what her mother had said, and on her mother's grief. Was it possible for her father to die? She had never thought of that! Then she dwelt upon his honest bluntness and hard-working ways, and invariable kindness towards herself, until her little bosom heaved convulsively, and her overwrought feelings broke out in sobs and tears.

There she was sitting, only partly clad, with naked feet, red from the drenching wet which had penetrated her little ragged shoes, when, the weather having partially cleared up, a footman in livery entered the shop and told her that she was to bring some fruit to a house in Calverley Park on the following morning, and to wait to see the lady.

Emmy was thankful for the order and promised to do so.

"My poor little bird," said the man, "why are you weeping so?"

The child explained her father's danger. After endeavouring to comfort her and raise her to hope, the man left.

It was some time before Mrs. Roberts returned. The medical men had not alarmed her without cause. Soon after

she arrived at the infirmary, Roberts was taken from his sufferings.

We sometimes see in God's high heavens the blackest clouds fringed with golden sunlight. So it is often with human woes, and so it was with the widow and orphan of Roberts.

"Behind a frowning providence God hides a smiling face." That wet spring and summer which had driven out the little fruit-carrier in the frenching rain, had been the way of Providence for sowing seed which was to yield a timely crop of commiseration and practical sympathy in their approaching greater

trouble.

Wandering, as Emmy had done, from house to house to sell her fruit, and pleased with the great success she had found, she had not herself so very much noticed her several customers. But it was 50, that in Calverley Park she had not only found a liberal customer, but she had also awakened strong and peculiar feelings. Sir Morris Newnham and his lady were staying there with their little girl-the only surviving child of four. They had left London, and sought a change of air, chiefly for the health and to divert the mind of the darling from the recent loss of a pet sister. There had been about

sixteen months' difference in their ages, and their lives seemed bound up in each other, so that when the separation came the silent grief of the survivor had awakened the strongest fears.

Strange to say, in little Emmy, notwithstanding her soiled and drenched appearance, both the parents and child had been struck with her uncommon resemblance to the so lately lost one. And it was with difficulty that the baronet's little daughter could be restrained from embracing her. She seemed quite to believe it to be her lost sister. Age, height, and appearance, seemed to justify such a conclusion. After purchasing some fruit, and liberally rewarding her, the parents inquired her name and address, and then suffered her to depart, intending fully to make further inquiries. But the little lady was not to be pacified in that way. She begged so earnestly that the child might be brought to her-live with her-be a sister to her, that the fond parents thought fit to send the footman to desire the child to come again on the following morning, as we have seen.

Lady Newnham, finding that her darling child's feelings on the following morning were quite as strong towards the little strawberry-seller, felt pleased that she had sent her footman the preceding afternoon, desiring her attendance. What will not well-to-do parents allow to improve the health, and perhaps preserve the life, of a much-loved and only child? The Newnhams felt just so. If the presence of the little fruit-girl would reconcile their child in some measure to the regretted loss of her sister, they would by all means wish it. Expense was immaterial to them. They would gladly have made any sacrifice for Adelaide.

Little Emmy, in her sadness weeping herself, and yet striving to comfort her mother under the sudden stroke of her father's death, knew not the happy change which her Heavenly Father had in store for her. The death of Roberts had driven from the child's mind all recollection of the footman's message. So the morning and afternoon passed away without her going to Calverley Park. And it was not till later in the day, when the footman again called at the shop, that she recollected it. This time the man brought a parcel of clothes for the child. Lady Newnham thought it very likely that the child's clothes were still damp, and so she had been prevented

from coming. The man's orders were to wait and bring the child with him.

Emmy was soon clad in the clothes sent, and with her little fruit-basket upon her arm, in which her mother had carefully packed some of the choicest of their strawberries, she went with the footman to Sir Morris Newnham's. The lady and her little one were waiting for the child's arrival in the drawing-room. She was now nicely clothed, instead of standing, as she had done on the previous day, in the pelting rain, thinly clad and miserable.

Lady Newnham could now see yet more strikingly the resemblance she bore to the lost little one. Her little daughter Adelaide was in raptures.

"You are to live with me, with us, for the future," she said, addressing Emmy, "and my governess shall teach you all she teaches me, and we will play together, and walk together, and be always together."

Emmy was bewildered.

The footman had informed his lady of the sudden death of the father.

The sequel of our story is soon told. Communicating with the mother, arrangeIments were made for the continuance of Emmy as a companion to their own little girl. The fond parents engaged to bring up the little one in every respect as their own child. They were prompted to this from a pure feeling of benevolence, as well as out of regard to the strog bias of Adelaide's mind. The resemblance betwixt Emmy and the deceased little one,

who had been Adelaide's playmate, seeme to increase rather than diminish upon fu ther acquaintance. And with the adva tage of a superior education, the sof winning traits of the child's dispositio became more fully developed, so that sh soon came to be beloved for her own sake

As the mother, Mary Roberts, had n tie to her home and shop after the deat of her husband, she readily consented t Lady Newnham's proposition to fill a r sponsible situation in the family; and she had been accustomed, before her ma riage, to a similar life, she was far mo comfortable and easy than she had late been.

Our young readers will, perhaps, 1 guessing about the after-life of Emm Suffice it to say that the friendship whic had been commenced in such affliction w never broken, but continued as endurin as at first, even when, in after life, th two young ladies-for Emmy was a you lady then-had homes of their own.

How true it is that we cannot jud of circumstances by themselves! The are many cogs in the wheel of Providen which are regulated by the hand of In nite Wisdom. There is often a brig shining light behind the dark cloud. T wet summer and the perished fruit we the means which ultimately led Emm and her mother into the comfortabl household of Sir Morris Newnham. L us, therefore, have every confidence in o best Friend, hoping in the midst of t greatest adversity.

AT THE LAST.

"Man goeth forth unto his work and to his labour until the evening."-Psalm civ. 23. THE stream is calmest when it nears the tide,

And flowers are sweetest at the eventide,
And birds most musical at close of day,
And saints divinest when they pass away.
Morning is lovely, but a holier charm
Lies folded close in evening's robe of calm;
And weary man must ever love her best,
For morning calls to toil, but night to rest.
She comes from heaven, and on her wings
doth bear

A holy fragrance, like the breath of prayer;

Oh! when our sun is setting, may we glide
Like summer evening down the golden tide;
And leave behind us as we pass away,
Sweet starry twilight round our sleeping
clay.

TO DIE IS GAIN.

THROUGHOUT the Bible it is declared that the things that we are permitted to see in this life are but imitations, glimpses of what we shall see hereafter. "It doth not

yet appear what we shall be." There are times when it seems as though our circumstances, our nature, all the processes of our being, conspired to make us joyful here, yet the apostle says we now see through a glass darkly. What, then, must be the vision which we shall behold when we go to that abode where we shall see face to face! What a land of glory have you sent your

babes into! What a land of delight have you sent children and companions into! What a land of blessedness are you yourselves coming to by and by! Men talk about dying as though it was going toward a desolate place. All the past in a man's life is down hill and toward gloom, and all the future in a man's life is up hill and toward glorious sunrising. There is but one luminous point, and that is the home toward which we are tending, above all storms, above all sin and peril. Dying is glorious crowning; living is yet toiling. If God be yours, all things are yours. Live while you must, yet yearn for the day of consummation, when the door shall be thrown open, and the bird may fly out of his netted cage, and he be heard singing in higher spheres, and in diviner realms.-H. W. Beecher.

THE ANNUAL MEETINGS. FROM the events of the past year it might have been expected that the Annual Meetings would be of unusual interest. For many years there has not been a larger attendance. Throughout a devout and thankful spirit gave its tone to the sermons and speeches, all of which have been of more than ordinary excellence. The Anal Sermons by the Rev. D. Katterns and the Rev. A. Maclaren, were especially good, and we are glad that the preachers have given them to the churches in the pages of the Baptist Magazine. The perusal of them cannot fail to propagate in wider circles the solemn and earnest feelings with which they were listened to by The large audiences present.

The proceedings of the Annual Meeting re opened by a most catholic and arty speech from the chairman, Lord Radstock. Although of a different comunion, and not thinking the distinctions

separate the denominations from

ach other unimportant, he yet deemed the love of the different members of the Church of Christ as far more important, and rejoiced in the opportunity of show

ing the fundamental oneness of Christ's disciples by his presence on that day. He thought that the threatened deficiency in the funds, which had led to such vigorous and self-denying efforts to avert it, was a cause rather for thankfulness than regret; for it had elicited extra zeal, extra love, and extra energy, which were of the greatest benefit, not only to the Society, but to the individuals who had participated in the effort for its removal. His closing words were most weighty. "We see," he said, "that seed has been sown in all countries; not only in Europe, but in Asia, Africa, and America; and there appears to be the promise of a large crop. But for this there must be an abundant rain. If much seed has been sown there must be much rain, and for the blessed shower we ought to plead earnestly and unweariedly that God will, in his own good time, send down the shower which shall bring forth fruit to his glory."

The speech of the Rev. T. Evans, of Delhi, was a truly missionary speech. In an eloquent manner he descanted on the difficulties of a missionary's life in India. He referred to the necessity that he should be acquainted with three languages, and be able, in fluent and ready utterance, with a

good acquaintance with the idioms and metaphorical style of the people, to address the various classes which every crowd in the streets or bazaars would embrace. His illustrations of the parabolical character of the Indian languages were very striking. "They call the ignorant man blind, and the learned man they say has a hundred eyes. If they wish to describe a man of good outward appearance with a bad heart, they will say that he is a golden cup full of poison; whilst the man with a poor outward appearance and good heart they will say is an earthen pitcher full of nectar. The liberal man is a well within reach of every thirsty traveller. The truly benevolent man is a tree which drops its fruit even to those who cast stones at it. The wicked man is a serpent that will bite even those who feed it and fatten it. The indolent man is a pair of bellows that breathes without life. Sin is a sea into which the wicked sink, and religion is a boat to ferry the good across. And thus they paint and picture almost every object and event they speak of." In a similar way Mr. Evans illustrated the influence of caste, the moral apathy and vice that idolatry produces, the ignorance of the people, which the Brahmins are careful to maintain, and the vastness and antiquity of the mythology of the land. Time failed him to speak of the encouragements of the missionary. But in a few words he thus described the present aspect of the work of God in India :

"The happy change that has taken place in the Government of the country may be regarded as a token for good. The unholy alliance of a professedly Christian Government with heathen prejudices will now be broken, and the powers that be shall no longer be permitted to uphold and sanction idolatry. And further, there is a growing desire in India for knowledge and education. Many Brahmins in Bengal are becoming proficient scholars in English literature, while others, who are medical students, do not hesitate to dissect the corpses of the polluted Sudras. We have not only Government colleges in large cities, but in almost every district throughout British India village schools have been established. Sir Robert Montgomery, the pious Governor of the Punjaub, and father of the missionaries, is taking the lead in female education, and that noble movement will no doubt be warmly supported by Sir John Lawrence. Even public works are doing a

great deal for India, for when the grea Ganges canal was cut by the English hundreds of Brahmins on their bende knees prayed that Ganges would not go but it went; and they now say that England can lead the Ganges where likes sne is no goddess after all. Th Brahmins also prefer mixing with othe castes in railway carriages to walking; and even caste itself favours us for once. Le a large number of Hindoos from any cast become Christians, and the rest will follow as a matter of course. If Satan's strong holds in India have not been abolished, th outworks have been attacked and are givin way. William Carey said, 'I will go dow into the pit if you in England will hold th rope.' When he got to India he found tha the pit was blocked up, and his first wor was to prepare the necessary instrument to dig, and it was years before he got single jewel. You who are holding th ropes, wondering that you have to hold 8 long, and why there is comparatively s small a return, must not forget that many jewels are not found, a great part the pit has been opened, and that you hav only received an earnest of the fruit of th mine. May God hasten the great gathering in his own good time!"

th

We can only refer in a few words kind and hearty address of the Rev. S Coley, to the sympathy expressed in th speech of Dr. Angus for our Jamaic brethren, and to the discussion in that the Rev. C. H. Spurgeon of the tr principle on which all Christian labor should proceed. Mr. Spurgeon desir that every one should feel more their pe sonal responsibility, and that individus and churches should for themselves susta missionaries and hold direct intercour with them. A Society is requisite to gi unity, consistency, and permanence to the exertions; but he thinks it practicable th the brethren in the field may be mo closely allied with their supporters in th country than is now generally the cas This plan may be carried out without an important change in the present arrang

ments.

On the whole, we look back on the pa year with satisfaction and with gratitu to the Father of mercies. May the ba mony of feeling that has been elicited, an the fervent prayers in which many hav joined, be found bearing for years to com the fruits of righteousness and of peace!

GENERAL.

the

THE political event or the month-of the ession-perhaps of several sessions-is peech of Mr. Gladstone on Parliamentary Reform. The occasion was the second reading of Mr. Baines's Bill for a six-pound borough franchise, and it has fallen like a bomb-shell into he Tory camp, especially damaging that part of it occupied by the Tories calling themselves Liberals. Mr. Gladstone evidently did not expect to be in a majority, since he alluded to the division in the Liberal camp; but he charged the present Parliament with neglect of its duty in regard to the franchise, deprecated waiting for agitation, threw on those who excluded forty-nine fiftieths of the working men the burden of proving their right to it, dwelt on the proof afforded by the apper section of the working classes of their fitness for the franchise, on the conduct of the Lancashire operatives especially, and expressed his belief that the extension of the suffrage demanded would promote union among all classes, and infuse vigour into the British constitution. That remarkable passage in which Mr. Gladstone declared that "every man not presumably incapacitated by some consideration of personal unfitness, or political danger, is entitled to come within the pale of the constitution," ought to be henceforth the rallying-cry of the Liberal party. Mr. Whiteside, in one of his irrelevant firework speeches, opposed the Bill, and it was rejected by 272 to 216; but among the 216 was the man who is certain one day, and probably before long, to convert his minority into a majority.

The Oxford Declarationists have presented their document to the Archbishop at Lambeth, with whom were a few other bishops. They have obtained the signatures of 11,000 clergymen, about half the number of those in holy ordersbut they told the Archbishop that more would have signed, so far as the substance was concerned, but objected on matters of form and circumstance. The two theological points on which the declaration insists are first, that the Holy Scriptures not only contain, but are the word of God; next, that the punishment of the wicked will equal in duration the happiness of the blessed. The reply of the Archbishop implied that these are fundamental doetrines of the Church and of Christianity. If so, it is unfortunate that the law has decided that they are not Articles of the Church, and that her Articles and services do not assert them.

The Conference on Danish affairs continues to meet occasionally. An armistice for a month has been secured-one good result of the deliberations certainly; but at the time we write it is extremely doubtful whether any other good result will follow the sittings, for it is stated that the views of the plenipotentiaries of Austria and Prussia are irreconcilably opposed to those of the neutral Powers; and that while the Danish plenipotentiaries insist on the provisions of the London treaty as binding on all its signatories, the German Powers repudiate altogether their treaty engagements towards Denmark, asserting that they are liberated from those engagements by the War. It is boldly stated in many quarters that the English Government would have given material assistance to the Danes long since, but for the determination to the contrary of the highest personage in the realm,

The Annual Meetings of the Baptist Societies, which were being held when our last number was being prepared, were over before the month commenced. We are but stating the universal conviction when we say, that the Meetings, as a whole, were more interesting and more important than any that have been held for many years past. The meeting of the Baptist Union may be referred to as especially successful; and that of the Baptist Missionary Society was no doubt rendered more interesting by the good news of a surplus when a deficiency had been expected. The Baptist Irish Society, on account of the efforts which have been made to provide for the anticipated deficit in the missionary account, wisely resolved to defer the celebration of its jubilee. At the meeting of both the Irish Society and the Home Missionary Society resolutions in favour of a union of the two organizations were passed. At the meeting of the Missionary Society in Exeter Hall an incident occurred, which for obvious reasons we report at length:-"Just as the meeting was about to close with the doxology, some person (says The Freeman) at the back of the platform caused a disturbance by endeavouring to speak, and as he persisted in the effort to be heard, the Rev. W. Brock said: The person who has caused this interruption is a dismissed missionary of this Society. We have gone into the whole matter that he desires to bring before you, and have pronounced against him. He has received from our hands the full discharge of his claim upon us, and we hold his receipt, and yet he has actually had the impertinence to demand his salary up to the present time, and hold us bound to pay him. Furthermore, he has sent a letter to one of our secretaries, claiming £1,000 for damage to his reputation, and a second letter to the other secretary, claiming from him by return £10,000 as compensation. (Laughter.) This is not the man to get the ear of an Exeter Hall audience. He has gone further, and has declared that as for Frederick Trestrail, he would not believe a word he might say-not even take his oath on any matter." (Cries of 'Shame,' and "Turn him out.') Now, we would. (Loud cheers.) Furthermore, he has written of one of the brethren who was to have been here to-day, but could not because of illness, as that worthless scoundrel Saker.' (Loud cries of Shame.') And of the directors of the Society he dares to assert that, they are a set of impostors, and that lying and slander have been their weapons.' (Shame.') That is my case in moving a distinct and definite resolution that this man be not heard. (Loud cheers.) A man who can first calumniate your Secretary, then go further and defame one of the best missionaries we have ever had, and further consummate his rancour by traducing the whole body of your directors, is not the man to be heard by you even for a single moment. (Loud cheers.) I beg, therefore, to move that Mr. Alexander Innes be not heard. The Rev. C. Stovel, in seconding the resolution, said: I beg to state that Mr. Innes himself supplied the facts on which his further services were declined. The resolution was then put to the meeting, and carried unanimously."' We trust that this is the last the mission will hear of a person whom Mr. Brock characterized only too mildly when he said, "He is not the man to be heard even for a single moment."