seventeenth day after leaving London, we reached\nthe end of our journey, and found our farmer-nephew, with his team,\nawaiting our arrival. Soon we were on the hill, looking at the little\nHome beyond. As we approached the gates the shout of welcome from\nmore than a score of young voices greeted us, and on the verandah we\nwere received by our loved niece, and the dear friends who have been\nassisting her in the absence of her parents. The strain of travel now\nbeing over, we were able to enjoy a few hours' rest, our hearts full\nof gratitude for the many mercies which had encompassed us all our\njourney through.\n\n\n  \"'How good is the God we adore,\n    Our faithful, unchangeable Friend\n  Whose love is as great as His power,\n    And knows neither measure nor end.'\"\n\n\nDuring the winter, individual visitation of the children had been\nmost effectually accomplished by the four Inspectors appointed by the\nCanadian Government, the result of which proved to be most favourable\nto the plan of placing the \"Solitary in families.\" After two days\nrest at Galt, Miss Macpherson started on the same loved work, and met\nwith the usual cheering results.\n\nOn her return home Miss Macpherson thus writes:--\n\n\"_July 20._\n\n\"In the providence of our covenant-keeping God, and Father of the\nfatherless, we have been again permitted in peace to return from\nanother visit to the adopted homes of our little ones. To His praise,\nwho is the Answerer of prayer, we record that 100,000 miles have been\ntravelled in connection with these special charges in the past six\nyears, and no storm or accident has been permitted to alarm, no death\nrequiring the remains to be committed to the great deep.\n\n\"During the past year the Dominion Government chose four of their\noldest officials to visit all our children, (as their Blue-book\nrecords), 'deeming that from their experience they would be best\nenabled to judge of the condition, position, and prospects of the\nchildren in their situations.' The Government are satisfied (as\nparents of the State), that our children 'are very carefully placed,'\nbringing out the fact that, ninety-eight out of every 100 are doing\nwell.\" Miss Macpherson adds:--\n\n\"A letter will often show the progress of an industrious young man,\nand being asked for details, I give the following from a handful of\nsimilar encouraging testimonials:--\n\n\"MAGNETAWAN, DISTRICT PARRY SOUND, ONTARIO.\n\n\"DEAR MISS MACPHERSON,--This is from William Miller--one that came\ncut under your care three years ago last June. I worked in the town\nof Galt as a substitute three months, for a man while he went home to\nhis friends in Scotland. After that I went to live in Pelham, in the\ncounty of Welland, a situation that Miss Reavell directed me to, and\nthere stayed three years, and saved a little money; and now I have\nmoved to Parry Sound, to the address which you will find at the end\nof this note. Dear friend, I desire to hear of your welfare in the\nwork that God has put in your hands to do,--in bringing out the\ndestitute ones from England into a land of plenty, and where they can\nbe well cared for. I have seen many of them around the country where\nI have been, almost all looking well, and enjoying themselves much.\n\n\"I now live in the township of Croft. I have 186 acres of land, on\nthe banks of Doe Lake. I think if I had stayed in England I should\nnot have had as many feet. I like England very well, but it is a hard\nplace for the poor. I took 100 acres of this land as free grant, and\nthe rest I bought. It is two miles and a half from the village. There\nare two stores, post-office, and sawmill; I think a flour-mill will\nbe built this summer. Magnetawan River runs through the village.\nThere are two waterfalls for mill purposes in the village. A day\nschool will commence in the summer, and there is also a church and\nSunday-school, to which I go. In the winter it is not held, because\nthe roads are so bad, but when the country gets open more the roads\nwill be better.\n\n\"I humbly thank God for guiding and keeping me in good health, and\nunder the banner of Christ, and I trust walking in His ways, and hope\nto remain so unto death, and then live with Him above, there to part\nno more.\n\n\"My brother is living here also; he has 200 acres of land. Remember\nme to all the workers at the Home, praying that we may all, as\nChristians, work for the Lord of glory, and at last meet together to\npraise Him. 'Wait on the Lord.'\n\n\"I remain, yours truly in Christ, W. MILLER.\"\n\nThose who have been helped, help their kindred in after years. The\nfollowing is an instance:--\n\n\"DOUGLAS, _June_ 29, 1876.\n\n\"DEAR Miss MACPHERSON,--I have been here four years in August, I\nwill be four years with my master in October. I like this country\nwell; the crops are growing well, and there is prospect of a good\nharvest. Dear ma'am, I have a little brother nearly ten years old,\nand he is living with my mother; he wants to come to this country,\nand mother is willing he should, and I think I have enough to pay his\npassage out; and if it pleased you, would you take him into your\nHome, and send him out with your boys. Please would you send him to\nthe Belleville Home, as we would then be able to get him, because the\nman that my brother is with says he would not object to taking him.\nPlease would you let me know how much it would take to pay for\nsending him to Belleville, and where would I send the money to.\n\n\"I am able to plough now, and milk cows, chop wood, reap grain, and\nmow hay. I am raising fifty young apple-trees of the Spitenberg kind.\nI am going to be a farmer myself some day; it is very nice and\nhealthy work. I get a good many rides on horseback. I have a lamb of\nmy own; my master gave it me when it was a small, little lamb, but\nnow it has grown into a good-sized sheep. The Premier of the Dominion\nwas at this village, and I heard him speak. We will soon begin to cut\nour hay; we have a mowing-machine, so that it does not take long to\ncut our hay. There is a Sunday-school three miles away from us, quite\nnear where my brother lives; it has sixty scholars, and I go to it\nevery Sunday, but the preaching is only once a fortnight. In our\nSunday-school we sing about the same hymns we used to sing when\nin the Refuge, and there is three of us 'Home' boys go to that\nSunday-school. We have seven head of horn-cattle, five horses, ten\nsheep, and six lambs, thirty-six hens, forty-four hen chickens, two\ngeese, and nine goslings, two pigs, and one calf, so I will say\ngood-bye for the present.--I remain, yours sincerely,\n\nJOHN HENEY MITCHELL.\n\n\"P.S.--Give my love to all the boys, and accept the same from me,\nJ. M.\"\n\n\nThe following incidents are told by Miss Macpherson:--\n\n\"Miss Bilbrough often goes off with half-a-dozen to see them placed\nin their new home. Whilst on one of these journeys, the little ones\nwere attracting the notice of fellow-travellers, as some forty to\nfifty are generally in a compartment. From amongst these Miss\nBilbrough is accosted by a young gentleman, who lifts his hat to her,\nand sits down by her side. This was one of our first party, now a\nyoung solicitor, just about to pass his last examination. He was on\nthe important business of going to some place in the backwoods to\nvalue a farm for the firm by whom he was employed.\n\n\"Another young man, one of our second band in 1870, is now visiting\nhis friends in England for a month, ere beginning his career as a\nlawyer in Canada; and more than this, he is, we rejoice to say, a\nconsistent Christian of several years' standing. Now, when we want a\nlawyer's counsel, our young friend is glad to give it us, and already\nhas done us good service. Sweet thank-offerings!\n\n\"My past birthday in June was spent in taking two little fellows to\ntheir homes. After travelling nearly one hundred miles, as we neared\nour destination very tired, we wondered to ourselves whether it would\nbe in a log hut, farmhouse, or mansion we should find a welcome with\nour little charges. It proved to be the last.\n\n\"The Lord had put it into the heart of a young married lady to rear\nan orphan boy, and thus fulfil a long-cherished idea. She had also\ninduced another Christian lady to do the same. It was a sweet reward\nto His wearied servant, to know that two orphans would be so well\ncared for.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII\n\n1877-1879.\n\n\"They helped every one his neighbour\"--Miss Child, a fellow-labourer\n--The work in Ratcliff Highway--Strangers' Rest for Sailors--\"Welcome\nHome\"--\"Bridge of Hope\"--Miss Macpherson's twenty-first voyage to\nCanada--Explosion on board the \"Sardinian\"--Child life in the Galt\nHome--The Galt Home now devoted to children from London, Knowlton to\nthose from Liverpool, and Marchmont to Scottish Emigrants.\n\n\n\"They helped every one his neighbour, and every one said to his\nbrother, Be of good courage\" (margin, be strong). Miss Macpherson\nwrites in February this year, the eighth anniversary:--\n\n\"As a band, we need to '_be strong_' for any emergency. At this\nseason we are surrounded by hundreds of men out of employment, and in\nwant of food, who say now to us--'We have listened to your Gospel;\nwe are in want; show us thy faith by thy works.' This we are\nendeavouring to do by providing for them suppers of soup and bread\ntwice a week. The other evening a crowd had gathered outside the door\nat the specified hour, when only 150 could be admitted. Did we but\nknow the gnawings of real hunger we should not wonder that the\nunsuccessful applicants attempted to burst in; and one poor man\nfalling in the crush, broke his arm.\n\n\"We need your prayers while dealing with this class for another\nmonth. Strong hearts quail at the sight of these hopeless looking\nmen. Our evening-school three times a week, taught by ladies, we find\nto be the most successful plan of dealing with them. The being called\nby their _own names_, man by man, wakes up an interest, and\ncauses the public-house life to go into the shade.\n\n\"The friends of the match box-makers (our oldest love in this\nvineyard) will rejoice to hear that we gathered 300 of them straight\nfrom their boxes to a New Year's tea, when a kind friend helped to\nmake the evening a pleasant one by exhibiting dissolving views. After\nthis the gifts of clothing, &c., with which we had been supplied by\nmany contributors, were distributed among them.\n\n\"Last week we had a very happy evening with our Christian band, many\nof whom were the matchbox-makers of former days, now grown, into\nyoung women, and fellow-workers for Christ in their own homes, and in\nthe courts and alleys where they dwell. Deeply interesting were their\ntestimonies of answers to prayer, the power of the Word, and\ndelivering grace in time of trial in the factories where they labour.\nDear helpers by prayer, you now behold what great things the Lord\nhath wrought for us in giving us this band of young women to go forth\non the Sunday afternoons in couples with their tracts, and reach many\nwhom perhaps we might not find. Some of these are also teachers in\nour Sunday-school, sympathising with us in our East-end trials,\nteaching to others what they have learned of Jesus through their own\nexperience of His great love.\n\n\"The 'elder girls' of the East-end are a continual heavy burden on\nour heart; much thought and care are being bestowed in devising and\nperfecting plans for winning their young lives to the Saviour, and\nfitting them for honourable service for God and man. This great\npreventive work among those young bread-winners can only be\nsuccessfully accomplished by those who, through studying their\nhabits, temptations, and surroundings, by constant loving contact\nwith them, and by special training, are able to win their confidence\nand affection.\"\n\nIn this year a new and most important work was begun, one which has\neminently received the blessing of \"Him who is the confidence of all\nthe ends of the earth, and of those who are afar off upon the sea.\"\n\nMiss Child, one like-minded with Miss Macpherson inter zeal for\nsouls, and her longing to save them from the curse of drink; had been\nresiding in the Home of Industry, and visiting public-houses in\nRatcliff Highway. To those who have never seen the open parade of sin\nin that part, (long notorious for every evil), it is hard to\ndescribe the scene, where even in broad daylight the unhappy captives\nof Satan seem to glory in their shame. Miss Child's heart yearned\nover the sailors who crowd the public-houses, escaped from the perils\nof the sea only to fall into worse dangers. She longed for some means\nof helping them. Miss Macpherson appealed to him whose burning words\nin the City of London Theatre in 1861 had so stirred her own heart\nMr. Reginald Radcliffe had lately opened a Strangers' Rest in\nLiverpool, and only longed to see the same established in every port\nin the world. In answer to the call, he came up to London and\naddressed Christian workers assembled at the Home of Industry,\nstirring them up to undertake a new form of attack on the strongholds\nof the enemy. Mr. James E. Matheson took the deepest interest in this\nwork, and a house was secured in Ratcliff Highway, the appearance of\nwhich was made to contrast very strongly with all around. Gospel\ntexts in many languages appeared in all the windows, and invitations\nto sailors to enter and write their letters, materials provided free\nof cost. This work needed many helpers. Preachers were required for\nthe different nationalities. Such were found, and willing listeners,\nso that soon a larger house was necessary. Notwithstanding the many\ncalls on her time and strength, Miss Macpherson was frequently to be\nfound here, delighting in seeking to save among a class hitherto\ndifficult to reach. Many other sisters in the Lord were, called on to\nhelp--some to play the harmoniums provided in each room, and lead the\nsinging in varied languages--others in writing letters for those who\ncould not use a pen themselves, and whose hearts were softened by\nkindness shown in this way--others in filling, bags with books and\ntracts. The blessing which has followed these cannot be reckoned;\nnone can tell what these silent messengers, so often despised on\nshore, have been to sailors when read far away from home and friends.\nMany of these bags have been made by Christian invalids, and are\nfollowed by their prayers that the contents may ever be blessed.\n\nAs yet, however, nothing had been done for the women in Katcliff\nHighway, and Miss Macpherson, when visiting that neighbourhood where\nSatan reigns so openly, longed to save some of her poor lost sisters.\nOn one occasion a young woman said most piteously to her: \"Why don't\nyou speak to us as you do to the sailors, and we would be converted\nand be happy too?\" This led to the first decided effort being made,\nand the following year a small mission room for their use alone was\nopened. Tea-meetings and Gospel addresses-were given here. Miss\nMacpherson's long-tried helper, Miss May, added this work to her many\nother burdens for the Lord, and other kind friends joined her in\nvisiting and seeking out the lost.\n\nAlthough, in Miss May's words, \"humanly speaking all things were\nagainst us,\"--for in this neighbourhood the wages of iniquity are\nhigh, yet encouragement was met with, and it was felt that the\nmission room was not sufficient, but some shelter must be taken\nwherein to receive' poor applicants until they could be removed to a\nsafer locality. A tiny three-roomed house was secured and opened\nwith, much prayer, and has fulfilled the promise of the name given to\nit, \"The Bridge of Hope.\" The Lord blessed Miss Macpherson in the\nchoice of a helper, Miss Underdown, the brave pioneer who volunteered\nto remain here alone, ready to welcome the poor wanderer at any hour\nof the day or night. She is now working among sailors at Cape Town;\nbut the Lord has proved in this instance, as in many others, that\nwhen His summons to a distant land is obeyed, the work at home will\nnot be suffered to languish. Another devoted sister in the Lord, Miss\nSteer, has given up home ties and home comforts, counting it all joy\nto rescue those most deeply sunk in guilt and misery. The work has\ndoubled and trebled in importance, more than a hundred having been\ndrawn out of this whirlpool of sin and infamy, and brought under the\nsound of the Gospel within the walls of the larger Refuge, since\nopened for them. More than once we have had to praise God for the\nhelp given by Christian sailors; their watchful eyes have noticed in\nthe \"Highway\" some who were evidently strangers to the haunts of\nvice, and have brought them here for safety, and even borne part of\nthe expense of their journey homewards. The house originally taken\nfor the Strangers' Rest having been found inadequate for the\naccommodation of the crowds who frequented it, a larger house was\ntaken, but it was felt that after the many hallowed associations of\nthe first house opened, where Miss Macpherson and Miss Child had\noften rejoiced with the angels of God over repenting sinners, it was\nimpossible to relinquish it for ordinary uses,--it might be in that\nneighbourhood for some direct work of Satan. To Miss Macpherson's\ngreat joy her faithful, co-worker, Miss Child, determined on opening\nit as a Temperance Coffee House, or \"Welcome Home\" for the sailors,\nand thenceforth made this place her abode, and the work of God has\nnever ceased.\n\nIn the spring of this year Miss Macpherson had contemplated starting\nwith a party for Canada, but as the time drew near she was so much\nworn out by the continued strain of \"holding the fort\" at\nSpitalfields for the last two years, that some of her friends almost\nfeared she would be unable to take the charge. She would not suffer\nher bodily weakness to hinder her, and on May the 8th started on her\ntwenty-first voyage in the \"Sardinian,\" accompanied by her\nbrother-in-law, Mr. Merry, with a party of fifty children, and two young\nmen who had gone out with her in 1870, and had returned to see their\nfriends, and were on their way back with her to the land of their adoption.\nSo many thousand miles had been traversed by land and sea, and hitherto\nthanksgivings had gone up for preservation from even alarm of danger.\nNow a deeper thanksgiving was to be called forth, for the Lord's\npreserving care in a scene which brought all face to face with\neternity. On the Monday before she left Miss Macpherson remarked to\nsome friends, \"The Word is full of _Deliverance_, both individual\ndeliverance and otherwise,\" little dreaming how soon she would be\ncalled to realise this truth.\n\nThe following letter, which appeared in the \"Times,\" tells of the\nstrength given in time of need:--\n\n\"_May_ 14, 1878.\n\n\"Captain Grills, of the Liverpool Mercantile Marine Service\nAssociation, going to Derry upon a pleasure trip, was upon the bridge\nof the 'Sardinian' when the accident occurred, and speaks in high\nterms of the discipline of officers and crew under the trying\ncircumstances. He says:--'I was on the bridge with Captain Dutton,\nlooking for the approach of the tender, when in a moment an explosion\noccurred down in the fore-hold, where a quantity of coal was stored,\nand blew into the air thousands of fragments of wood. Immediately\nafterwards people came shrieking up the companion ways, many, of them\ncut, bruised, and blackened. The scene was indescribable. A great\ndeal of confusion was caused by the separation of children from\nparents and husbands from wives. One poor woman begged me to go and\nfind her baby, which was torn from her arms. The Captain, on hearing\nthe explosion and seeing the smoke, sprang from the bridge, ordered\nthe hose to be instantly applied, and by dint of extraordinary\nexertions on the part of himself, the officers, and crew, succeeded\nin saving several people who were in the midst of the debris. The\nhold was flooded with water from the hose, but the smoke continued to\npour out in dense volumes, and ultimately they had to abandon all\nhope of saving the ship except by opening the sluices and letting the\nwater in. Before doing this the vessel was taken into five fathoms\nof water, so that when she settled down her decks would be above\nwater, and she might the more easily be pumped out and raised. While\nthese orders were being executed, the whole of the saloon passengers,\nassisted by many of the crew, were engaged in transferring the\nemigrants to the mail tender which had just come alongside. About 300\nor 400 soon crowded her decks, and she landed them at Moville pier,\nafter which she returned for orders. Subsequently the second tender\ntook off most of the saloon passengers, many wounded, and a large\nquantity of baggage. The boats were lowered in order to save the\nbaggage. The mail tender returned and took the rest of the people,\nand I went with them, and we reached Derry about nine o'clock that\nnight. I cannot refrain from referring to the heroic conduct of one\nlady, [Footnote: Miss Catherine Ellis of Tryon House] a saloon\npassenger, who, while partially dressed, rescued a baby that was\nfearfully burnt, at considerable risk to herself; the mother had\nproceeded to Derry, thinking she had lost her child for ever. The\npromptitude and energy displayed by Captain Button was in every way\nadmirable, and his orders were executed with great decision. Miss\nMacpherson and her little band of Canadian emigrants showed no small\namount of true fortitude and heroism. Most of the children behaved\nnobly under the trying circumstances, and exhibited much of the fruit\nof their careful training. They kept repeating to one another many of\nthe sayings they had heard from Miss Macpherson about being patient,\nand brave, and good; I visited the infirmary before leaving on\nSaturday, and spoke to each of the nine patients, who are all\nsuffering seriously, but I am hopeful of the recovery of some.'\"\n\nMiss Macpherson's own account follows:--\n\n\"Sunday morning.\n\n\"Since we parted from you and those beloved Christian friends at St.\nPancras last Wednesday, we seem to have lived years, and learnt more\nof the reality of the delivering power of our loving Father than in\nall our lives before.\n\n\"Wondrous to relate, and as marvellous as the deliverance of the\nthree children from the fiery furnace, is the fact that all our\nprecious little ones are in safety, and now gone to a place of\nworship.\n\n\"Behold the loving-kindness of our God! Had the explosion taken\nplace a little while later, our vessel would have been on her way\ninstead of standing still waiting off Moville for the mails.\n\n\"Most of the children\" were on deck, basking in the lovely sunshine\nof that afternoon. We were all busy finishing our letters, and I\nintended to write one more, and then go and spend an hour in the\nchildren's steerage, when presently there was a terrible sound, as of\na cannon, followed by a deathly stillness for two minutes; I rushed\non deck and beheld a man jet black with soot, his halt burnt off,\nissuing from a gangway near; then one of my own boys came,\nexclaiming, 'Oh, Miss! I prayed to Jesus, and He saved me.' Then the\ndeck became a fearful scene of confusion, poor foreigners weeping,\nand oh! the mutilated men and women, ghastly with fright, some of\ntheir faces entirely skinned.\n\n\"My first care was for the little ones. They clustered round me, as\nthe two young men, (former boys of 1870, who had been home to see\ntheir friends), gathered them out of the crowd. Mr. Merry gave me the\nlist, and they dried their tears, and answered to their names when\ncalled. We soon found all accounted for, and were hushed with praise\nPicture us all standing near the wheelhouse, awaiting orders, or to\nsee, it might be flames, or another explosion of a still more serious\ncharacter.\n\n_\"Oh! could every Sunday school teacher in the land realise my\nfeelings at that moment, they would never rest until every child in\ntheir class was' washed in the Blood of the Lamb. I saw nothing but\nimperfection in all my work, and want of burning reality for\nsouls._\n\n\"The scene of the disaster was very near to the children's sleeping\nberths; a very few yards off two women sat upon a box together, one\nwas blown up into the air, the other driven she knew not whither; but\nlate that night I came across her seeking a bed in Moville, and she\ntold me that in those first terrible moments _every sin she had\never committed came before, her,_ and the one most awful was her\nhaving rejected the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, what our God can do in\ntire twinkling of an eye! by unbalancing a little breath of His own\ncreated air, then the stoutest-hearted sinners quail.\"\n\nAnother witness wrote:--\n\n_Sunday._\n\n\"It is terrible to have been in the midst of such a calamity! and\nthe sight of the poor, blackened, and scorched faces of the sufferers\nI shall never forget. There was such a nice, family on board; the\nfather, mother, and four children. The mother was blown up; her body\nwas found yesterday, scarcely recognisable, but the husband had to go\nand identify it. Poor man! he was here, and in such an agony of\ndistress. The last order I heard the Captain give, was thundered out,\n'Send all the women and children up from below,' and Miss Macpherson\ncame herself, and dragged me up. Captain Button says there have been\nthe most wonderful providences.\n\n\"It was wonderful how calm every one seemed at the time of that\nterrible crash. There was no panic, but the peculiar wailing of the\npoor Sardinians rings in my ears still, and the groans of those\nsufferers. Silence must be cast over the scenes of that sad day.\n\n\"If I thought of anything at the time of the accident, it was of\nMiss Macpherson's _Bible,_ and I know her thought was for me and\nthe children. It was most sweet at the time to see the way people\nthought of others more than of themselves; there were many little\nacts of kindness done then which will never be forgotten.\n\n\"Miss Macpherson said to me as we were starting on Thursday, 'I\nthink this is going to be a most unusual voyage. I have never had\nsuch sweet dismissals before.'\n\n\"I did so feel as I stood round those poor sufferers. Why was I\nspared? All in the same ship, all exposed to the same peril, and yet\nwe are _untouched,_ and what are we better than they? We can\nonly bow low before our loving Father with 'What can I render unto\nthe Lord for all His benefits towards me?'.. I managed to get to the\ninfirmary, where I paid a very interesting visit.... The third\nofficer is so terribly hurt, quite unrecognisable.\"\n\nOn her return from Derry, whither she had hastened to give help to\nthe sufferers, Mrs. Merry gave a thrilling account of how the waters\nhad not been suffered to pass over them, nor the flame permitted to\nkindle upon them; and told how nobly that brave seaman and man of\nGod, Captain Dutton, had acted; how he had instantly summoned all\nhands to his help in seeing to the safety of the children, so that in\nless than three minutes by the watch, after the shock, the whole of\nthe forty _little_ tones were around Miss Macpherson, having no\nmore hurt upon them (with one exception) than a little singed hair\nand a few blisters.\n\nNot only were their lives spared--they were not even called upon to\n\"take joyfully the spoiling if their goods,\" for not one box or\nparcel either of clothing or gospel, tracts and books was lost or\ninjured. The \"Peruvian\" was sent from Liverpool to take, the place of\nthe \"Sardinian,\" and the rest of the voyage was accomplished in\nsafety.\n\nWhen nearing Cape Race Miss Macpherson writes:--\n\n\"Many a touching scene have we witnessed. A company of between\ntwenty and thirty Swiss Christians, with their evangelist, guided by\na lady, to form a little colony in Canada, when passing through\nLiverpool, had spent all their evenings at the 'Sailors Rest,' so we,\nbeing I one in the eternal bond, sang together the same hymns, though\nin different languages, the first evening we sailed out. To see them\ndrying their Bibles and hymn-books, all the covers gone, oh! it made\nme weep. How very _precious those mutilated books were to them\nnow!_ One dear German Christian showed me his Bible, and I was\ntold the two front blotted pages were written by a dying mother's\nhand. Another young German, when he found his Bible was safe, forgot\nall else, and danced about with the most touching joy, but then he\nknew not where to put his treasure for safety and to get it pressed.\nAlthough I understood not his language, and no one was at hand to\ninterpret, I put out my hand to help him; he took one long look into\nmy face, and with a smile gave me his precious book. Five days after\nwe met again, and he held out his hands, exclaiming 'Bibel!'\n\n\"You heard how very promptly the Deny Christians acted for the poor\nemigrants. Every minister intimated the need in his church, and the\nresponse was made before nine o'clock on the Monday morning.\nCartloads of clothing were sent in and distributed among the\nemigrants, so that as far as covering for the present goes, all have\nbeen liberally helped to go on their way.\n\n\"Sunday.--A day of lovely sunshine, all on deck enjoying the warmth.\nThe foreigners quietly reading their mutilated books; but--oh, how\nsad to see!--with the English emigrants it is beer--beer--beer--taking\nwith them to the new land habits that will tell ill for them\nwherever they go.\n\n\"The children and I spent the morning singing together, and thanking\nour God for all His wondrous love. Often during the-past week I felt\nlike breaking down, and letting the pent-up tears flow; but while Bob\n(eleven years old) prayed, I could hold out no longer, and the strong\nsailors leaning over the mid hatchway joined me too, as the dear lad\nasked God, for Jesus' sake, to care for the blind mother he had left\nin the workhouse, and that his runaway brother might be brought to\nJesus; that his brother with the bad leg might be found of the Lord;\nthat his sister in service might please her master and mistress; and\nthat he himself might follow Jesus, and be a good boy, and obedient\nto those placed over him.\"\n\nThe following is dated from Galt:--\n\n\"Because Thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of Thy\nwings will I rejoice.\" (Ps. lxiii. 7).\n\n\"MY DEAR FELLOW-HELPERS,--On arriving at this sweet spot our\njourneyings ended for the present. You can well imagine the complete\nenjoyment of repose as with my family I wander round the Cottage Home\nwhen school hours are over. During a week in which I had been\nseparated from them, they had made the acquaintance of horses, cows,\nducks, hens, sheep, &c.--all so new to our poor London children. They\nnever tire of inviting me to come and see _our_ this and that,\nor some new-found pleasure. How quickly this country life develops\ncharacter, touching chords which are left unawakened in many a\nnature! It is such a contrast to the artificial tastes and habits of\ncity life, which arouse passions not easily kept in subjection.\n\n\"Mrs. Merry will be glad to know that I am delighted with all in and\naround the Home. The new wing, with its lavatory and simple\narrangements for the health and comfort of the children, would, we\nbelieve, be highly approved of by the relatives of our departed\nfriends, Miss Wilson and Mr. Marshall, who so kindly left us the\nmeans to make this addition. One of our former' boys works on the\nfarm; his life was consecrated nearly two years ago for China. He is\na manly, consistent young Christian, and tells me it was an address\ngiven here by George W. Clarke (the first of our missionary sons from\nSpitalfields), before he went out to China, that gave him the first\nburning longings to become a missionary. It is my duty to see that a\nsuitable education be given him to strengthen these desires;\ntherefore when field-work is over, we have hours for study, Mr. Merry\nteaching in the morning, and I in the evening.\n\n\"The last mail from China brings a letter from G. W. Clarke, in\nwhich he writes:--\"The Lord has blessed me with good health, whilst\nmany of our brethren engaged in the hard work of pioneering are in\nsome way feeling the strain upon their strength.\" I am very thankful\nfor the _roughing_ I had in Canada, and for whatever trials I\nhave had in China, which have enabled me in any way to \"endure\nhardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.\"\n\n\"We need much prayer for this branch of the work, that it may be the\nnatural outcome of family life, and grow gradually as our heavenly\nFather leads.\n\n\"Several of the elder boys are at the Home now from different\ncauses; their work on the farm pays for their board, and they again\ncome under blessed Gospel influence, while we watch and pray for\"\ntheir conversion. The dear sisters who work out the details value an\ninterest in your prayers, as they so realise 'from day to day the\nneed of patience.' All your desires that I should _rest_ are\nbeing fulfilled. If you could but see me sitting on a bank with three\nor four little heads leaning on my lap, the others buzzing round,\nbringing flowers and weaving wreaths for our hats! Then a hand\nopens to show _'such a dear' young frog!_ Another brings an\nendless variety of caterpillars, &c. Then there come shrieks of\ndelight from a group of boys who have almost caught a squirrel A\nrowing boat glides down the river, and the children strike up an\nimpromptu strain--'Row, brothers, row!'\n\n\"A little fellow has a burden on his mind, ending with, 'Could I not\nstop here always?' Alas! he had to be told 'impossible,' for there\nwere many more poor boys far away in London, crying to be loved, and\nhe would soon find a 'pa and ma' to love him. How this thirst for\nsympathy grows in these tiny hearts! May more dear mission-workers\nhave _anointed eyes_, to seek out the orphans in the dens of our\ngreat city. May more jewelled fingers yield their offerings, ere the\nopportunity be past, for rescuing immortal souls that may become\nwitnesses of Jesus Christ, and shine for ever and ever in His crown.\n\n\"Too many seek to square the cases up to their rules, but the\nopposite I believe is more according to God's mind. Oh, if every town\nin Old England would arise and build its own Orphan Home! Surely the\nChurch of Christ in every denomination can unite in love over the\nchildren. Witness the burst of love in a few hours after the\nministers of every sect in Deny told the need of the emigrants, and\nthe children cast naked upon their shores! They gave until the\nreceivers said, 'It is enough!'\n\n\"In this quiet resting-place, I have time to listen to the Master's\nown voice, and hear Him say, 'Go forward!' This is the twenty-first\nvoyage--the _majority_! I would celebrate it by desiring still\ngreater things for God's glory, devising, yet leaving the direction\nto the Lord. Already it has proved a time of trial and rich blessing.\nMy heart is with you all in, your joyous privileges of making known a\nSaviour's love. My spirit flits to the _needy children_. A\nthousand board schools will never supply the loving, tender care we\nwomen can give to the fatherless and motherless, or sow the seed and\nlead the precious little souls to Jesus. Therefore follow me in these\nenlarged desires the Lord hath given, and oh! keep your eyes and ears\nopen to the cry of the children. Hot summer days will lessen some of\nthe Refuge work, but I follow you to Bird Fair, Ratcliff Highway, and\nmany a court around. Don't forget that terrible corner by the lamp-post\nin the next street.\n\n\"Then for your own souls I send this word--'They thirsted not when\nHe led them through the deserts. He caused the waters to flow out of\nthe rock for them.' As to your work, Do it. Should He be pleased to\nremove any of us, to stir our nest, or lay sickness upon us, shall we\nnot hear Him say, 'Is it not lawful for Me to do what I will with\nmine own?' Beloved friends, 'Hold that fast which thou hast, that no\nman take thy crown.'--Yours affectionately,\n\n\"ANNIE MACPHERSON.\"\n\nThe work had now so increased, that it was thought well to divide\nthe three Canadian Homes. Hiss Macpherson found the Gait Home\nsufficient for the needs of the children transferred from the Home of\nIndustry. Miss Bilbrough retained possession of the Marchmont Home,\nnow devoted exclusively to children from Scotland; and the Knowlton\nHome, in the province of Quebec, was placed under the management of\nMrs. Birt for the reception of little emigrants from Liverpool.\n\nIt was at the workers' meeting in August that Miss Macpherson was\nwelcomed home; and Miss Ellis of Tryon House said she had been in\nCanada with Miss Macpherson, and the thought most on her mind in\nrecollection of the scene on the \"Sardinian\" was \"_given back_.\"\nAs delivered from death, they had returned, each to their loved\nspheres of work, and felt increasingly how consecrated such lives\nshould be, and for what great blessing they might look out.\n\nAs one quite unconnected with the work, Miss Ellis said she must\nremark how much she had been struck with the arrangements of the Gait\nHome--the children were thoroughly well fed and well cared for (not\nlike little princes though, nor above their station), and not an\nunnecessary shilling was expended.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII.\n\n1879-1880.\n\nExperiences among Indians--Picnic in the Bush--Distribution of\nTestaments--\"Till He come\"--\"A Home and a hearty Welcome.\"\n\n\nOnce more in Canada, Miss Macpherson records experience of an\nunusual kind:--\n\n\"In one of the large villages we visited, an all-day prayer-meeting\nwas held from 9 A.M. to 9 P.M., which proved a season of rich\nblessing. We found openings for mission work all around, farmers and\ntheir families willing to gather and sit any length of time with\nBible and hymn-book in hand. We feel an open door is made for us here\nby the entrance of these little children, who have, proved excellent\npioneer evangelists.\n\n\"After this interesting tour, I was about to return to the Galt\nHome, when a messenger arrived with a pressing invitation to visit\nthe Indians on the Chippawa Reserve, and tell them the story of our\nchildren. This come through their pastor, the Rev. Mr. Jacques, and\nalthough weary in body, a lady friend and I resolved to go forward to\nPort Elgin, situated on Lake Huron, whence a dear Canadian sister\ndrove us along the ten miles of wild and poorly cultivated country\nleading to the Indian reserve. Fire had in past years ravaged the\ndistrict for miles, leaving thousands of charred trunks of high\ntrees. We enjoyed the scenery of the beautiful Sangeen, with its\ngrand old forests in their finest clothing, and at times we caught\nsight of Lake Huron, lying calm as a mirror, with the last rays of\nthe setting sun reflected upon its bosom.\n\n\"On arriving at the little manse on Chippawa Hill we were serenaded\nby the Indians, who had already gathered by hundreds from far and\nnear. We made a hasty repast, and felt grateful for the opportunity\nafforded us so unexpectedly of speaking to them: Our service was\nopened by singing in Indian a well-known hymn of praise. Then one of\nthe evangelists spoke upon a portion of Scripture for twenty minutes,\nafter the other had prayed, when an interpreter took half-an-hour to\ntranslate it into their own language, after which my companion sang\n\"The Ninety and Nine,\" and I spoke. The interpreter repeated the\nstory, and though our audience scarcely ever moved, the pastor's wife\nsaid they were feeling deeply.\"\n\n\"Many a dear squaw and I clasped hands that night, and we gazed into\neach other's eyes, knowing full well, although unexpressed, that we\nwere one in the same deep love for the weak and helpless.\"\n\n\"While the choir sang another hymn, under the direction of the\npastor's daughter, who is also the daily teacher of the young, we\nshowed some of our photographs, and never were more grateful for that\nart. My lady friend sang another solo, and then began an\nindescribable scene. Chief John was first introduced to us, as we\nstood on a raised platform with a rail in front. The dear old man\nseemed much moved, and burst into an oration full of gratitude for\nour coming to visit his people. We acknowledged this, when the whole\ncongregation of three to four hundred, young and old, passed and\nshook hands with us. Every now and then we were presented with gifts,\nmade by the hands of the giver. Chief Henry's wife gave a beautiful\nbark basket ornamented with porcupine's quills. Then another head man\ngave us a bag made of beaten bark, saying this was made before they\nknew the white man. We thought that now all was over, but no. All\nwere again seated, quietly and in order, the grace of ease and\nperfect harmony pervading the whole scene. The Indians had a wish to\ndo us honour, and to show their love in their own way, we were each\nto receive from them an Indian name. We found this new name had\nrequired thought, and when saying 'Buzhu?' or 'How do you do?' they\nafter this called us by the name they had given.\n\n\"The pastor, (Mr. Jacques), and his wife and family, were truly\nparental in their actions, and are beloved by these simple-hearted\nIndians. It was a touching scene! There are ninety in Christian\nfellowship, and among them some old veterans of ninety years, with\nscarcely a grey hair, and more sprightly than the young men in their\ntribes to-day. As regularly as the sun rises, they are at the church\ndoor, though they live five miles off, through swamp and wood.\n\n\"One thing charmed me,--the firm law made for them in connection\nwith drink. Would that England would treat our white drunkards in the\nsame way! A man, when found the worse for liquor, is fined from fifty\nto two hundred dollars, or put in prison for one month; also the man\nwho sells it to him. Two more weeks are added if he will not tell who\nsupplied him with the drink.\n\n\"On leaving the next morning, I was addressed by my new name,\n'Ke-zha-wah-de-ze-qua' (Benevolence); my friend also was greeted as\n'Wah sage zhe go-qua' (Shining-sky lady).\"\n\nThe following account of a picnic in the Canadian Bush, at which an\nIndian chief was present, will not be out of place here:--\n\n\"A picnic is a much more frequent entertainment in this country than\nin England, for the lovely bright days of a Canadian summer are so\nmuch more suitable than our damp and variable weather. Miss\nMacpherson was anxious to meet as many as possible of the kind\nfriends in and around the Children's Home at Galt, who are interested\nin the Lord's work among the little ones. A picnic was suggested as\nmost pleasant, and the Bush as more spacious than our cottage-rooms.\nSo a general invitation was given through the ministers and the local\npapers.\n\n\"Last Thursday was all that could be desired. Cool breezes tempered\nthe hot sunbeams, and a brilliant blue sky was reflected in the\nstill, flowing river. Such a lovely spot, too, is the 'Home' Bush! A\npartially cleared space near the river was chosen for the tables and\nseats; nearby a log-fire was kindled, on which huge kettles of water\nwere boiled. One thing only marred our hopes for the day. Miss\nMacpherson herself was almost prostrate through a sharp attack of\nrheumatism, and oar hearts sank as we feared she would be unable to\nbe among us. However, in the 'prayer of faith' we laid her deep need\nbefore the Lord, and He graciously gave her the faith to trust Him,\nand the courage to attempt, even in great pain, to rise from bed, and\nwalk down to the Bush. The needed strength was marvellously given,\nand she was able to remain with us until sunset. Truly the Lord doeth\nwondrous things!\n\n\"At four o'clock our guests began to arrive. One visitor was the\ncentre of attraction--a chief of the Six Nation Indians, from the\nreserve near Brantford, who arrived earlier in the day with Mr. B.\nNeedham, the missionary. Chief Jonathan, now a Christian, was dressed\nin the native costume, now worn only on high days and holidays. Most\npicturesque it was to see him seated on the green slope near the\nriver, leaning against a tall maple tree. His coat and trousers of\nyellow buckskin were fringed at the edges. An embroidered scarlet\nsash was loosely tied around his waist. Then his head-gear was most\nstriking. Long thin black hair hung over his shoulders,--not his own,\nbut from the scalp of some poor Indian slain in warfare! This was\nsurmounted by a turban cap of scarlet, and white beads, a row of\nfeathers all round it, and in front three or four very long bright\nfeathers standing erect. He was able to talk with us in English, and\ntold us how his grandfathers owned all the land along the 'Grand\nRiver.' It is very pitiful to think how the poor Indians have been\npushed further and further into little corners of their once proud\nterritory, to make way for the white man, who, alas! brought to them\nthe terrible 'fire-water' which has gone so far to prove their ruin\nand increase their desolation. Thank God that now they have earnest\nmen of God, whom His own love and zeal for souls has so filled as to\nenable them to give up all for His glory, and go and live among these\ndark, despised ones, and take to them the glad tidings of a free\nsalvation.\n\n\"During our tea-hour great interest was taken by all our friends in\nthe group of little ones enjoying their cake and tea, and Miss\nMacpherson told how good the Lord had been to the mission, in opening\nup homes for nearly all the sixty rescued children we brought out\nthree weeks ago. After tea, our forty younger ones seated themselves\nin a ring upon the green grass, under the shade of the maple and\nhickory trees. They sang sweet hymns of Jesus, and repeated many\nprecious texts for Mr. Needham to take as their messages of love to\nthe Indian children in his Sunday-school. Little Bobbie gave as his\ntext, 'God requireth that which is past.' Joey then stood up and\nrepeated, 'Suffer little children to come unto Me.' Johnnie and\nGeorgie gave, 'The eyes of the Lord are in every place,' and 'When my\nfather and mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up.'\n\n\"A few questions followed from Miss Macpherson,--'How can any one\nget into heaven?' 'They must love God,' was the first answer. 'They\nmust have their hearts changed,' said another. Then Bobbie's clear\nvoice was heard, again, 'By being washed in the blood of Jesus!'\nBeautiful answer! wondrous truth!\n\n\"The Indian chief stood gazing in calm wonder at this circle of\nhappy English children. Presently Mr. Needham rose and said: 'The\nChief tells me he is very anxious to say a few words to the \"Queen\"\n(_i.e.,_ Miss Macpherson), to the friends, and to the children.\nHe understands English, but his thoughts flow more freely in his\nnative tongue, and he has asked me to be his interpreter. He says\nthat many years ago his fathers kindled the fire and smoked 'the pipe\nof peace' at such a gathering, and he thanks God for such a sight as\nthis. He has never been so touched as this afternoon by the\nchildren's texts and answers. One hymn especially has struck him--\n\n\n 'There's a home for little children,\n  Above the bright, blue sky.'\n\n\n'His fathers looked for the home of the spirits, but knew nothing of\nthe Christian's heaven. There are still, in his nation, 700 pagans\nwho sacrifice the white dog to the spirits, and are ever travelling\ntowards the land of the setting sun. He hopes the pagan children will\nbe taught about Jesus. He is so touched by the care taken of these\nlittle ones and by the work of the Christian lady who saves them. The\nChief says he is very thankful I brought him here to-day. The circle\non the grass reminds him of how the Indian children sit to sacrifice\nthe white dog. He is going back to tell the children of his people\nall these blessed things.'\n\n\"During Mr. Needham's interpretation the Chief stood by him, his\nusually impassive face quite lit up with animated interest. After a\nwhile he played to us on his cornet, his favourite tune being 'God\nsave the Queen.' Mr. Needham told us a few deeply interesting details\nof his work among the Indians, and how the Lord is giving His\nblessing in conversions, and also in the temperance work just begun\namong them. He told us of an Indian mother who would walk eight miles\nto hear the Gospel, with one baby slung over her back, in its curious\nmummy-like cradle, and another slung on her arm! The poor Indians are\nbeginning really to value the care and labour bestowed on them by the\nmissionary whom God has so evidently prepared for and led into this\nwork. And surely such a mission as this has a deep and solemn claim\non the help and sympathy of those who have now possession of the land\nof the Red Indian, and enjoy the blessings he has lost. Let the\nwhite man, who brought him the 'fire-water,'--dire instrument of\ndeath!--seek now, though, alas! so late, to carry to him with all\nspeed the blessed 'water of life,' that he may drink and live for\never.\n\n\"As the shadows on the grass grew longer, and the west began to glow\nwith the sunset crimson, the little ones, tired yet happy, were taken\nhome to bed, and our kind friends bade as all farewell. When we look\nback on our happy picnic in the Bush, and raise our earnest prayers\nfor the dear children God has rescued and shall yet rescue, let us\nnot forget to plead for the mission to the Six Nation Indians, and to\nask that the light of the glorious Gospel may speedily bring hope and\ngladness to many a poor dark heart.\"\n\nMiss Macpherson's next letter tells of many varied interests:--\n\n\"DEAR FELLOW-WORKERS,--Our proposed three days of Christian\nfellowship and conference at the Galt Home are now over. Numbers were\nnot large, the accommodation here being limited, bat several\nministers, evangelists, and devoted brothers and sisters, who have\ntrue sympathy in the Master's work for the deaf children, waited on\nthe Lord with us, and it has proved a time of great spiritual\nblessing, preparing us to go forth in the days that remain, strong to\nlabour for our blessed Lord, just to do His will.\n\n\"Leaving matters at Galt going on in their even way, only varied by\nthe occasional return of children, who, from temper, ill-health, or\nsome other cause, have not been able to remain in the situations\nfirst found for them, (which shows the value of our Homes on this\nside the Atlantic), we are again on the wing.\n\n\"The Sunday after the conference was spent at Sheffield, a village\ncontaining a thousand inhabitants. On arriving we found the sheds\naround the church full of conveyances, betokening a good\ncongregation. The people, looking bright in their white summer\ncostumes, joined with wonderful heartiness in singing, 'All hail the\npower of Jesus' name.' Mr. Merry gave a powerful address on Ezek.\nxxxvii. 1-10. During the afternoon we learned that a time of revival\nhad sprung from a few godly women meeting at each other's houses to\npray for a blessing on the village. They felt the need of a definite\nobject for their prayers, and selected a young man who was a great\ndrunkard, and the disturber of every meeting. Soon they were rejoiced\nto learn that he was truly converted to the Lord without any human\nagency. Now his face is the brightest of the congregation, and none\nis more active to win souls than he. On leaving Sheffield we were\ngrateful to know we had secured many hearts to pray for us and our\nlittle ones.\n\n\"We took a large case of Testaments to the next place we visited; and\nan evangelist who had been labouring for some weeks there, sold for\nus; on Henry Moorhouse's plan, in the market-place, 600 Testaments,\nand gave away 7200 Gospel leaflets.\n\n\"Since then we have stayed with the friends at St. Catharine's,\nexchanging words of cheer with Presbyterian, Episcopal, Methodist,\nand other brethren. Now we are staying with members of the Society\nof Friends at Fonthill. How sweet is this fellowship of saints,\n'endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace!'\nHere we learn with joy how our brother-in-law was used to the\nconversion of many in the villages around during the past winter.\nWe have been comparing notes with four of the dear sisters here,\ncontrasting our work at Ratcliff Highway, with its three mission-houses,\nour elder girls, widows, and lodging-houses, with theirs among navvies\non Welland Canal, drunkards, and farmers and their wives living away\nin solitary nooks. The work is one presenting a full, free, and\npresent salvation by a once crucified and now risen Lord.\n\n\"The dear wife of the Lord's honoured servant, Jonathan Grubb, is\ngiving great joy and help to the busy workers on this hill-top, by\nsending large parcels of tracts purchased from the various societies\nin England, assorted into packets during her winter hours. From the\nfriends here they go to many a lone corner of the great continent.\nThe postal charges are so small, that surely many a sister might\nshare with us in sending a fresh packet now and again to those who\nhave little reading of any kind; also the many gifts from the Tract\nSociety have been most valuable in these country places.\n\n\"Our children settled in the neighbourhood of Font-hill are growing\nup into manhood, some of them becoming earnest Christians.\n\n\"Our stay is necessarily brief; distances are great, and strength\nsmall; but we ever realise, 'He leadeth us.'\n\n\"Dear fellow-workers, let us watch and pray, and labour on, 'till He\ncome.'\"\n\n\"Till He come!\". It is sweet with these words to close this\nimperfect record of the labours of the Lord's beloved handmaid;\nespecially when we look back to the time twenty years' before, when\nthe \"blessed hope\" was first made the source of new strength and\npower to her soul. May not the words of the letter quoted above be\nadopted with little alteration by every Christian labourer? Our stay\ncan be but brief,--perhaps not one working hour is yet left to us,\nand how emphatically do the words now come to us, \"Redeeming the time\n_because_ the days are evil;\" so evil, that were it not for the\nsure word of prophecy, we should lie down in despair. If we looked to\npresent agency to change the scenes of sin and sorrow around us, all\nhope would vanish. But we have \"a hope that maketh not ashamed,\" and\n\"that blessed hope\" is an \"anchor of the soul\" \"The work is great,\"\ngreat it has always been, but how much greater now that doors\nhitherto closed are open in every part of the world; from every\ncountry the cry is, \"Come over and help us.\" Many a solitary pioneer\nhas fallen, oh! that others might come forth to fill up the ranks.\n\"Strength is small;\" \"Without me ye can do nothing;\" \"Is there not an\nappointed warfare (margin) to man upon earth?\" He, who has appointed\nthe warfare will not send any at their own charges. The \"blessed\nhope\" strengthens the weak hands and confirms the feeble knees. He\nwill give the grace, the wisdom, the strength, all that is needed,\nday by day. _\"Till He come.\"_ Three little words--no more--but\nwho can tell the comfort, the strength, the sweetness this hope\nbrings to those who are watching for the coming of their King?\n\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\nThe following deeply affecting lines are from the same pen as those\nbefore quoted. Miss Geldard, the gifted writer, was for a time a much\nvalued fellow-labourer both in England and Canada:--\n\n\nA HOME AND A HEARTY WELCOME.\n\n  All day has the air been busy,\n   As the daylight hours went by,\n  With the laugh of the children's gladness,\n   Or their pitiful, hopeless cry.\n\n  But now all is hushed in silence,\n   They are lying in slumber deep:\n  While I ask, in this solemn midnight,\n   _Where_ do the children sleep?\n\n  We know there are children sleeping\n   In many a happy home,\n  Where sickness rarely enters,\n   Where want may never come.\n\n  Their hands in prayer were folded\n   Ere they laid them down to rest,\n  And on rosy lip and soft white brow\n   Were a mother's kisses pressed.\n\n  They sleep and dream of angels;\n   Ah! well may their dreams be fair!--\n  Their home is now so like a heaven,\n   They seem already there.\n\n  But where are the children sleeping\n    In these wretched streets around,\n  Where sin, and want, and sorrow\n    Their choicest haunt have found?\n\n  Will you climb this broken staircase,\n    And glance through this shattered door;\n  Oh, can there be children sleeping\n    On that filthy and crowded floor?\n\n  Yes! old and young together,\n    A restless, moaning heap;\n  O God! while they thus are sleeping,\n    How dare Thy children sleep?\n\n  Does the night air make you shiver,\n    As the stream sweeps coldly by?\n  (Cold as the hearts of the heedless),\n    Here, too, do the children lie.\n\n  An archway their only shelter;\n    The pavement their nightly bed;\n  Thou, too, when on earth, dear Saviour,\n    Hadst nowhere to lay _Thy_ head.\n\n  So we know Thou art here, dear Master,\n    Thy form we can almost see;\n  Do we tear Thy sad voice saying,\n    \"Ye did it not to Me?\"\n\n  Yes, chill is the wind-swept archway,\n    The pavement is cold and hard\n  Better the workhouse coffin,\n    Softer the graveyard sward.\n\n  Thank God! yet we say it weeping,\n    Thank God for many a grave!\n  There sleep the little children\n    Whom Christians would not save!\n\n  Yet smiles through our tears are dawning\n    When we think of the hope that lies\n  In our children's Land of Promise,\n    'Neath the clear Canadian skies.\n\n  Though the frost he thick on the windows,\n    Though the roof with snow is white,\n  We know our Canadian children\n    Are safe and warm to-night.\n\n  There thick are the homespun blankets,\n    And the buffalo robes are warm;\n  Then why should these children shiver\n    Out here in the winter storm?\n\n  Why wait till the prison claims them?\n    Why wait till of hope bereft\n  For that fair young girl the river\n    Be the only refuge left?\n\n  Come! help us, answer the message\n    Now pealing across the seas--\n  \"A home and a hearty welcome\n    For hundreds such as these!\"\n\n  It comes from broad Ontario,\n    And from Nova Scotia's shore;\n  They have loved and sheltered our gathered waifs,\n    They have room for thousands more.\n\n       S. R. GELDARD.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX.\n\nQuestions and Answers--Sorrowful Cases--Testimonies from those who\nhave visited Canada--Stewardship.\n\n\nThe fallowing plain answers to practical questions, are written by\nthose well acquainted with the work:--\n\nI. \"Are these children really _street Arabs?_ If not, where do\nyou find so many?\"\n\nIn the early days of the work, before the establishment of School\nBoards and kindred institutions, a large proportion of the children\nwere actually taken from the streets. Now, the rescue work begins\nfarther back, and seeks to get hold of the little ones before they\nhare had a taste of street life and become contaminated. A policeman\nbrings one sometimes, having found it in a low lodging-house,\nforsaken by its worthless, drunken parents. Christian ladies are ever\non the look-out for the little ones in their work among the poor, and\nmany a child has been taken straight from the dying bed of its only\nremaining parent to Miss Macpherson. \"Rescued from a workhouse life\"\nmight be written on many a bright little brow, and \"saved from drink\"\non many more. Poor, delicate widows, striving vainly to keep a large,\nyoung family, have often proved their true, unselfish love by giving\nup one or two to Miss Macpherson to be taken to Canada. Such are\nencouraged always to write to and keep in loving memory the dear\ntoiling mother at home. Widowed fathers in ill-health, and short of\nwork, feeling their utter helplessness to do for their motherless\nflock, have come to Miss Macpherson entreating her to take care of\nsome of them.\n\n2. \"How come the Canadian farmers to be willing to take these\nchildren?\"\n\nFrom a business point of view this is quite easily explained. Labour\nis so scarce out there, and hired help so dear, while _food_ is\n_so plentiful,_ that the Canadian farmer finds it quite worth\nhis while to take a little boy from the old country, whom he can\ntrain and teach as his own, and who very soon will repay him in quick\nability for farm labour.\n\n3. \"Are you sure the children are really _better off_ there?\"\n\nEvery boy in Canada has before him a definite hope for the future.\nIf he be steady, industrious, and of average intelligence, he may\nreasonably look to being independent some day, to owning land of his\nown, and attaining an honourable position in Canada. People do not\namass fortunes there as a rule, but they may all live in comfort and\nplenty, and what they have is their own. Surely this is a brighter\nprospect than the ceaseless round of toil at desk or counter, in\nwhich so many in England,--even the more fortunate,--spend their\nyouth helping to make rich men richer.\n\n4. \"Among the hundreds are there not some failures, some exceptions?\nWhat becomes of them?\"\n\nYes, there are disappointments and failures in this work as well as\nin every other. We do not take little angels to Canada, but very\nhuman little boys and girls with every variety of temper and\ncharacter, and sometimes hereditary disadvantages which it is hard to\nbattle with. But patient forbearance and gentle treatment and time do\nso much for them. And often a kind farmer has asked to be allowed to\nkeep, and \"try again\" the wilful little fellow who has tried to run\naway or proved tiresome to manage.\n\n\"Ninety-eight per cent, of our children do well, and for the two per\ncent, we do the best we can. If any circumstance arises making it\ndesirable for a farmer to give up a boy, he is at once returned to\nthe Home, where he is received and kept until another more suitable\nplace is found for him.\"\n\nShould any be still blinded to the blessings of emigration for the\nyoung, surely their eyes will be opened on reading the following\nfacts as related by Miss Macpherson:--\n\n\"William and Mary were brother and sister living in a terrible\nwarren near Drury Lane. The boy's employment was to gather rags and\nbones. Their parents had been buried by the workhouse. Their\ncondition was too deplorable to be described. A year's training was\nnot lost upon this sister and brother. They came to Canada in 1873.\nNow, could yon see them at nineteen and twenty-two--able to read and\nwrite, well-clothed with their own honest earnings, having saved, in\n1877, one hundred dollars; and this year, 1879, William is having\n$100 as wages, and Mary $60. They come from time to time to visit the\nHome. William is thinking of having a farm of his own.\n\n\"A. B.--Who was he? The son of a drunken woman, who, when very\ntipsy still comes in from Ratcliff Highway to abuse us at\nSpitalfields. Alfred has been many years in a lawyer's family, and\nhas saved enough money to be apprenticed as an engineer. He was a\nwise boy to be guided by the kind counsel of those he served. We are\nnot satisfied with earthly adoptions only; we continue to pray that\neach one may be adopted into the family of those who are washed in\nthe blood of the Lamb.\n\n\"Well do we remember the winter, when a wild man from Seven Dials\ndiscovered that we had the little Annie, of whom he used to make such\ntraffic in the gin palaces; though we had no right to her. The lamb\nwas but six years old. Thank God, an ocean separates her from his\ndrunken villanies. Now she is with kind-hearted, homely people, the\ncompanion and playmate of their daughter.\n\n\"S. W., seven years old; so puny--only a few pounds weight--owing to\nher being starved and beaten by a drunken stepfather. Now, a year in\na happy home, going to school regularly, is companion to an only\nchild, and lacks no earthly comfort. The poor mother was ill-used in\nthe dens where she lived by her neighbours, for having, they said,\nsold her child. We received a photograph of the little one from her\nhappy Canadian home; this closed every mouth, for it could not be\ngainsaid.\n\n\"Whilst stopping at one of the railway stations, we were accosted by\na young man, who told us he was one of our old boys of ten years ago,\nbut was now settled in that town. He had 'rolled' about a good deal,\nhe said, but at last had settled down, and never was so happy in his\nlife before. He had sent for his brother to come and live with him.\nSince then John and his wife have spent a day at the Gait Home, and\nthey think in another year, if they continue to prosper, that they\nalso would like to be entrusted with a little one. Thus openings are\never occurring for those yet to follow.\"\n\nSince the above was written other young emigrants, now married and\nsettled in homes of their own, have offered to adopt orphans and\nchildren, homeless as they once were themselves.\n\nThe following are independent testimonies of those who have\ntravelled or are residing in Canada:--\n\nThe late Sir Charles Reed, Chairman of the London School Board,\nstated that in his visit to Canada last year he had given special\nattention to Miss Macpherson's work, and as his inquiries and\ninvestigations were made unofficially, the information he obtained\nmight be looked upon as quite impartial. He was gratified by hearing\nfrom the Governor-General, Lord Dufferin, at Quebec, that he was well\ninformed as to the work, and bore testimony to its worth. He (Sir\nCharles) was prepared to say that the children were warmly welcomed\nand kindly treated. He also, without making his purpose known,\nvisited some of the homes where the children were located, and what\nhe saw only confirmed what he had been told, as to the Canadians'\nappreciation of the children. They were well occupied, well fed, and\nas happy as they could be. He had entered into conversation with the\nchildren as to familiar scenes in the East of London, and learned how\npleased they were with their new homes.\n\nAt Toronto he met Miss Bilbrough, a lady in charge of one of the\nHomes, and a person enthusiastically devoted to this merciful work,\nwho thus became a true \"Sister of Mercy.\" God has endowed woman\nlargely for this Christian ministry. In half an hour she thoroughly\ninterested him in the work, and put him in possession of such facts\nas convinced him that the work was one which in England demanded\nChristian sympathy and support. It was work which goes on quietly,\nand is little talked of; but it ought to be, as he trusted it would\nbe, widely known. He was glad to say that through the School Board it\nwas becoming known to intelligent Christian men both in and out of\nParliament. It is good to work in faith, as those in charge of this\nwork do; but it is also good to have evidence as an encouragement to\nfaith, and as a corroboration of the work. Such evidence he, as in a\nsense a special commissioner, had qualified himself to give, and it\ngave him much pleasure to render it.\n\n\"WOODVILLE PLACE, DUNDEE, 13th August 1873.\n\n\"MY DEAR MISS MACPHERSON,--Various ministerial and pastoral\noccupations, since my return home, have prevented me from carrying\nout my intention of putting into shape my impressions and thoughts\nabout Canada and your work. If the Lord will, I shall do so at no\ngreat distance of time. Meanwhile, allow me to express in a few words\nmy mature judgment in regard to the leading features of your work. It\nseems to me to furnish the key to the solution of one of the most\ndifficult problems in Home Mission work.\n\n\"The character of the training to which the children are subjected\nprevious to their removal to Canada appears to be all that could be\ndesired. I was delighted with their knowledge of Scripture, their\ngeneral intelligence, their respectful bearing to their superiors,\ntheir promptness of obedience, and other evidences of religious\nconviction working itself out in their general conduct. The\nextraordinary care exhibited in the selection of homes and in the\nplacing of them out in Canada strikes me as one of the most important\nand valuable elements of the work. Most of all was I charmed with the\nnoble Christian character of your fellow-workers, and was thoroughly\nconvinced that a very remarkable measure of the blessing of God rests\nupon the entire movement. I anticipate the most precious results for\ntime, and in view of eternity the issues of the movement will exceed\nall calculation. I could say much more, but for the present must\nforbear. For the sake of the poor, dear, lost little ones in our\nlarge towns; for the sake of Canada, of whose wants I am not\nignorant; for the sake of humanity, and, above all, for the Lord's\nsake, I heartily wish you were enabled to carry every summer\nthousands instead of hundreds of little children across the Atlantic\nto be settled in those beautiful Canadian regions, where by God's\nblessing they may grow up 'trees of righteousness, the planting of\nthe Lord, that He might be glorified.'\n\n\"Go on, my dear friend; the Lord is manifestly with you, and He will\nbless you still-aye, and more than ever.\n\n\"JOHN MACPHERSON.\"\n\n_\"November 5th, 1874._\n\n\"Having just returned from a six weeks' visit to Canada, I wish to\nadd my testimony to the many already given of the very valuable work\nof Miss Macpherson in the three Homes which she has established in\nCanada for young British destitute children, each Home under the\ndirection of devoted and much esteemed Christian ladies.\n\n\"Lady Cavan and I found much pleasure in visiting all these Homes,\nsituated in different parts of the Dominion of Canada, in each of\nwhich children are received from two to twelve years of age, looked\nafter with motherly affection. The greater number sent out this year\nhad been provided for.\n\n\"There is a great demand for young children in this country, where\ndomestic and farming servants are so few, and numbers of these\nchildren are adopted into families, the greatest care being taken to\nplace them with kind and good people. They are either trained for the\nplace which they will occupy, or, for the most part, are loved and\ntreated as children of the house.\n\n\"It needs but to see for oneself the happy, bright faces of the\nchildren, to be satisfied of the value and importance of this\ntransplanting institution for the rescuing of children from their\ndegraded position, for which they are in nowise responsible. May many\nbe brought under the Christian, happy influence of Miss Macpherson,\nthrough the liberality of those interested in our poor.\"\n\n\"CAVAN.\"\n\nWhat a work of blessing is being carried on by the different Homes\nhere! My soul has been greatly refreshed this Christmas in seeing\nsome of the dear boys return to 'Blair Athol,' to spend a few days\nwith our sister Miss Macpherson. The change in appearance, from\nLondon's hapless poverty and degradation, to this glorious\nclime,--bright, rosy faces, full of laughter and fun, and yet deeply\ninterested in the dear, loving Saviour, whose Spirit thus practically\ntells His own sweet story of love to their young hearts. One dear\nfellow specially delighted me. I was present as he was ushered in\nwith his little brother, his eyes full of tears of gratitude and joy\nas he said to Miss Macpherson, 'Please, Miss, here's a present for\nyou,' drawing a large, fat, beautiful goose from under his arm,\ncarefully packed. Excuse my adjectives, but I cannot help it, for I\nfairly loved the boys; and when I looked back but four years, and\ncontrasted their hapless life (workhouse children) in one of our\nEnglish provincial towns, my spirit was full of gladness, and I\nthanked God for these broad lands, and the untiring energy of the\nband of workers and friends who so intelligently and successfully\nsave them from poverty, crime, and wretchedness, and by change of\nposition, sympathy, common sense, and Christian love, fit them for\nuseful, prosperous lives here, and, by grace, for eternal glory\nyonder.\n\n\"HENRY VARLEY\"\n\nThe following is from a Canadian friend and benefactor:--\n\n\"Dear Miss Macpherson,--My attention has been called to a\ncommunication referring unfavourably to your work in bringing out the\nlittle waifs and strays from England, and placing them in farmers'\nhomes in the country of this Canada of ours. I have thought that\nperhaps a letter from me, giving my experience, might not be out of\nplace.\n\n\"Fully eleven years ago I first heard of your intention to bring out\nsome young emigrants to Canada, and as I heard that they were of the\ndegraded, vicious, and criminal class, I did not look with favour\nupon the effort. Being in England shortly after the first lot came\nout, without making my object known, I went down to the East End of\nLondon repeatedly, and personally inquired into the working of the\nscheme, saw the gathering in from the widows' families, the orphans,\nthe destitute, and those worse than orphans. I saw the cleaning, the\nfresh clothing, the training in work and discipline, and, above all,\nthe schooling in religious teaching from God's Book, and singing\nsweet Gospel hymns. I was satisfied that this part of the work was\nbeing well done in England, and great care exercised in selecting\nonly suitable cases and giving lengthened training; so that the girls\nand boys from the youngest to those of thirteen and fourteen years of\nage, when drafted to Canada in fifties and hundreds, looked likely\nyoungsters for workers in this land of plenty.\n\n\"After my return to Canada, having got thoroughly interested in the\nwork, seeing at least that it was doing a good work for London in\nrelieving the over-population there, I decided, if in my judgment the\nwork was as well cared for in Canada, and as much care exercised in\nplacing them out in homes as in gathering in and training, then it\nwould prove a good work for Canada also.\n\n\"Now, (after over ten years), I can say, from large personal\nexperience, that the placing of several thousands of these young,\nsturdy, willing workers in the homes of our Canadian fanners, through\nthis agency, has been a blessing to Canada, not only as workers, but\nalso in many cases carrying good religious influences with them. The\ngreatest care is exercised in selecting suitable homes, and in no\ncase is a child placed out unless the applicant brings good\ncertificates of character from the minister or justice of the peace.\nIn these homes of the farmers the youngsters are well-fed, well-clothed,\nand well-treated, in most cases made one of the family. I have\nconstantly inquired, in various localities, as to how these\nyoung people are getting on, from prominent men, such as judges,\nmembers of Parliament, mayors and councillors of towns, ministers and\nfanners, and am satisfied as a whole they turn out as well as the\naverage of young people from any class of society. Some prove\nunsuitable--these are returned to the Distributing Homes and given a\nfresh start; some few turn out badly or sickly--these are returned to\nEngland: but compared with the large number that turn out well the\naverage is very small. I know the Distributing Homes at Knowlton, at\nBelleville, and at Galt; they are fine, comfortable, substantial\nbuildings, and at Galt there is a farm of 100 acres of land. I know\nthe workers and the oversight they take in training until placed out,\nthe care taken in placing out, how they visit and correspond with\nthem, and I have seen and possess hundreds of letters from these\nyoungsters, written voluntarily by them from their new homes, many of\nwhich have been published in Canadian as well as English papers from\ntime to time. I have seen and possess hundreds of photographs of\nthese waifs and strays as taken into the gathering Homes in London,\nthen brought out to Canada, then, after being here two, five, and\neven ten years, the progress being marvellous.\n\n\"Now, in conclusion, having within the past month visited the Galt\nHome and Farm, with more than fifty healthy, hearty, vigorous\nyoungsters being trained and fitted for work among Canadian farmers,\nit is my firm conviction that this work is being well done on both\nsides of the Atlantic. It is being carried on upon right principles\nand from pure motives, and God has owned and blessed it wonderfully.\nThere is not only room for, but a hearty welcome also for hundreds\nmore of such emigrants. The work has proved a blessing to Canada as\nwell as a blessing to England, and those engaged in it should receive\nhearty encouragement on both sides of the Atlantic.\n\n\"--Yours faithfully,\n\n\"T. J. CLAXTON.\n\n\"MONTREAL, _July 1st, 1881._\"\n\nMiss Macpherson writes after Lord Dufferin's visit to the Galt Home:--\n\n\"His lordship said, 'We meet your children everywhere, and they are\nso happy; we have crossed the ocean with them, and even last night\nwhere we were slaying we were waited upon by one of your boys as a\npage,--he did it well too.'\"\n\nSTEWARDSHIP.\n\nMay Miss Macpherson's solemn words on stir up many to follow her\nself-denying efforts, and may the same blessing attend them.\n\n\"Since 1868, we have been receiving the love offerings of the Lord's\nalmoners, and under the direction of two auditors and a public\naccountant, a yearly balance sheet has been issued. To the praise of\nthe Lord who knoweth the needs of the destitute ones we have sought\nto help, we have not been permitted to contract a debt, or been left\nin want of bread or clothing at any time. Our faith has been\nfrequently proved, at times for days, and at others for years. Yet\nour 'God is love,' and we are in His own wondrous school, and bow to\nevery trial.\n\n\"From 4000 to 6000 pounds annually have been the requirements of the\nmission. As it came, so was the money spent, leaving us often with a\nvery small balance, but always on the right side.\n\n\"When the funds have been low we have often been led to wonder and\nadore the love that placed our burdens upon the hearts of others,\ncausing them to consider Him who loved them, and who had enjoined us\nto go forth and sympathise with the 'Christies' grinding their old\norgans, and the 'Jessicas,' with broken hearts, crying for bread in\nthe alleys of our great city.\n\n\"Our sainted sister, Miss Havergal, once earnestly entreated us to\nwrite on about the needs of little children. Mrs. Herbert Taylor, now\nin glory, said, 'Oh continue unto the end pleading the Christ-like\ncause.'\n\n\"Yes! we are stewards, and not of money only.\n\n\"Do these departed workers regret one effort made for Jesus? It is\nonly now we can watch with Him for the little children,--the\nopportunities for self-denial will soon be past. No more long\nvoyages, or sleepless nights,--soon the Lord Himself will come, our\nbungling and failures all blotted out by the blood on the Mercy-seat.\nLet us employ every remaining hour for our Lord as He leads us forth;\nlet the eye rest upon the grace that was in Jesus when He took the\nlittle children in His arms (Mark x. 13-16). How full of tenderness\nas we see Him placing the child by Himself (Luke ix. 47, 48). Would\nwe follow Him, then shall we be faithful stewards of every gift with\nwhich He has entrusted us. When we have had nothing left but\nHimself,-so near to faith's vision,--then how inexpressibly full has\nshone out one or other of the 33,000 precious, never-failing promises.\n\n\"Precious Comforter! drawing ever near to His oft 'perplexed, reasoning,\ntroubled' ones; waiting to comfort them; showing them His hands and His\nfeet, and lifting those hands to bless them (Luke xxiv).\"\n\n\n  \"'A little while' for patient vigil keeping,\n      To face the stem, to wrestle with the strong;\n   'A little while,' to sow the seed with weeping,\n      Then bind the sheaves and sing the harvest song.\n\n  \"And He who is Himself the Gift and Giver--\n      The future glory and the present smile,\n   With the bright promise of the glad 'for ever,'\n      Will light the shadows of the 'little while!'\"\n\n\n\"YET A LITTLE WHILE, AND HE THAT SHALL COME WILL COME,\nAND WILL NOT TARRY.\"\n\n\n\n\nTHE END.","title":"God's Answers: A Record of Miss Annie Macpherson's Work at the Home of Industry, Spitalfields, London, and in Canada","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":50926}