trimming for drawers, 10 sets of feathers, a piece of trimming for a toilet table, a Garibaldi body, 4 balls and a pair of night socks.-4. Anonymous, 6 pieces of music.-6. A Working Meeting at Clifton, 1 frock, 1 jacket and vest, 4 aprons, 3 nets, 12 penwipers, I pinafore, 1 French cambric shirt, 1 leather needle case, 6 spectacle wipers, and 1 shaded antimacassar.-Anonymous, left at my house, a pair of stockings.-10. From Clifton, a jet brooch and bracelet.-Anonymous, left at Park-street, 2 pairs of silk stocks.-Ditto, 9 pairs of socks and a head band.-13. From Bishop Wearmouth, 2 gold rings, a silver mug, 2 gilt bracelets, and an ivory bracelet.-14. From Bayswater, a couvre pied, a pair of baby's shoes, a penwiper, some crochet edging, and a piece of lace. From London, W., 2 toilet pincushions, 3 crochet handkerchiefs, a collar, and a pair of cuffs.15.-From 'S. W.,' a gold ring with hair. From Barnstaple, 3 pictures.From near Sheffield, 2 boxes, containing a variety of articles, according to lists sent and returned with receipt.-Anonymous, left at No. 1,' an antimacassar.18. From Nottingham, 2 water colour paintings.-20. Anonymous, by rail, a cushion, 3 parasols, a waistcoat, a pair of trousers, a pair of boots, some buttons, 2 thimbles, a pair of slippers, 2 pairs of stays, 6 under waistcoats, 2 bodies, a pair of drawers, 2 pairs of stockings, a lace dress, a bundle of pieces, and a few other articles. 21. From Bristol, I cask of vinegar."

We might prolong this article indefinitely; but we refer our readers to the report itself. The Lord strengthen the faith of all his people by the sight of his goodness to his servant at Bristol, and give to his Church more grace to act on the same heaven-born principle.

We have been much struck with a passage in the life of Francké, the first great worker in Orphanages of Faith, and we close our paper with it because we are sure that in just such a spirit does George Müller serve his God. "Wherefore," says he, "should we not give the glory to God, and confess that it is his work, and that the honour of it belongs neither to such a wretched worm as I, nor to any other individual, but solely to the One, Supreme, Creator of all things, the Almighty, the Omnipotent and lawful King who sitteth upon the throne, God over all, blessed for ever?' He it is, who has formed all this, and has paternally blessed it from the commencement hitherto, not indeed from any large fund which he had previously committed to my charge, as some most mistakenly imagine, but he has formed something out of nothing; and according to the infinite riches of his mercy towards me, (his wretched and contemptible creature,) has excited a faith and a confidence in my poor heart, so that I have simply placed my hope, not on men, nor on their power and riches, but alone on his Almighty arm, who is able to do for us abundantly above all that we can ask or think, and did not doubt of that which I saw not. My soul ventured most cordially upon him alone, as circumstances from time to time required, and with him I proved successful, to the honour of his divine Word, which engages that no one shall be put to shame who waits for him; and I shall prosper further with him, to the shame and disgrace of the unbelief of men, who imagine they find in their vain mammon, a more certain refuge, than in the living God, who is able to deliver from death. ... Were the idea ever to occur to me, that it was I who fed the people, and I who built the orphan-house, the reader may rest assured, that I should regard it as a temptation of Satan, and strive against it with all earnestness. The merciful God has given me fully to know, by various ways, which are uncommon to human reason, what those words signify, 'The eyes of all wait upon thee, O Lord! and thou

givest them their meat in due season. Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing.' And 'man liveth not by bread alone, but by every word which proceedeth out of the mouth of God.' And is it possible, therefore, for anyone to imagine, that when I see a couple of hundred individuals sitting down to table, every noon and evening, I should be such a fool as to think, (or if such foolish thoughts ever occurred to me, to give them any attention) that I feed, support, and provide for them all? I testify before God, that I regard the whole work as his, and do not acknowledge that any of the praise belongs to me, which the living God might easily put to shame, were he but once to abandon me, in the many and diversified trials I experience."

EA

Practical Lessons

FROM THE LIFE OF RICHARD COBDEN.

ARNEST men can always learn from one another. The path of the man who blessed a nation by cheapening their daily bread, and snapping the chains of commerce, having devoted the flower of his days to that single purpose, must be full of instructive teaching to men consecrated to the yet higher end of glorifying God by spreading abroad the gospel of his Son. It is not our intention to give even so much as a complete outline of the life of Mr. Cobden, we only aim at gathering from his memoir such incidents and reflections as may be made to bear on the service of God so as to stimulate the zeal of those engaged in it.

Mr. Cobden's success is a singular proof that early failures ought not to discourage the hope of future usefulness. His first public address was a signal failure. "He was nervous, confused, and in fact practically broke down, and the chairman had to apologize for him;" little could those who heard him have dreamed that his eloquence would command the respectful attention of senates, and the rapturous applause of thousands; on the other hand those who have heard him

"Pour the full tide of eloquence along,

Serenely pure, and yet divinely strong,"

would scarcely believe that he could have ever sat down a blushing man, longing to hide his head, because his tongue refused to do his bidding. Young believers must not be daunted if their early efforts should bring them little but regrets and disappointments; it is good for them that they bear the yoke in their youth; let them persevere, and they may yet have many crowns to lay at their Saviour's feet. God forbid that wounded pride should so reign in the bosom of a servant of Christ as to deprive him of the bliss of doing good. What matters it if we are made nothing of, and are even the theme of laughter, Jesus deserves that we should bear even this for his sake, and since he scorns us not, but accepts our poor attempts as being what our motives and wishes would have made them, we may well press on, hopeful of better days ere long. One talent at interest will speedily become two, and the two will grow into five; let us do what we can for Jesus, and we shall soon

be able to do more. Stretch thy wings fledging, and flutter, though it be feebly, for in so doing thou wilt learn to fly.

One is struck with the way in which Cobden wholly gave himself up to his one master-idea. From the time when his judgment was convinced of the truth of that great doctrine so elaborately and conclusively advocated by Adam Smith as the fundamental principle of the wealth of nations, the freedom of industry and the unrestricted exchange of the objects and results of industry, he ceased not for a moment to denounce the system of protection, and to enlighten the people of England upon a matter so essential to their country's prosperity. His generous heart was grieved at the fearful distress which the Corn Laws brought upon the operatives; he saw them lying by the sides of hedges and walls seeking a miserable shelter, he found them starving while plenty reigned on the other side the Channel, and was not allowed to send her stores among the hungry millions; his great heart beat high with sympathy, and swelled with a grand ambition to slay the monster which wrought his country such widespread evil, and he gave himself heart and soul to the work. To him all other aims were merged in this: his business which was at first large and lucrative, was all but sacrificed upon the altar of Free Trade; wealth was just within his reach, but the golden apples could not entice him from the race. Political partizanship, so potent over some men, could not sway him for a moment; he said in his place in Parliament, "I assure the House that the declarations I have made were not made with a party spirit. I do not call myself Whig or Tory. I am a Freetrader, opposed to monopoly wherever I find it." There lay the secret of his power, he was given up to the dominion of one great object, and would not subdivide the kingdom of his manhood by admitting a second. The life-floods of his soul were not squandered in a thousand miserable streamlets to feed the marshes of superficiality, but concentrated in one deep channel so as to gladden the earth with a river of power for good. What a lesson for believers in Jesus. When will love to the Redeemer, after the same manner eat us up, and cause us to cry, "One thing I do?" Worldly ends rule in many professors, party spirit governs others, self more or less intrudes into all; it were the sure sign of a golden era if we had among us a host of men of the old apostolic spirit, for whom to live would be Christ only. Believers, whether you are actively engaged in business, or in spiritual labours, strive to do everything for Jesus; in the power of the Holy Spirit, living for him alone. Dead as the withered fig-tree be all other designs and desires save the glory of Jesus, ay, and buried let them be in the abyss of oblivion. On that cross where died our Saviour, let us crucify self in all its forms, and let us live with the name of Jesus burned into our very hearts.

A mightily dominant passion will frequently subdue the griefs of human life, and bury them in holy ground. John Bright, who married young, lost his wife shortly after marriage. He went to Leamington, where Cobden visited him, and found him bowed down by grief. "Come with me," said Cobden, " and we will never rest until we abolish the Corn Laws." Bright arose from his great sorrow, girded his loins to fight side by side with his friend, and thus found consolation for his terrible loss. How often would deep despondencies and heavy glooms be chased

away if an all-absorbing love to Jesus, and a fiery zeal for his honour burned within our bosoms. One fire puts out another, and a grander agony of soul quenches all other grief. The hands of holy industry pluck the canker of grief from the heart, and shed a shower of heavenly dew, which makes the believer, like the rose, pour forth a sweet perfume of holy joy. As quaint old Fuller says, "A divine benediction is always invisibly breathed on painful and lawful diligence." The clappers of sacred industry drive away the evil birds of melancholy and despair.

Commanding talent seldom achieves much unless it be coupled with perseverance. The runner wins not the race by making a spurt at first and loitering afterwards, he who would earn the prize must press on with all his strength until the goal is reached. Johnson tells us that "all the performances of human art, at which we look with praise and wonder, are instances of the resistless force of perseverance; it is by this that the quarry becomes a pyramid, and that distant countries are united by canals. If a man were to compare the effect of a single stroke of the pickaxe, or of one impression of the spade with the general design or the last result, he would be overwhelmed by the sense of their disproportion; yet those petty operations incessantly continued, in time surmount the greatest difficulties, and mountains are levelled and oceans bounded by the slender force of human beings." The great freetrader's motto was that of the needle, "I go through." Having given himself to the cause, he was not the man to desert it; undismayed by reproach and laughter, and undaunted by the tremendous power of his opponents, he pushed on in his arduous task, clearing the way foot by foot by dint of dogged resolution and unflagging energy. He had to deal with men of ability and skill, whose interests were at stake, and who, therefore, bestirred themselves to repel his attacks with the utmost energy. In the market-place, in the House of Commons, everywhere indeed, the champion heard "the harsh and boisterous tongue of war;" contentions fierce, ardent and dire, raved round him, and the weapons used were not always such as the scrupulous would allow, but our hero showed no sign of relinquishing the field of battle, or yielding a single inch to the enemy. Jeers and sneers have often fretted other men into passion, or broken their spirits into despair, but he passed scathless though the darts fell thick as hailstones. "When Mr. Miles, a Protectionist, said that Charles Buller had made an appeal to the appetites, as well as the passions of the people,' this reference to the horrid starvation then prevailing, was received with 'loud laughter.' Similar merry descants on a nation's woe' greeted Dr. Bowring's reference to anything so miserably vulgar as the reduction in the wages of shoemakers and tailors. When he said women were crying for work, there was more laughter:' they were making trousers for sixpence a pair-more 'loud laughter:' thousands were hungry and naked-the founts of laughter proved as prodigal as before; and 'peals of loud laughter' greeted the inquiry, what was to become of the women of Manchester?" Scorn may be more grievous than the pains of death, and ridicule more piercing than the pointed sword, but the bold, good man who, in this instance was the subject of it, was clad in armour of proof and laughed to scorn both scorn and laughter. "On, on, on," was the voice which sounded

in his ear, and he was not disobedient to it. He flew like an eagle to his quarry, and bore others of feebler spirit upon his wings. In the midst of the conflict he concluded one of his speeches with these telling sentences, "We must not relax in our labours, on the contrary, we must be more zealous, more energetic, more laborious, than we ever yet have been. When the enemy is wavering then is the time to press upon him. I call then on all who have any sympathy with our cause, who have any promptings of humanity, or who feel any interest in the well-being of their fellow-men, all who have apprehensions of scarcity and privations, to come forward to avert this horrible destiny, this dreadfully impending visitation." This enthusiastic continuance in the path of duty is to be coveted by all servants of the Lord Jesus Christ. The way of service is not always smooth, but the constant friend of Jesus puts on the dauntless spirit of resolution, and journeys on come hill or dale, fair or foul, until he reaches the end. Our purposes, if at all worthy of men of God, will involve much labour and anxiety; and he alone is worthy of the kingdom who, unmoved by difficulties and unabashed by rebukes, marches onward with steady step toward the object of his life. Would to God that we were half as resolute to establish the reign of Divine truth as others have been to enforce the domination of a political dogma. The great want of many professed Christians is the spirit of continuing in well doing, patiently waiting for the promised reward.

Shrewd common sense is called to the aid of enthusiasm by the leader of the Anti-Corn Law League. All means were put in operation. Lecturers went through the country, mass-meetings were held, funds were contributed, bazaars were opened, petitions were signed, elections were contested, and the whole country was kept in a state of perpetual ferment. That mighty engine, the printing press, was never allowed to rest. Tracts by the million flooded the country, broadsides and sheets of all sizes covered the walls, and condensed libraries enriched the patriot's shelves. Mr. Cobden spoke of printing a million copies of each of three prize essays, and of having every press in Manchester in full swing on behalf of Free Trade. All that ingenuity could devise or liberality procure was brought to bear upon the one great object. The power of this ceaseless activity so well directed was felt in all circles: from the palace to the cottage, all classes became interested in the struggle, nor was that interest ever allowed to flag. Whigs and Tories were both assailed or petitioned, good harvests and bad seasons were equally telling arguments, foreigners as well as Englishmen were made to serve the cause, in fact all the world was ransacked for allies. The children of light are not always so shrewd in their methods of procedure, they leave many occasions unimproved and many means untried. It were well for our Churches if all the members were earnestly employing their talents in inventing modes of usefulness, or better still in working them out. If all were at it with all their hearts, we might yet make Antichrist tremble and fill the world with the knowledge of the Lord. To reform the abuses of our national establishment and separate it from the state were a task worthy of a thousand lives; what shall be said of the even loftier aim of making the gospel known to the teeming masses of our increasing population? O for one tremendous, long continued effort for London. Our impetuous desire to see the truth of