Progressive Ingathering

f COMPRESS the events of the next two years into one chapter; not wishing unduly to extend this narrative, and referring my readers to the reports for 1876 and 1877, which, being more recent, are more accessible than those of earlier years, which are now out of print.

The localities are so far the same, save that fresh ground is broken, and new stations added; while some of the old halls not only retain their audiences, but increase them, so that enlargement is required. And this expansion of the old rooms is one of the most palpable signs of the vigour and permanence of the work. It shows how the district is affected and penetrated. Not curiosity, but healthy interest sustains the work. One man carries the message to another; — the children to the father, and the father to the children, the brother to the sister, and the sister to the brother. The music of the hymns floats everywhere, and refuses to be shut out. The ‘’good news” come and go, day by day: or rather night by night. There is no flagging, no falling off; but increase of interest and honest anxiety. In some cases it may be wonder; but the wonder seems to work, and spread; not evaporating, but passing into something more substantial than amazement.

Thus the halls swell out, calling for frequent
enlargement; — and propagating themselves, if one
may use the phrase; so that demands for new
stations come from many quarters of the city.

The circulation of Bibles and books continues unabated; the priests complaining that they cannot find a chair in their district to sit down upon for some heretic tract, or Protestant Bible, or evangelical hymn-book.

The spiritual work also deepens. The truth is sinking down into men’s souls: and though, as Romanists, accustomed to trifle with sin, except as against the Virgin or the Church, they are slow to apprehend the awful truth of human guilt before God, many are beginning to understand in their consciences that there is such a thing as the exceeding sinfulness of sin, and that only the blood of the one, unrepeated sacrifice can pacify the conscience, or exhaust the penalty, or cleanse the sinner.

House-to-house visitations are vigorously carried on. In addition to the lady visitors, a Bible-woman is employed; and nearly all the mission -workers take part in seeking out the poor people at their homes, and in endeavouring to lead them not only to the district meeting, but to Christ Himself.

As to ouvroirs and soup-kitchens, the report
gives the following interesting statement: —

“At the beginning of this winter, one of our lady-workers remarked, ‘We need something intermediate, — a link between the public reunions and the domiciliary visits.’ In fact, questions and difficulties often suggest themselves to the hearers respecting which they have not courage to address themselves to the speakers, but which hinder the development of the Divine work in their heart. The ouvroir is well fitted to supply this lack. At La Villette. for example, at a fixed hour each Saturday afternoon, the women and girls are invited to bring their work, of whatever kind (repairing garments, &c. &c.), and they are helped by a skilful seamstress to make the best of their poor materials, even to turn an old dress into a new one, &c. All this produces a sentiment of gratitude which prepares the way for each one to make known her thoughts and anxieties. This leads on to a familiar conversation on the truths of the Gospel, &c. Our two soup-kitchens reach the poorest of the poor. Often, to our certain knowledge, the basin of soup and piece of bread thus received constitute their entire nourishment for the day. While they are assembled, we read the Bible, and speak to them words of love and encouragement. At La Villette, we meet with some chiffonniers (rag-gatherers) and street sweepers, who, working day and night, Sundays included, are in the deepest ignorance. The Bible is, to them, an entirely new book, and their attention is as eager as their ignorance is extreme. One of these women, a chiffonniere, to whom we put the question, ‘Who are they that go to heaven? ’ replied in her simplicity, ‘The French.’ At Belleville, a yoor woman was complaining, * It is all in vain; I have prayed again and again, but God does not hear me.’ Another, as poor as she, turned to her saying, ‘Oh, do not speak so: my circumstances are as trying as yours, but God has comforted me, and given me a great blessing.’ The latter is a solitary widow, having lost her children. During the last two months, we have served from 1700 to 1800 rations at the soup-kitchens. Within the same period, our Bible- woman has made upwards of 250 visits in these crowded and destitute districts.”

The testimony of M. St. Hilaire to all this is verydecided. “The people,” he writes, “more attentive than ever, crowd to these meetings, which have not for them the attraction of novelty or amusement; and in which, instead of flattering the audience, we speak to them many humxiliating truths.”

Such is the statement in the letter which prefaces
the Fifth Annual Report. We give the following
paragraphs of that letter entire. They are too
important to be omitted: — .

“You ask me what new features strike me in these dear meetings whether in respect to the hearers or the speakers. First, then, as to the speakers. What strikes me especially is that their interest in this united work increases from day to day. Last year on seeing your reunions constantly advancing in number and in size, I will now frankly say that I was disquieted; I feared that, soon, it would be the speakers and not the hearers who would be lacking. This year, on the contrary, — not only has their number increased in a proportion which will soon surpass the necessity, but, once enrolled in our little army, pastors and laymen alike are evidently happy in the service of our glorious Captain! The laymen accomplish here their apprenticeship as speakers, in the best of all schools; the pastors leave behind them at our doors as they enter the phraseology of set sermons in order to speak the language of the heart, which alone is understood by the masses of the people. In labouring for the good of others, we find blessing for ourselves. All are happy, I repeat it; and how could we fail to be so, in feeling ourselves carried back to the days of the primitive church; in seeing these men, indifferent or hostile to religion a few years ago, partaking in haste their evening meal on leaving the workshop, and abandoning the wine-shop and politics in order to hear some peaceful Christians make known to them the Saviour.

“To speak to our ouvriers of Paris is, truly, a pleasant task; for I do not know any audience more intelligent, more attentive, more sympathetic, not even that of the Sorbonne or the ColUge de France. Even their want of culture ensures their attention; — they do not come in order to criticise or to discuss, but to feel and to be moved. It is to their heart that one has need to speak; and you will always be far better understood when you do so than if you address yourself merely to their intellect.

“Another sign of God’s blessing resting upon these reunions is that the number of men frequenting them is constantly increasing, and this, some years ago, was the failing point in such efforts. Shall I go further] I have perceived, if I mistake not, that the men are better hearers than the women; and this can be understood, because all that they hear is new to them! All their preconceived notions are overthrown, surprise is seen on their countenances: they feel that they are entering as into an unknown world, of which even the language is foreign to them. So that one needs some other word than list&n to describe their impassioned attention when we speak to them of the Gospel. Its tender appeals go straightway to their heart; and then they feel that they are loved. There lies our power over them; and it is the only power we possess, we, who are but poor worms of the earth, in dealing with these momentous realities, which we could not take upon our lips without trembling, unless we felt that Jesus is with us, and that the Holy Spirit dictates to us what we should speak.

“Some days ago, I was present at the meeting of Faubourg St. Antoine, the one of all your stations which is my favourite, because it is most thoroughly a gathering of the populace. I had begun to speak when I saw five young workmen, genuine bandits (forgive the word), walk into the room, who appeared to have come straight from the drinking shop. Although accustomed to the wonderful calmness which reigns in these meetings (you remember that it was not always so at the outset), I confess that I was a little disquieted; and, as I went on to speak, I kept my eye upon the new-comers. But, when seated, how speedily they became subdued and attracted in the sweet atmosphere of peace and of sympathy! After some minutes, you would not have recognised them; the expression of their countenance was quite changed, le gamin de Paris had disappeared, and had given place, if not, as yet, to the Christian, at least to the thoughtful and well-disposed listener. The gospel which they heard, doubtless for the first time, had thus come home to them.

“Another feature of progress is in the size of the mission-halls, which increases along with the number of attendants. Most of the insignificant shops which, in the beginning, were sufficient for the purpose, have given place to larger rooms, which are, with equal ease, filled. It is well known that in these large gatherings of human beings there is a sacred contagion which no one can resist, and which is spread around by those who have felt it. Then it is that people feel themselves brought nearer to each other, and more happy, and

154 White Fields of F^-ance.

they desire to share with others what they have received. Our large rooms will contain — Belleville, 400; St. Antoine, 370; Ornano, 320; and the new hall opened this week in the Kue de Rivoli, 270 persons when filled.

“The Bible classes for adults are also making progress, and the Sunday schools are more and more numerously attended. As to the music, among these people, generally far from musical, it has become quite a passion. At the last meeting I attended, when a singing practice was announced to follow it, no one went out, the whole assembly joined in the hymns, in imison generally, but with considerable correctness, I assure you, and without any harsh discord. I perceived there the close link which exists between music and the religious sentiment, and I became conscious that the hymn could become also a prayer.

“Such, dear friend, are my impressions respecting your work, jotted down in all simplicity. I have tried to cause others to feel what I have myself vividly felt. Would that the Lord might enable me to communicate to your readers the ever-increasing interest which this delightful work awakes in my heart!””

The new-year’s gatherings drew out some memorable testimonies as to the results of the past work. An ouvrier of M^nilraontant writes thus to Mr. M’All, in his own name and that of his wife; and nothing can be more satisfactory than the following statement: — “The day on which we entered your meeting for the first time, now two years ago, was for us a day blessed by God; and from the day in which we accepted for ourselves the glorious Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, we have found peace of mind; and I am well persuaded that the only real happiness which can be tasted on earth is to be found in accepting the salvation which our divine Lord and Saviour has obtained for us, in shedding for us poor sinners His blood upon the cross. I desire with all my heart that all those who attend those delightful meetings may there find the same joy and blessedness which my wife and I have found there. We thank God every day for having sent you among us to proclaim to us the sacred and divine truth.”

Some leagues from Paris, the head of a family died. For the funeral, the neighbouring pastor was sent for to officiate. The family were not of his flock; and finding himself surrounded with strangers, he asked, “Why did you send for me?” He was told that the master of the house, whose funeral he was thus invited to, had been occasionally in Paris on business, and had come upon one of the meetings. Again and again, when business led him back to the city, he returned to the meeting; and the testimony of the relatives was, that from that time he was a changed man. There was no gospel in his neighbourhood, and the tidings had been heard by him at the station, to which he was “accidentally” brought, for the first time.

“These are the things for which we are thirsting,”

156 The WJiite Fields of Finance,

said a soldier one day at one of the meetings. “This is what we need, and what we want to learn,” said some soldiers on leaving the Rue Turbigo meeting one night; “we never hear anything like this in the caserne” (barracks).

The Bible-class meetings are all full of interest, and the written answers to the questions put show the intelligence of the young people. “How does one know that God has forgiven him?” was one of these questions, and the answers on slips of paper were striking testimonies to the operation of divine truth in the writers. Once the entire meeting remained to the Bible class; and at some of these meetings perplexed ones have been disentangled, doubting ones brought into light, and undecided ones made decided, and led to set out on a career of usefulness. The shaking of hands which goes on at such times among these lively French people, both old and young, is pleasant to witness.

Many of the boys are warmly interested in the meetings. ‘’Ground should be bought here,” said one of them on seeing the crowded room of La Villette, “on which to build a great temnyle, that the whole neighbourhood may come and hear the blessed words of the Saviour.” Another, while eagerly listening to the speaker, was angrily forced away by his father. Next evening, all was changed. The father.

Progressive Ingatheriiig. 157

neatly dressed, brought his boy back in the most friendly manner.

‘’ Sir, it was in this room that I found my Saviour,” said the father of a family to Mr. M’All at the Grenelle meeting, as he grasped his hand. “I thank you with all my heart,” said an ouvrieroi Montmartre, when leaving Paris, ‘’ for these reunions. I have attended for a year and a-half, and I am a changed man, — yes, sir, a changed on an.” His life showed the nature and reality of the change.

The new room at Passy was opened, and, at the meetings there, cheering testimony was borne to the blessing received in the old. In one family the representatives of three generations have come under the power of the Gospel. The utterances of joyful thankfulness by the old grandmother, ninety years of age, were most touching.

The keepers of the omnibus bureaus have very hard work. They have no Sabbath; seven days without a break is their weekly labour. One of them was full of gratitude for copies of the L’Ami de la Maison, and mentioned how carefully he had preserved them. He spoke of friendshij) among Christians. Mr. M’AU replied, “True, my friend, we are all brethren.” “Yes, sir,” said he, “brethren in our Lord Jesus Christ, are we not?”

The La Chapelle station, like most of the others, is surrounded by the houses of the poor. By the side of it was the dwelling of an aged man of seventy-six, who at this advanced time of life was still obliged to work for his bread. His working hours did not allow him to attend at the beginning of the meeting; but he used to steal in towards the close into a corner and listen. The visitors found him on a death-bed, but resting on the one sacrifice of the Son of God, for pardon and entrance into the kingdom. “Only one Physician,” he said, ‘’ can help me; but He can do all. No fellow-man can help another to get rid of his sins; God only can.” The meeting had not been opened in vain beside the lodging of this stranger. It had been to him the gate of heaven.

“Wife, wife, I have found such a religion as I never thought existed; it is so good, so good; you must come also.” A poor man spoke these bright words on returning home from one of the meetings. He had been passing the door, and was invited to enter, which he did. The light shone in upon his darkness; and he brought his wife and two children with him. They all continue in regular attendance.

“Strange that he understands so much there, when elsewhere he cannot be taught anything.” Such was the expression of astonishment by the relatives of a poor boy of fourteen, whose intellect had up till that time been almost dormant. He is the son of respectable parents, in comfortable circumstances; and from the first time that he came to the mission-room evinced, as the report says, an all-absorbing interest in what he heard. The Bible class is his favourite meeting: and his intellect has been wakened up, by the news of a Saviour’s love, to new capacities, and his heart to new susceptibilities. The Spirit of God has been his Teacher, and he has learned quickly.

On the staircases of houses, not only children but grown-up persons may be found seated pursuing their ordinary occupations, and at the same time singing the Mission hymns. One of the missionary students, superintendent of the Gare d’lvry Sunday School, when visiting in that poor and neglected district, heard voices thus singing, —

“Sur toi je me repose;”
and, —

“Le message des anges.”

Not a few children have intelligently professed their faith in Christ. At Grenelle, Signer Peretto questioned carefully a boy of thirteen, and received, in the presence of friends, most satisfying answers, expressive of his acceptance of the Saviour and His work. At Belleville also a similar case occurred; and, in another station, the children have expressed 16o The WJiite Fields of Fra7ice.

a desire to commence a prayer meeting among themselves. A young man at another station had expressed his assurance of acceptance in Christ; and mentioned that he and another youth had begun to read the Bible together and to pray every day. This other youth had also found peace in believing.

“I could give the names,” says a devoted visitor, who had during the year 1876 paid 950 visits in the houses of the people, “of forty-two persons who have become earnest seekers, twenty-nine women and thirteen men. I have met this year with seven women and two men who gave evidence of thorough decision for Christ.” She speaks, too, of a very general and earnest desire to understand the truth, and mentions four households in which family worship has been established; also two families who meet together every evening to read the Bible. ‘’ Saved or lost?” said an ouvrier, who used to spend all his Sunday evenings in the wine-shop, but now regularly attends the district meeting; “Saved or lost? I find this question to be a most serious one; it occupies all my thoughts, and I want to come to a decision.”

“Le salut gratidV is a wonder to many; and M. Naef, among several instances of awakening that had come under his notice, mentions one whose eyes had been opened to see this fjTcUuitous salvation,

Progressive Ingathering. 16i

which to all men, but especially to Romanists, — who have been accustomed to pay for everything in religion, and to look on the priest as a huckster bargaining for a good price in the market, — is a thing hard to be believed, or even understood. On comprehending the freeness of this free salvation for the first time, he had given vent to some strong expressions of his new-found joy and wonder.

Feeely saved! It is this that everywhere calls forth the feelings and utterances of astonishment in those whose eyes have rested on the cross of the Substitute. ‘’ And have I nothing to do V said a dying man once to us, as we preached to him Jesus and His sufficiency. ‘” Nothing, absolutely and entirely nothing, in order to be saved,” was our reply. ‘’AH is done: it is the doing of another that saves.” His eye brightened, and he passed away in peace, with nunc dimittis in his heart, if not on his lips. Some very bright instances of this we find in the story of Robert Haldane’s wonderful work at Montauban, more than sixty years ago.

“Je suis un grand pecheur onais fai un grand Repondant.’’ These were the death- bed words of M. Encontre, Principal of the Montauban College, to Mr. Haldane, on bidding farewell. This distinguished mathematician and philosopher had been a strong

Arminian in theology; but was led to the knowledge

M of the One Righteousness through faith, by Mr. Haldane. Speculation, philosophy, dogmatism, self-righteousness stood between him and the cross. But they had all given way. As a sinner he looked at last to the Sinbearer, and found rest.

*’ C’est trop grand 2^our etre vrai r was the vehement exclamation of the French pastor, when, in an evening walk on the banks of the Tarn, Mr. Haldane pressed upon him the words on the cross, “It is finished!” He had been strongly opposed to the idea of salvation by another’s doings; and, when the light burst in upon him, he could not contain himself for gladness. The tidings of his new-found joy were conveyed to his aged father, above eighty; and the same joy took possession of him, so that the whole household were affected as they saw the old man going about the house clasping his hands and joyfully exclaiming, “Tout est accompli.’”^

But my narrative must return to Paris; and the little incidents recorded in the reports give a faithful description of the work itself, without ornament or eloquence.

“Je suis scelle pour la gloire,
J’avance vers mon pays;
Ecoutez tous mon histoire
Et I’amour de J^sus Christ

* Memoirs of R. and J. A. Haldane, pp. 467-8.

Jesus mon ami supreme

Sur moi veille; il I’a promis;

J’aime Jesu, Jesu m’aime

Comme uii berger sa brebis.”

At a poor bedside in Les Ternes these words were repeated by a visitor to a dying girl of fifteen. “Yes, yes,” was her brief but earnest response. Just before she died she tried to sing, —

“Avangons-nous j oyeux, touj ours j oy eux,
Vers le pays des esprits bienlieureux
Vers la demeure oii Jesus pour nous prie:
Marclions j oyeux, c’est la notre patrie.”

As we glance over the report for 1876, we are interested in the headings of the paragraphs, as showing the nature of the expansion which is taking place. They are such as the following: — ‘’ utility of large rooms;” “new central station;” “new stations and enlargements;” “financial position;” “workers;” “occasional helpers;” ‘’adult Bible classes;” ‘’prayer meetings;” “miscellaneous meetings;” “domiciliary visitation;” “lending libraries;” “Bibles, tracts, magazines;” “hymns and hymn-books.” By this time the number of stations had risen to 19, and the sittings to 3700. The average weekly attendance at adult meetings was 5500; and at Sunday schools and services for the young, 2000. I add one extract: —

“Each, advance which we have been enabled to make in accommodation lias been followed by a fully corresponding increase in the number of hearers. Thus our present fine room in Belleville, opened in October, 1875, instead of the former small and inconvenient one, has twice required subsequent enlargement in order to receive the crowded Sunday evening congregations. We obtained in the spring a large ‘Qajz Concert in the Faubourg St. Antoine, and converted it into a mission-room to replace the former one, little more than one-third the size. This spacious place is quite insufficient to contain the numbers who flock to it. On the Sunday evening, it is usual for many to have to remain standing to the close. In the cases of at least two others of our older stations there can be no doubt that, if we were warranted in incurring the increased rental, rooms two or three times the size would be immediately filled with eager listeners.

“At our station of Boulevard Ornano, Montmartre, which has been constantly advancing in attendance and interest during the four and a-half years of its existence, we have the prospect of speedily adding two hundred sittings. Our generous friend, Captain Knox, R.N., is prepared to help us to meet the cost, in memory of his late wife, whose heart was greatly set upon evangelisation in France, and with whose name our remote station of the Gare d’lvry (evidently made a blessing amidst its dark and neglected district) is associated; she having provided the means for its foundation and support.

“Though much blessing has rested upon our room in the Rue Turbigo, we have long felt the desirableness of securing a larger place of meeting in the neighbourhood between the Holies Centrales and ‘Hotel de Ville,^ where a daily evangelistic meeting might be held, similar to that sustained by Pastor Armand-Delille in the Rue Roy ale. Mr. Martin Sutton, jun., of Reading, and some other friends, having most kindly offered to contribute a part of the rental, we were encouraged to seek out and hire a suitable locality. It is a very neat room, containing 270 sittings, well placed on the great Rue de Rivoli,

Progressive Ingathermg, 165

near the well-known Tour St. Jacques. Here it is our purpose, every evening and on the Sunday afternoon, to invite the passers-by to hear the Gospel-message. We earnestly ask the prayers of many that this new and arduous enterprise may be abundantly blessed. In order to meet the unavoidably heavy rental, we shall have need of generous contributions. This new station was opened December 28th. Most suitable addresses were delivered on the occasion by the pastors Armand-Delille, Recolin, and Fisch, and by the Rev. E. W. Hitchcock, as the representative of our American friends. We are much encouraged by the deep attention of the hearers, many of whom, doubtless, listen for the first time to the Gospel. The co-operation of M. Theodore Monod is invaluable in launching this momentous enterprise.

“In order not to leave the immediate vicinity of our former room, Rue Turbigo, unprovided for, we have arranged to hold two evangelistic meetings weekly in the chapel of our valued friend, Dr. Fisch, Rue Chariot.”

The testimony of the Rev. Horace Noel, in a letter of date, ‘’Paris, September 12, 1876,” to Mr. M’All, is well worth recording here: — all the more because of its reference to the ‘’ storms of atheistic opposition” which the Mission had to encounter at some of the stations in its earlier days: —

“Having had this year, for the fifth time, the privilege of helping to carry on your Mission during your absence, I gladly give my testimony to the wonderful success with which it has pleased God to crown your labours. No one, I think, who has taken part in the work can doubt that the hand of the Lord has been evidently displayed in it.

“I first attended your meetings in October, 1872, when it was scarcely nine months since they began, and when you had but four stations opened: namely, Belleville, Menilmontant, Boulevard Ornano, and Cliaronne. Of these, that of Boulevard Ornano was by far the largest and most promising, although the storms of atheistic opposition which attended its early days had not, I believe, long subsided.

“But. I suppose that the united attendance at all these four rooms hardly averaged more than may now be seen in the one room at the Faubourg St. Antoine.

“Since then I have seen the number of your stations gradually increased from four to eighteen, small congregations changed into large ones, and audiences that were more or less unsettled and disorderly becoming almost entirely composed of serious and attentive hearers. Your success in enlisting workers of both nations and of various Churches, and bringing them into harmonious and brotherly co-operation, has also been very noteworthy.

“But what most of all assures me that God’s blessing has rested on your work is the examples which I have seen of those who, by means of it, have been brought to the knowledge of the Saviour; and who are now showing forth His praise, not only with their lips, but in their lives. Patience and energy, and wise arrangements, might suffice to assemble large and attentive audiences, but every soul rescued out of Satan’s power and brought to the feet of Christ is a result which no human toil or human skill, apart from God’s own working, could have effected.”

It is in this year (187G) that we have the first report of the work among the children under the superintendence of Mr. A. A. Maitland Heriot. This juvenile field is of course very large, and hitherto utterly neglected. The Church of Rome is the Church of money, and concerns herself chiefly with those who can pay. As a rule, children “don’t pay.” They are not a lucrative concern to the priest, except at baptism and confirmation and communion. Besides, the children of Paris are, like their parents, considerably disconnected from the priesthood. The priest is not now the master of the family. The young people have gathered into the mission-halls in great numbers, both as parts of the general audience and in meetings for themselves. Mr. Heriot’s work has been a very earnest and successful one, and his reports will be read with deep interest. He has had a considerable staif of fellow-labourers; and the assistance he has had from some zealous self-denying ladies has been very valuable. Gladly should I have given this first report in full,, but space hinders, and I must content myself with the following extracts: —

“We seek also to become acquainted mth our little hearers personally, hoping that their love for us may lead to a love for their great unknown Friend. Many visits have been paid with this object in view, especially to any we heard were ill or in hospital. Another important addition to our work has been the formation of several young people’s Bible classes. These classes, conducted in such a way as to make all comers feel at home, are likely to do much good. They are destined for the older and more thoughtful children. These poor, ignorant ones have seldom the most elementary knowledge of evangelical truth. Such terms as ’ conversion,’ or ’ washed in the blood of Christ,’ have no meaning for them, and at first often cause amusement. Five such Bible classes have been “begun, and we hope soon to see more of llieni in operation. A Christian lady, gifted for this work in a more than ordinarydegree, has been, in the providence of God, and in answer to many prayers, sent to undertake it. We have also to thank Miss Emma Leigh (whose sister’s work among English girls in Paris is so widely known and so widely beneficial) for her valuable help in this way, and hope that it may be long continued.

“A gigantic and almost virgin field of labour is open to us in the young men of this city. The name of their temptations is Legion, for they are many. If there is one city in the world more than another which is the sink and sepulchre of young men, that city is Paris. We have not, alas! so far been able to start more than two young men’s meetings, but arrangements are now pending with a man suitable for this work, at present serjeant-major in a well-known cavalry regiment, but willing to renounce his position, and his prospects of earthly glory, to carry on the conquests of the Eternal kingdom. We hope that ere long his arrival here will open the way for more energetic measures among both young men and children.

“Two young women’s meetings have also been commenced in localities which, by their vicinity to factories, invited such a step. Miss Bonnycastle has devoted a portion of her time to one of these, which is preceded by an English class; and Miss Matheson, to whose welcome arrival we have already alluded, ably conducts the other. Christian ladies could not wish for a wider or more pressing mission than that presented by these young girls, especially in those quarters of Paris where absolutely nothing is being done for them. The young women stand in as great need of the Gospel as the young men. Those of the ouvriere class work for the most part in factories, where there is much that is evil. In the evening, numerous balls are open, where there is plenty of light and glitter and society — there, no doubt, a very pleasant, but a very deadly, evening may be passed. Witlioiit the ties of home, as we know them, and surrounded by gay companions all day long, what can be expected of a poor Parisian girl, who knows not the Saviour %”

“It has been interesting to watch the transformations that have occurred in the behaviour of different children; the irregular often becoming more regular in their attendance — restless and talkative ones beginning to listen, and a good many becoming seriously attentive. A few days ago, at Bercy, a little girl of ten or eleven took my hand, and when I stooped down to hear what she had to say, she made this brief communication, — ‘Monsieur, j’ai donne mon coeur a Jesus.’

“The band of Christian friends who devote themselves entirely to this mission, at present numbers four. An increase of the staff of workers being necessary for an extension of the work, this number will (D.V.) soon be augmented. We shall continually endeavour to obtain the assistance of such as are not only excellent as regards Christian consistency, but who are also, by adaptation for our particular kind of work, and by earnest prayerfulness, likely to be successful soul- winners. ‘They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.’ Let us endeavour to turn to righteousness many of the boys and girls who are already in the vortex of the great whirlpool of vice and wickedness, which sucks so many down to perdition. Oh for a word of power to reach their hearts, and a steady hand to point them to the cross!

“One very pleasant feature, perhaps I should say result, of our work, is the evident love and gratitude of the children towards us. These sentiments are sometimes too vociferously expressed by rounds of applause upon our entering an assembly of young urchins; sometimes by childish letters of thanks. Here is one from a little girl, who wrote what she felt too shy to say. I do not venture to spoil it by translation: —

“‘Monsieur, Je vous prie de m’excuser si je me permets de vous ecrire ces quelques lignes, ne sachant pas mieux faire.

Voiis me demandez souvent si je suis sauvee. Oiii, je suis saiivee. J’aime notre Seigneur Jesus-Clirist, et j’en suis aimee. Je suis toujours avec lui, et il veille toujours sur nioi; sans Dieu je ne serais jamais heureuse. Monsieur, je vous remercie des bons conseils que vous m’avez donnee bien souvent. Je vous presente mes respects les plus reconnaissants. — Juliette P.’”

The year 1877 does not slacken in its work, nor diminish in the interest of its details. The stations are now twenty-two; the meetings full, and all bearing fruit. Of the workers, some have left, and some have returned. The Rev. G. T. Dodds, from Edinburgh, with his wife, join the Mission as permanent workers. But the field is still too large for the number and the strength of the labourers. The call for labourers is urgent; and still more the call for prayer in behalf of those already in the field. The Lord of the harvest waits to be interceded with. There are no doubt, in the case of France, the unanswered prayers of past generations still in store; and God is not unrighteous to forget the cry of the martyrs of other days; but He is waiting for new cries, and is easy to be entreated.

M. St. Hilaire, dating from “Paris, December 16, 1877,” thus writes his impressions of the year; and as he has, with unwearied zeal, thrown himself into the work, his successive testimonies are very valuable. He writes as a scholar and a Christian; as one who knows Paris and its population well: — ““When you ventured to establish a daily meeting in the centre of Paris, in a quarter entirely devoted to business, I was, I acknowledge, surprised, almost alarmed, at your boldness. Among your twenty-two stations, this was the only one opened daily, and I could scarcely believe that it would ever become filled.

“How, then, shall I describe my astonishment and my joy when, entering this mission-hall, doubled in size, and which now can accommodate nearly 300 persons, I saw it filled, all the chairs occupied, and some hearers standing. In meetings of this kind the women usually form the majority. But there, amidst that business quarter, where life is so laborious and moments are so precious, at least four-fifths of the attendants were men, and among them, marvellous to say, the majority were young men. A certain neatness and superiority of appearance indicated a class somewhat above that of the usual frequenters of these meetings. Evidently there were among them, as in every case, workmen and artisans; but there were also tradesmen’s assistants, shopkeepers, and clerks. This class, which, in Paris, we rarely see in our churches, and which we despair to reach, — these young men, so busied during the day, so eager to seek their pleasures in the evenmg, were there in numbers, — attentive, serious, drinking in the word of life, for them so new that it seemed as if they were hearing it for the first time.

“I watched them attentively, prepared to detect on their countenances the smile of derision- or incredulity — but, no! they were there respectful, spell-bound, their looks as well as their ears engaged in receiving each word, which entered into their heart as the seed into the earth, there to yield its fruit. I venture to affirm, dear friend, that for one acquainted with the youth of Paris, so greedy of amusement, so little inclined to serious things, the scene presented a complete revolution!

“A word, now, respecting our working classes. It is not my habit to flatter my country; but foreigners themselves have done homage to the prudence and seK-restraint manifested by the people of France during the painful crisis which has recently passed. But this wonderful wisdom, to which assuredly we had not been habituated, to what do we owe it, if not to the influence of the Gospel which commences to spread itself among the industrious classes % — for our Master teaches us that the commencement is always to be made with the obscure and the poor. You live in Belleville, dear friend, that suburb, or rather town of workshops and factories; you cannot but have witnessed there, during months past, untold sufferings, untold misery. If, then, all this has been borne with such patience — if in this native country of the Commu7ie not the least disorder has arisen, have not your meetings, so tending to produce what is good, so favourite among these poor workmen, done their part 1 Certainly all the glory belongs to God alone, and not to the unworthy instruments He employs; but let me tell you how I rejoice to see the Gospel thus, by degrees, taking root in the country of Voltaire, and the crowds hungering for the bread of life when the bread that perishes is ready to fail them!

“And now, dear brother, it is not you but all the friends of your work who have need to consider that this station of Eivoli, situated in the most central and business quarter of Paris, and opened to the public every day of the year, involves expenses of rental, of management, of lighting, &c., equal to those of three or four other stations taken together. If, then, the expenses are thus increased, ought not the gifts to increase in the same proportion ] England will not weary of the sacrifices she has made in order to spread the Gospel in France in the very moment when these sacrifices begin to bear fruit.”

I have already alluded to the friendliness of the Paris municipal authorities. The Gospel may not yet have reached their own hearts, but they see in

Progressive I^igathering. 1 73

it an instrument of order and peace, such as no priest has ever wielded. It has quieted the city of revolutions, and made the worst of its people capable of being governed without bayonets or prisons. These magistrates see, moreover, in the men who are thus gathering the communist crowds, men who can be trusted; men of simple purpose and unselfish aims; no disturbers of the peace, or enemies of social order; and they not only support and sympathise with, but are ready publicly to honour these promoters of the peace of Paris. The honour conferred by men in power and position may not always be an indication of the faithfulness of an evangelist or a pastor; still the following recognition of the Mission and its conductor is well worth recording. When, in 1834, Dr. Chalmers was elected corresponding member of the Royal Institute of France, the men of the Institute thought merely of honouring science and genius. But the tribute to Mr. M’All was not of this nature, and its value consists not so much in the distinction bestowed upon a toiJing evangelist, as in the testimony thus borne to the influence of his work: —

“The authorities of Paris have continued to give us all needful faciUties, and this has been done with the utmost courtesy and good-will. And in May last we were gladdened by an unexpected recognition of our undertaking on the part of a great public society, which includes many distinguished representatives of all political and ecclesiastical parties. On occasion of the anniversary gathering of the ‘Societe Nationale cV Encouragement au Bien, held in the Cirque National, a silver medal was presented to us, with the inscription on the accompanying diplome, ‘pour devouement a Vhuma7iite.’ One or two sentences translated from the report, read before the vast assembly by Monsieur Henri Arnoul, the venerable secretary, and widely circulated, exhibit the estimate of such an enterprise formed by those viewing it ah extra. ‘Mr, M’All knew that, in the population of Belleville, there exist sufferings of all kinds, — that moral degradation has its abode there side by side with mental degradation and extreme poverty. Seconded by Mrs. M. and a few friends, he has founded, and subsequently multiplied in Paris, evening meetings, the object of which is to bring light to the mind, and to calm the troubled heart. Wherever he has directed his steps, Mr. M. has been cordially received. His words of sympathy have been responded to by expressions of gratitude. “La Societe d’ Encouragement au Bien’ joins in the testimonies of affection which salute the welcome of the benevolent foreigner, and offers him a medal in return for the good he labours to effect.’”

This year brought with it a new feature in the work, — the establishment of a dcdly evangelistic service at the central station in the Rue de Rivoli. No fewer than 367 meetings have been held in the room there during the year, attended in all by upwards of 70,000 persons. This station is in the very centre of gay Paris, and is one of great importance. An officer of the adjoining Hotel de Yille, a devoted Christian man, who takes a great interest in the station, said to Mr. M’All, ‘’When the Hotel de Ville was burning, I prayed that another fire, the sacred flame of the Gospel, might be kindled on the very spot, and here I see my oftrenewed prayer answered.” He said this after a crowded meeting, composed, as the week-day evening attendance is, ahnost entirely of men. Night after night the room is filled with the representatives of various classes, — bourgeois, tradesmen, clerks, and especially ouvriers. The attention is very striking, and at no station is the fondness for hymns more marked. Many a careless passer-by along that gay thoroughfare has been arrested by these sounds of praise. Dr. Fisch is a great helper here; and on the Sabbath afternoons it has more the character of a settled congregation than the others.*’^”

* I give in a note the following statement from the report of 1877, as to “Material Progress:” —

“Our work has again been extended in accommodation, and, still more, in attendance. Four stations have been enlarged, and three new ones founded, giving nearly 1000 additional sittings. The average weekly attendance at the meetings for adults has increased by upwards of 2500.

“Yet at no period of the year have our finances warranted extension unless where special contributions were offered for some definite purpose. Thus, by the liberality of Captain Knox, H.N., we were enabled, in the spring, to add 230 sittings to our deeply-interesting station of Boulevard Ornano, he having devoted the sum required in memory of his late wife. At Batignolles, we have been helped by a kind friend in London towards the cost of a larger room, which has resulted in nearly doubling the attendance. At La Villette and

New fields are entered on; and the same kind of population gathers round the evangelists. Each advance made is a new insight into “the mysteries of Paris;” and no part of that city, even the worst and lowest, seems inaccessible. No one says, “Depart out of our coasts;” every street and lane says, “Welcome.” ‘’He that openeth and no man shutteth “is here. He is ‘’ found of them who sought Him not.” Still, wherever the evangelists go, opposition, if it shows itself for a moment, disappears. The police protect and sympathise.

“At Piiteanx, a populous suburb outside the boundaries of Paris, the long-projected station was opened in February. When applying to the Paris authorities for the requisite authorisation, they frankly expressed to us the opinion that, in consequence of the tumultuous and atheistic characteristics of the district, we should find it impossible to work there, and should only bring disappointment and trouble on ourselves. Nevertheless, the permission was granted. On occasion of the opening, the room, which will accommodate 150, was densely crowded; the utmost order prevailed; and at the close, the Mayor of Puteaux and the Commissary of Police, who were both present, expressed their warm sympathy and readiness to protect and aid us. A month later, the Commissary sent to us a message by Monsieur Dumas, Lutheran pastor of Puteaux, to the effect that he ’ had

Bercy, our existing places were let to other tenants on long leases. In each case we have obtained much more spacious a,nd eligible rooms. For the former enlargement, we have had the generous aid of Monsieur Fallot and his congregation of the Chapelle du Nord; the other is specially cared for by Mrs. Barbour and friends in Edinburgh.”

reported to the Prefecture the large attendances and perfect order of the meetings, and his belief that great good would result in the moral amelioration of the district.’ The subsequent history of the place has borne out this happy commencement. Mr. Dumas devotes himself to the work with exemplary assiduity, and receives aid from other brethren in the vicinity. More than this, the entire cost of planting and sustaining the station has been defrayed by special contributions collected by himself and Mr. Fallot.

“Our station of Boulogne-sur-Seine was opened in April in continuation of the devoted labours of Madame Dalencourt, and in the same locality. She herself has lent her valuable help to the effort. The district is one in which the Gospel is little known, and the people, absorbed in their temporal affairs, are difficult to reach. Still, we desire to persevere in the undertaking, believing that the reaping time will come.

“An interesting sketch of this and other departments of the work in which Madame Dalencourt aids us, written by herself, is appended to this report. The French Committee of the Society of Friends, who take so deep an interest in Madame D.’s labours, have allowed us the use of their furniture for the station, and otherwise helped us.

“The twenty-second station, that of the Rue de Meaux, La Villette, has been formed by separating a part of the large new room in the Rue d’Allemagne. The premises having a second entrance in the adjoining street, we are thus enabled to do something for a distinct and much-neglected population. Our esteemed friends, Signor and Mrs. Peretto, have recently taken charge of this infant effort.”

The sympathy of French Christians came out in an interesting and peculiar way, which the following extract will show: —

“It is with joy that we pay a renewed warm tribute to the French Christians of Paris, who, during the year, have given new proof of their sympathy by coming to our aid financially. In April last, so soon as our need was known, they sent, without our solicitation, generous help towards surmounting the crisis. And this followed closely upon a most touching mark of affectionate interest. One day in March, we received a visit from Professor and Madame St. Hilaire, when they handed to us an elegantly inlaid box, inscribed on the outside, * Voitures,^ inside, — ‘A M. et Mme. M’All, temoignage de ^jrofonde gratitude des amis de Paris.’ The offerings contained in and accompanying the box amounted to 3930 francs (^117), which we were exhorted to expend in hiring conveyances in order to lessen our fatigue when journeying to our distant stations. Such a mark of delicate kindness on the part of numerous Parisian neighbours (pastors and others) towards lis who had, six years ago, come among them as abnost unknown strangers, and, not less, the tender affection with which our dear friends accompanied its presentation, left an impress on our heart which can never be effaced.”

The Bible classes are vigorously conducted, and this year shows no diminution. Six are now held weekly, with an average attendance of nearly 300. These are for both old and young. The prayer meetings still continue, with the young men’s Fraternal Union Prayer Meeting. The sewing classes for poor women make progress. Various other smaller and occasional meetings are held; among which is M. Theodore Monod’s for religious inquirers at the Ornano station.

The warm hand- shakings, noticed in the reports, at the close of the meetings, put one in mind of apostolic times. ‘’ Greet one another with a holy kiss,” ‘’ Brotherly love continues.” On reopening the Ornano station after enlargement, M. T. Monod wished to ascertain how far the audience had been steady throughout. He asked those who had attended from the beginning to hold up hands; and quite a forest of hands was exhibited.

The incidents of the year are still, as formerly, strikingly illustrative of the nature of the work carried on at the meetings and Bible classes, and also in domiciliary visits. They are various, though of course all bearing more or less on the one point of spiritual benefit received. Without colouring or exaggeration, facts are set down, which by the simplicity and brevity with which they are given, attest their truthfulness, and increase our confidence in the Mission. Readers will not have to complain of €Qibellished narratives or invented scenes.

“I am always happy,” said an aged hearer at one of the stations. ‘’ God cares for me and guides me. I hold myself ready to go whenever He shall call me away.” He had been noted for his bright countenance and eager attention.

Such entries as the following are worth recording: — “A young man, now a worker, had been led to Christ at La Chapelle;” “evidences of a deepening work in the Belleville Bible class; “” several persons who had attended M. T. Monod’s special meetings at Ornano are connecting themselves now with his church; “‘’ news of six or seven members of the Young Men’s Christian Association brought out of darkness into light;” “a heart-broken father, who has lost two children, has found rest in the infinite love of God;” “an ouvrier of Grenelle, to whom the meetings had been blest, has died in peace;” “Thank you, sir; this is better than the cabaret,” said an ouvrier at the Rue de Rivoli; “the whole family of an ouvrier has come under the power of the Gospel at Rue de la Condamine;” “an attender at Les Ternes, brought out of the darkness of superstitious formalism, and laid upon a sick-bed, requested to have her Christian friends gathered round her, that they might commemorate together the love of Christ: and asked her pastor to say to the company in her name, ‘My brethren and sisters in Christ, whether rich or poor, are dearer to me than my relatives who are strangers to Him.’” Mr. Moillet reports the great interest awakened at the Rue Chariot station by the distribution of New Testaments to the concierges around, and also the kind way in which domiciliary visits are received in that district, which is the very centre of the city. Mr. Hitchcock reports well of the juvenile work at Les Ternes, and that 135 girls had entered the

Progressive Ijigathermg. 1 8 1

school last winter, instructed by twenty ladies. Another regular attender of the meetings had died lately in the hospital, having her Bible always at her side. The hymn which she had specially learned by heart, and delighted to repeat, was that of M. T. Monod, as embodying her hope in death, —

“Sur Toi je me repose,
O Jesu, mon Sauveur!
Faiit-il done autre; chose
Pour un pauvre peclieur ]
Conduit par ta luniiere
Garde par ton amour,
Vers la maison du Pere
Marcliant de jour en jour.”

Three extracts from the report (1877) will complete the narrative for this year: —

“Very interesting reports received from some of our friends who distribute the New Testaments to the concierges, the gift of Madame de Briangon. The visitors round our Menilmontant station found not only wilHng recipients, but, in various houses, the people said, ‘We only wish that the English friends had come into our neighbourhood before the terrible struggle [the Commune] instead of after it; for then it would not have taken place.’ These unaffected utterances seem to warrant the belief that Christian efforts (those of others as well as our own) in these outlying districts have not been without effect in calming passion and promoting social order,

“Miss — — , who directs our Sunday school at M, gave

us a touching account of a boy eleven years of age. Some weeks previously, he began to attend the school, and afterwards the public service. He listened, from the first, with rapt attention. When asked, ‘Do your parents send you liere?* ‘No.” Are they Christians ]” No, they do not attend any church, they are sceptics; I come here of my own accord, because I want to learn about Jesus Christ.’ Surely a Divine Teacher had silently prepared that child’s heart for the vital truth!

“One of our workers, having paused at a book-stall on the Quai, felt himself touched on the shoulder. A young man, whom he did not know, inquired, ‘Sir, do you consider that treatise on” Prophecy “a reliable one V ‘I do not know you,’ remarked our friend. ‘But, sir, I know you, and am grateful for the word I have heard you speak in the reunions.” In wlisit reunions? ’ ‘At Belleville’ (miles away). He then related that, one night, when passing the gateway of our mission-hall in the Rue de Belleville, the little yaper of invitation had been put into his father’s hand. Arrived at his home outside the fortifications, he read it: ‘Des amis anglais et frangais desirent vous parler de Vamour de Jesus-Christ.^ ‘The love of Jesus Christ,’ said he to his wife; ’ then we must go one of these evenings, and hear what this is.” Now,’ added the young man, ’ my father and mother and all the family attend as often as possible; and more than this, we have all accepted Christ as our Saviour.’ He is himself a member of the ‘Fraternal Union’ referred to above.”

“Our excellent visitor, Madame, records about 900

domiciliary visits during the year. Her report commences thus: — ‘I am greatly encouraged by the cordial welcome I receive, and the great desire the people manifest for a clearer knowledge of the truth respecting the life to come. In general, it is only by slow degrees that they come to comprehend the truth, but when they have once laid hold upon it they go onward faithfully. The persons imder serious impressions to whom I referred in last year’s report, and whom I continue to visit, are persevering in the right way. Many of them make progress which it is delightful to observe, and exercise a salutary influence around them, while giving evident proofs of their evangelical faith. I can also testify, thank God, that during this year I have witnessed the acceptance of salvation by sinners.’ Our friend goes on to specify the case of a poor woman, mother of a family, who, after having lived in total indifference, entered, as if by chance, one evening the reunion of Boulevard Ornano. Her attention was arrested, and she became a regular attendant. Our kind visitor perceived that she became anxious and distressed, and, after repeated interviews, drew from her the avowal that, in the meetings, the guilt of her heart had been so discovered to her that it seemed impossible for her to obtain salvation. At length she was enabled joyfully to declare, ‘Jesus has triumiDhed for me; I have found and accepted the pardon of all my sins through His death on the cross.” Now,’ continues our visitor, ’ this mother, who had so neglected her children that, to use her own words, they were as if motherless, unites with me every day in

praying that those children may be saved.” Madame

said to me one day, after hearing an address on the new birth, “Formerly, when any one asked me what age I had arrived at in the spiritual life, I was displeased, for I was forced to acknowledge that I was not born as yet: but now, for some months, I have been able to say that I am born again, but I am as yet a mere infant.” ‘Other interesting details contained in this journal must be omitted. A family is mentioned, all the members of which attend with us. After enjoying a comfortable position, for two years they have had a hard struggle for the necessaries of life. Here is their testimony: ‘What would have become of us without your meetings’?’ They acknowledge that ’ the promises of the Gospel alone have been their support.’ Never have they received or asked any pecuniary relief. At Batignolles, a widow and her two daughters close their shop at the time of each rmnion in order to be present. The mother said, ‘Before coming to the meeting, we lived without religion, but now we cannot dispense with it, — it is, as it were, our food. To come to the meeting is to us like a refreshing repast.’ Another attendant of the same station, visiting in a remote country district, has collected her relations and friends, and endeavoured, in her simple way, to recount to them what she had heard in the meetings.”

“Knowing the interest you take in the evangelisation of the working population, and grateful for your sympathy evidenced in granting me the free use of two of your mission-rooms, I am happy to state to you the present position of my working meetings for women. And, first, my reunion of the Gare d’lATy was commenced, as an experiment, in October, 1876. You know how grievously the inhabitants of that district are given up to evil habits, which produce misery and lead to mendicity. Hence, from the beginning, I felt it necessary to insist upon the fact that I was not coming to establish a Bureau de Bienfaisance, but simply to bring the Gospel with its consolation to the suff’erers, and to read to them the Divine Book in which we learn to love duty, labour, order, economy, &c. For some months, consequently, we rarely gathered more than five or six women each afternoon. After a time, especially as the result of domiciliary visits, the number increased, and now we rarely have fewer than thirty persons.

“A word as to our mode of procedure. The meeting lasts from one to four o’clock. During this time all the women work, either bringing their own work, or knitting, for which we supply the wool. After singing, we sell to them, at a slight loss, the materials for their work, also some vegetables, &c. Singing, reading, reception of their little savings into a Penny Bank, and the lending of books in French and German, follow; and after that, a portion of God’s Word is read and explained. Prayer closes the meeting, and when we separate, it is always with the delightful sense that we have passed three hours in the Divine presence.

“Our visits in the homes of the sick and absent bring us in contact with misery of all kinds. They consume much time, and, although I am aided by my niece and an English friend, we are not able to meet the urgent needs, and I should regard it as a great blessing if the Lord were to put it in the heart of some Christian ladies, of whatever nation, to join us. Madame

T ~, who has asked from you the use of the room at the

Gare d’lvry for an Industrial School for girls, is about to commence without delay. Thus your mission-room is thoroughly utilised, and this district, in which you have planted the standard of the Gospel, begins to be well worked, the children’s services of Thursday and Sunday being also intelligently conducted and very prosperous.

“At Boulogne, after an interval of some months, I have yielded to the earnest desire of some of the women in recommencing a weekly working meeting, not on the former footing, but precisely similar to that of the Gare d’lvry. The Lord has directed everything, and the temporary suspension of our meetings seems to have awakened our women to the privilege of meeting as a family to study the Bible. When I told them that I returned, not on the former footing, but almost alone with my old Bible, they replied, — ‘It is better to see you two [t.e., you and your Bible] thus together than not to see you -tail.’”

Mr. Maitland Heriot’s assistance has been very valuable, and his labours most successful. As his work is “in association with the Paris working-men’s mission” of Mr. M’All, I should have liked to give a full narrative of his labours. But I find that this would require a volume by itself; and perhaps some one may be found to write the story of the Paris mission to the young. I can give but one or two paragraphs, referring my readers to the reports. In 187G, no less than 2660 children

1 86 The IV kite Fields of France.

were under instruction. In 1877, these had increased to 3000: —

“On the last Saturday of the year, while a fzie, was heing given by Mr. M’All to the hahitucs of the Belleville station, we gathered the younger portion of the assemblage, consisting of the members of the two unions, and frequenters of the young people’s meeting, into an adjoining room. The proceedings began by vigorous eating and heavy drinking (the beverage was coffee). After they had consumed as much as was good for them, we felt the necessity of giving affairs a practical bent, and by turning their thoughts upward from the water of earthly merriment towards the wine of heavenly duty, to make the evening a profitable, as well as a more joyful one. Accordingly, after seeking the Divine benediction, and singing some favourite hymne, we proposed to the meeting, constituted suddenly into a conference, this important question: ‘What can ive, the young men of Paris, do to promote the glory of Christ? ‘Many friends took part in the most interesting discussion which followed, several members of the Young Men’s Union gave us the benefit of their experience, and one or two Christian ladies spoke on behalf of the young of their sex. We separated late and with regret. Never in this country have we seen a meeting more thoroughly animated with the enthusiasm of the true missionary spirit. Thus the old year terminated most hopefully and with large promise for the future.

“Much that is of interest must remain unsaid as regards individual cases of encouragement and blessing. We must, nevertheless, for the two letters quoted in our last report substitute one in this. It was received on New- Year’s Day, when we were not quite well: —

“‘Paris, U 31 Decembre, 1877.

“‘Une jeune chrtienne, et une jeune convertie de 1877, vous prie de recevoir ses souhaits les plus sincres pour I’an 1878. Dans mes prires de chaque jour, je supplie le Seigneur de vous garder la sante et de nous accorder le bonlieur de vous posseder longtemps au milieu de nous, afin que vous ameniez encore beaucoup d’ames a notre bien-aime Sauveur Jesus-Christ. Croyez, je vous prie, cher et bon Monsieur, a toute ma reconnaissance, et recevez les amities de votre petite servante et jeune soeur en Jesus-Christ. Marie N.’”

This work amongst the young was seen by Mr. M’All, from the first, to be of vast importance. Mrs. M’AIl and he early undertook it; and it has rapidly increased upon their hands.

That this evangelical seed has been so widely sown among the Parisian children is matter of deep thankfulness, — perhaps of more thankfulness than many would concede. Young hearts, they say, are easily touched; and juvenile impressions quickly fade. True, but impressions revive, as well as fade; and young hearts are easily ve-touclied; all the more easily from being touched before. This we give as the decided conviction, derived from the experience of a long ministry.

Some, leaning to the opposite extreme, would have us believe that the old are hopeless, and that it is to the young that we must direct all our efforts. Not so. It is upon the grown-up population of Paris that the wide impression has been made during the past years of the Mission; and we must say that our ministerial experience is out and out against the discouraging averments of some religious theorists, that the old are unimpressible, and that a man after the age of thirty or forty ‘’stands little chance” of being converted. In the Acts of the Apostles very little is said about children, in any of the cities, Jewish or Gentile, to which the apostles went. The conversions, so far as the record goes, were all among the old. The truth is, that we have really nothing to do with the age of a sinner in preaching the Gospel to him; and speculation or calculation upon this point has often lost sight of the great truth that the same mighty Spirit is needed both for young and oldj and that it is by the same Gospel that He works in all.

It is no small matter to have ilia truth deposited in the mind, whether of old or young, and it is an unwise thing to speak disparagingly of “head-knowledge.” If the belief of a falsehood, even with “the head,” be an evil thing, — an evil thing in itself, and a thing dishonouring to God, — the belief of the truth, even “with the head,” must be a good thing, both in itself and before God. The minds of Romanists, moreover, have been so thoroughly steeped in “head-lies,” as well as “heart-lies,” that even that which is called the “intellectual reception” of the truth is of unspeakable moment, even were it for nothing else than the expulsion of the

Progiessive Ingathering. 189

innumerable lies that have poisoned the intellect, both of man and child. The triumph of truth over the infitellect is of itself matter of great rejoicing; only let it be the very truth of God, — the very Gospel of His grace, and not merely something like it, which deceives and mystifies, by mixing up faith and works, — by confounding the work of Christ upon the cross with the work of the Spirit in the soul. The “foolishness of preaching is one thing,” and foolish preaching is quite another. That which saves is the finished woek alone, without addition, either great or small. That which Christ did 1800 years ago is of itself sufficient to recommend me to God, and as soon as I recognise this, I am in favour with God. I go straight to God to be saved; not to get from Him materials for saving myself. I know of no conditions, save that of taking at once, just as I am, from the hands of Christ, the proffered salvation of the cross.

What the sinner needs is not one who will make up for his deficiencies, but’ who will undertake his whole resiJonsihilities; not a surety who will be security for the balance, but who will pay the whole debt. The revival of mediaeval mysticism, which works up a fascinating religiousness by various appliances, and mingles together the “infused” and the “imputed,” to obtain a sufficient righteousness before God, will be of no avail in any aggressive movement against scepticism or superstition. Thomas a Kempis would be a poor substitute for Luther; and sentimental mysticism would not do the bold work of the Reformation theology. The keynote of preaching must still be, ‘’ Christ for us;” and the hymns which are to carry life must ring with, —

“Tons les travaiix de mes mains
Pour te plaire seraient vains
Lors meme qu’en ma detresse
Mes pleurs couleraient sans cesse,
lis ne sauraient me laver
Toi seul penx et venx sanver!”