O have sat up the long night through is no uncommon experience. Sickness in the home, the pursuit of business or pleasure, sometimes even mere caprice are all held as sufficient causes. But to have spent the long dark hours in pacing one street after another, in peering here and there into dismal and unsavoury corners, in stumbling and groping amongst laid-up carts and barrows, in seeking for forgotten outcasts in the maze of East London streets, in seeking and often finding, in finding, and sometimes being the means to save-this is an experience of another order. Be the season and weather what it may, snow, sleet, or thunder-shower, the cool refreshing air of summer nights, or the keen strong wind of winter, there are, as evening falls in London, thousands who can only look forward to wearily dragging their tired limbs from street to street, or crouching where doorways, arches, carts, or barrows offer a precarious shelter. Some of these wanderers are young girls and lads who, from no fault of their own, are without a home to seek. The crime of child-desertion is unhappily too frequent to make such cases rare. There are others, too, perhaps older in years, and fallen into evil courses, but now anxious for return to an upright life. Our mission was to these.

We met at a small room in the heart of London, and yet in a district where poverty and vice were rampant. The party numbered five, one clergyman diversifying the lay element; and all were experienced in the ways and needs of East-end poor. In the room a bright fire was burning, a kettle sang merrily on the hob, and other preparations were visible for giving warm food to such as would entrust themselves to our hands.

When we left the room it was twelve o'clock on a cold winter's night. There was no moon, but now and then the rain-drops fell, and a searching wind swept up the street. It was a night to draw the curtains close, and heap up the fire with fuel, an evil time for wanderers to breast the wind in scanty and ragged clothes, whilst their feet, bursting from worn-out boots, shrank from pressing the icy ground.

To Aldgate our steps were first bent. But there the wayfarers were few in number, and not such as we sought for. The Whitechapel Road was more crowded, and we reached it about the time when public-houses close. Presently we passed a

prosperous one, brave with much gas-light and glaring trade announcements. Several women of decent aspect were standing near, possibly waiting for husbands to finish their night's carouse-the ghastly mirth of the gin-shop for them, the cold hearth, bare room, or open street for the wife and little ones. The half-hour struck, and out they came. There had been a full house that night, and some of the company -God help them!- were mere boys and girls. The street grew noisy with their songs and shouts as, this way and that, they stumbled off.

"Turn to the left, here," cried our guide. We followed his directions, for the Casual Ward must be visited, in the hope of rescuing any who may have sheltered there whilst young in such a life. A few minutes' walk brought us there, and our leader's face speedily procured admission.

"Are you full to-night?"

"Well, yes, sir, on the men's side; but not on the women's."

"Any promising enough to be worth having a talk with?"

"Not one, sir; all old stagers. Would the gentlemen like to see the wards?"

Acting on this invitation, we entered the long narrow room appropriated to the men. We found them stretched out down the ward in two lines. The beds, if they may be so called, were of a very simple contrivance. A piece of sacking, or some coarse material, was stretched from iron frames at the head and feet. Raised in this way some nine inches from the ground, the casuals lie there wrapped in dark-coloured rugs.

As we passed along the narrow gangway, a few men peered at us over their coverings. Some indulged in a prolonged stare and impudent leer. Others but these were distinctly the minority-hastened to hide their heads; whilst a few snored on, peacefully unconscious of the midnight visitors. To the two latter classes we were profoundly grateful, for such faces as were visible varied only in degrees of repulsiveness. Adjoining this ward our attention was called to a bath, in which the casuals undergo compulsory and very necessary ablutions prior to the night's rest. It may, perhaps, be that their well-known antipathy to soap and water partially explains the repugnance many feel to entering the ward.

We did not examine the women's side, but with thanks to the courteous official, and regret at finding no inmates promising enough for our attention, bade him good-night and departed.

We return to the Whitechapel Road, now grown more quiet. An occasional cab sounded strangely loud, and the tread of an approaching passenger

was discernible far in advance. At the corner of Commercial Street three young girls, apparently about one age, were standing quietly together. At our approach they moved slowly up the street, and then sat side by side in a wide doorway. So, alternately walking and resting, we knew that they would pass the whole night until the kitchen of their common lodging-house was opened in the morning. Shuffling listlessly along, or crouching in corners, were many other wanderers, men and women of all ages. Some had little ones with them, and in one or two instances there came from a babe in arms the feeble cry eloquent of pain and hunger. Lodging-houses throng this neighbourhood in the villanous bystreets; hence the number of those who, lacking the fourpence for a bed, were wearily watching the hours pass till the kitchen, with its welcome fire, would be free to them again.

Presently we heard yells and cries from an adjoining street. Following the lead of a policeman, who was hurrying to the spot, we turned a corner by Spitalfields Church, and were soon mingled with a surging crowd. In the middle we descried a stoutly-built fellow struggling in the grasp of several officers. More policemen arrived, and more men and women ran up to swell the throng.

"Let the man go!" yelled a sympathiser from the crowd's edge, and a dozen voices at once took up the cry. The possibility of rescue is an event always canvassed in this quarter. But the police were too strong, and the crowd confined themselves to shouting. The exponents of law and order having presently prevailed, the prisoner went off at the head of a long procession.

Our path now led towards Shoreditch.

Under a dismal railway-arch dived our leader, we following dutifully in his wake. A sharp turn, and then a narrow, low archway. The passage was dark, and every step seemed to send the slush plashing around our ankles. Higher up in the yard a couple of spring-carts were standing. By the gleam of a lantern we saw curled up in one of these a young girl fast asleep. We left her in good hands, to be presently guided to our temporary quarters, and then passed on in search of others. Boldly we tramped down another narrow passage. Then something got up at our feet and scuttered away in the darkness. Boys, without a doubt. This, it appeared, was a wellknown resort for them, and many more finds were looked for. But the weather must have driven them off in search of drier quarters, and we made no capture.

Another trudge farther afield, until a row of tall old houses was reached. We walked circumspectly here, hoping to see things in their normal condition. Our leader gently pushed one of the doors. It opened at once, for the houses being let out in single rooms, the street-door was

everybody's property and nobody's care. We entered the passage on tip-toe. As the lantern's light fell on the stairs, it revealed an old woman, crouched on the lowest step, knees and nose together, and with her rags drawn closely around her. We entered another house in like manner. A better find there; two urchins curled up together in a dirty hole under the stairs. One, alarmed by the lantern, and taking us, no doubt, for the police, escaped before we were on the alert. The other stood blinking in the rays of light, and probably much wondering into whose hands he had fallen. But he soon observed our intentions to be friendly, and eagerly fell in with our proposal of better things. By this time our presence in the lane had been discovered by some of its watchful inhabitants. Here and there an upper window was cautiously opened, and the heads of divers watchers could dimly be descried. wishing to fully rouse the place, we beat an orderly retreat.

Not

It was a pleasure to be once more in open thoroughfare, although the wind blew more keenly there. We traversed Bishopsgate again. How quiet it was! Scarcely a sound could be heard save the steady footfalls of the police.

In a

But a noise in the distance soon claimed our attention. It speedily defined itself as the sound of an approaching hansom, the driver of which was standing up and lashing his horse into a gallop. Then we remarked a red glare in the sky, and knew that he was hastening to bring first tidings of the fire. The station was close at hand, and here the driver pulled his reeking horse on to its haunches and shouted the news to a group of firemen, already on the alert. few minutes the fire-escape started, accompanied by a crowd which had suddenly sprung into existence. Another brief delay, and then the engine went rattling down the street. Our first inclination was to follow in its wake, as the conflagration was certain to bring a number of the young wanderers together. But the distance was against it, and we therefore bent our steps towards a neighbouring vegetable market. Here, though the morning was yet young, business was already in full swing. The wagons were being swiftly emptied of their country loads, and buyers drove up from all directions. Here our wary leader pounced upon two or three more boys, who proved to be suitable objects of our attention. Fatherless, motherless, and homeless, the prospect of rescue from the streets greatly took their fancy. So with us they returned to the little room where the rest of our workers and the captives were assembled. There some of us waited, until the working day had commenced all over London, going thoroughly into the case of each. Thence later in the day they were sent, some to one institution, some to another, and in most cases time has shown the result to be satisfactory.

N the meadows flowers are growing,

Peeping towards the light,
All the rainbow's colours glowing
In their petals bright ;
Loved by every bee that passes,

Smiled at by the sun,
Sheltered by the nodding grasses,
When the day is done.

Far away from woods and valleys
Other flowerets bloom-
In the city courts and alleys,

In the cottage room.

Many a day from sunshine parted,

They are pale and wan,
Yet amid the gloom, glad-hearted,
Still they struggle on.

Surely like the flowerets growing
In dark sunless ways,
Blossoms, too, we should be showing
On Life's cloudy days:

Loving trust without repining,

Sweet content to rest

Waiting for the sun's clear shining, When God seeth best.

MEDICAL MISSIONS.

HE question of sending medical missionaries to places where doctors cannot readily be found, has for some time occupied the attention of the promoters of the work of Gospel teaching. But within a few months, the subject has extended to a wider range, and it is proposed to maintain such missions in Palestine and amongst the Moslems, in Asia Minor and other places. We have been favoured with copies of correspondence, and have seen printed reports which advocate the establishment of medical missions in Palestine upon a permanent basis. In some towns, no doubt, there are already doctors, but in the majority of places there is no adequate provision made for the bodily wants of the Jews, even though their conversion is sought. Thus, at the outset, both Mussulman and Hebrew will be indebted to the Christian teacher, who will, under such circumstances, have a far better opportunity to impress the benefits to be obtained from the great Healer of souls upon his infidel patients, and even to press home upon the chosen people the truths of the Gospel. Religion should be the true basis of all our teaching, and particularly in the East, where the white man has to set an example (for good or ill), which will be assuredly followed. From the distant ages, a doctor, or "medicine man," has always been held in the greatest veneration by untutored races, and when this authority is used judiciously to stimulate the patient to the cure of his soul, and for his eternal welfare, the result promises to be successful. These are some of the opinions we have gathered in. Let us now look at the testimony of eye-witnesses.

THE NEED FOR MEDICAL MISSIONARIES.

We need not quote from the correspondence before us, but we will endeavour to give in a few words the record of the work already done. Mr. James Mathieson has taken considerable interest in the Missions to the Jews, and in his opinion it is very desirable that the medical stations should be opened so as to coincide with the time of the return of the Jews to their own land. Any careful student of the signs of the times will have perceived that this exodus from Europe to Palestine has already begun, and already there are medical missions at Joppa and other

localities. In Beyrout, again, a devoted lady is carrying on the work amongst native girls, and with most encouraging success, so after many years the fruits of her labours in the mission field are yielding a hundredfold. Many girls who were formerly waifs and strays have been rescued and taught. They are now in turn teachers, either in the schools or as mothers of families, extending the sphere of usefulness of the missionary. The effect of medical mission work is described as "very marked." The advancement in truthfulness, morality, and religious earnestness, is becoming annually more apparent, not only among the younger portion of the population, but amongst the adults, who willingly attend the Bible-classes. In the same way the Lebanon district is rapidly improving. There can be no doubt that the increased number of establishments with medical aid will in future, as in the past, bring many under the influence of the Gospel.

HALFPENNY DINNERS.

There is not much to be obtained for a halfpenny in London by people who are accustomed to spend shillings and pounds. Many of us bestow pennies with very little thought or care, believing at the best that the recipient, with other pennies, will be able to obtain some food and shelter for the night. But halfpenny dinners, we make bold to say, have never occurred to us. Nevertheless, there are meals to be obtained for halfpence, and if any one will take the trouble, he or she can go and watch the distribution on Thursdays at Brewer's Court, Great Wild Street. The admission is only a halfpenny, and for that small sum a wholesome and very satisfying meal of bread and soup is provided. The children who have succeeded in gaining admittance are at once placed in front of homely tables, and waited on by the kindly hands which have volunteered their services to the poor; and this waiting is no sinecure. The children are like so many "Oliver Twists," and continually ask for more; but, unlike the hard-hearted overseer of the tale, the "waiters" do not reprimand or punish them for their demands for food. It is on record that on one occasion, a boy having rapidly demolished seven platefuls of soup, demanded another helping, and enjoyed it. He probably fancied, and his experience was doubtless prophetic, that he would not receive such another meal for a week at least. But is it not practicable to supply the soup-kitchen twice or three times a week,

and to give girls and boys who are honestly endeavouring to earn a subsistence, one comfortable meal during the day, be it tea or dinner? One full meal a-week is an excellent thing from a kindly and charitable point of view, and the sustained efforts to afford such dinners at such a trifling cost, reflect the greatest credit on the organisers and promoters of these cheap meals. But we learn that efforts are made in other directions to benefit the parents as well as the children by Sunday-schools and services, penny banks, clothing clubs, and such excellent agencies; so, with such machinery, is it not possible to give the poorest children some further meals? If funds be wanting, no doubt subscriptions will be sent in for meals alone, for experience has proved that human nature is never less susceptible to enlightenment than when the body is craving for food. We trust that the efforts now made to benefit the parents will bear fruit in causing such of them as can do so, to work for the children, to set them a better example, and provide them with daily bread.

OPIUM SMOKING.

We have lately met with an extract from a paper pubhshed in China, which will be of considerable interest to those who favour the views of Opium Abolitionists, and may perhaps influence the advocates of the confirmed use of that pernicious drug. At any rate the Chinese authorities appear to entertain very positive opinions on the question where the army is concerned. The barracks, which the correspondent of the paper visited, are not far from the missionaries' residence. At the barrack-gate is a proclamation, or rather general order, forbidding soldiers to smoke opium. The reasons given are because it is hurtful to the constitution, and affects the general health of the troops. Under these circumstances the men are strictly forbidden to use the drug, and knowing the tendency of the lower classes to indulge in this species of intoxication, absolute abstention is enjoined under penalties. Individual examination is made, and any one who is convicted of indulgence in the vice is removed. We perceive in this the influence of the Protestant missionaries, who no doubt have declaimed against the use of this debasing drug, as other preachers have against the charms of alcohol in the United Kingdom.

A PEEP AT SHADWELL SCHOOLS.

The more one looks into the vast and complicated machinery which is continually at work amongst us for the benefit, both spiritual and temporal, of the inhabitants of London, the greater is our surprise that any considerable number of them remain in such deep poverty and ignorance of the Gospel. From month to month the unwearying application of hundreds of good men and women are directed to the work of reclamation, and still there can be no relaxation of effort. We have before us a report showing the work done by one of the London City Mission Stations at Shadwell during the past year, which has resulted in encouragement tempered with disappointment, but brightened by the pleasure those concerned have taken in the work. This is no doubt the same everywhere. Religious services are held on Sundays and Tuesdays, and the attendance has been fairly satisfactory. Bible readings for working men, Temperance Work, Sunday Schools, and other means are all in working order, and a library is in operation. In this many residents at a distance may take an interest, and we trust they will do so. We have before this indicated the way in which donations of spare or discarded volumes of a suitable character can easily be distributed. Prizes offered for the best flowers or for little articles made for bazaars might do a great deal of good by employing profitably the leisure hours of the poor inhabitants of the district, giving them an interest in their homes, and bringing a wholesome spirit of emulation to bear upon them. If such means were more continually resorted to-and if sufficient public interest can be aroused they would be-we should have less despair and poverty to contend against, and more self-respect to help us in our work. Sympathy will go a great way, and if we can show the apparently abandoned that we take an interest in him, that

we are ready to bind up his wounds and take care of him, and come again, we shall doubtless be doing an excellent service, and helping the local Missions materially. We are convinced that amongst our readers there are many who would gladly help, did they know the way. There is plenty of opportunity in the service of the London City Mission, and an immense field for them to work in to the glory of the Lord of the Harvest.

A GOOD EXAMPLE.

An instance of resignation founded on sincere faith came to our knowledge the other day, and the encouragement to both elders and children which the incident contains makes it worth reproducing. A little girl who had been early taught the right way, was in the habit, when any trouble overtook her, of going to her room and thinking it over with her simple petitions. On one occasion she met with a great disappointment. Some money which she had anticipated the use of for some present, was, under stress of circumstances, given to her brother. The matter was explained to her, but the girl could not see why she should give up her share, and she could not say she was willing. At length she went away to her room, and after a while returned to her mother, saying," Mamma, I am willing now that the money should go." A tearful kiss was the mother's reply, and the self-sacrifice was accepted; but the circumstances were impressed upon her heart, and the household extravagances which had led to the diminution of ready money were curtailed, greatly to the benefit of the family generally. The lesson had been taught by the child. The unheeded expenditure was checked, and some luxuries which had almost been elevated into the position of neces saries relinquished. Meantime the girl's unselfish conduct had reached the ears of an old and not over liberal relative, but his heart was also touched at the young girl's act of disinterestedness. He at once forwarded to her the sum she had expected formerly from a far different source, and the child could not but believe that her prayer for guidance had met with its reward, and the sequel confirmed her in the notion, for the secret was kept. Nothing was said to her about the money having been sent as a reward, nor did she know that it had come from her relative, whose heart had been so unusually moved to part with a considerable sum. The gift with which the girl parted for her brother's sake bore fruit in his case also, for he prospered with it, and thus her act of self-denial was blessed to all concerned.

THE GOSPEL AMONG THE INDIANS. Considerable progress is being made amongst the Indian tribes, and reports tell us how, after the teaching of the missionaries, many of whom, braving what appeared to be certain death, went boldly forth to preach. The incidents we have read occurred in Canada, and have been copied into local papers as the experience of the minister. On one occasion, after a service had been held in an Indian camp, an aged native rose and made a speech expressive of his thankfulness for the Gospel light which had shone upon his tribe. As he proceeded, he' told how, not many years before, he and his people had been gleefully counting the scalps which had been taken from the enemy, and how the war-cry had been heard in the districts around him. Now, he continued, we have peace, and the blessing of the Prince of Peace is upon us. Three years ago the very name of the Saviour of Mankind was unrecognised amongst the people; now there are numerous followers and adherents of the Gospel. Thus the good work is rapidly progressing, and the younger members of the Indian families are becoming as alive to the benefits and the blessings of Christianity as the older ones who have witnessed the improvement in its development. Several settlements have thus been awakened to their spiritual needs. The bravery of the preachers has been rewarded, and their safety is assured.