English House of Commons, and dictated politics to the rest of Europe. And now we are in our own day.

And

We

But what a change has taken place since we were boys! And what changes have passed over the G. B. Connexion in the same time! how shall we estimate them? have noted somewhat of the general course of change outside the body; what have been the specific changes going on inside during the same time? To estimate them correctly it seems necessary, first, to define what were the special characteristics of our position at the commencement of the period; and then we may, by appreciation of the altered mood of circumstances external to it, arrive at a correct realization of the present relations of the Connexion and the community. Laying it down, once for all, that we have no idea of trespassing on the ample field or the manorial rights of the highly respected author of the "History of a Hundred Years," but only intend to chronicle the personal recollections of less than half a century, we may proceed to state that the most palpable feature of the situation of the founders of our body was one of isolation. This arose necessarily from the fact that the theological complexion of the sentiments by which they were actuated was that of intense Protestantism. This Protestantism was directed in two different, and as it frequently happened, opposite quarters. It turned itself in full force against sacerdotalism in one direction, and against the restrictive tenets of Calvinism in the other. This position placed our founders in a cross-fire, and made them at once the object of persecution on the part of the Establishment, and of aversion, not unmixed with contempt, on that of the respectable and educated Dissenters. Church people looked upon them as fanatical and seditious, and proper subjects for the stocks, while Independents and Baptists faintly concealed their horror of them as

heretics in religion and Goths in ignorance. In such plight they

would have looked around for companionship and sympathy in vain, had it not been that the positive side of their position in the controversy furnished a bond of union abundantly strong and sufficient, not only for the exigencies of debate, but even of desertion, opposition, and persecution. It has often been said, and perhaps with some truth, that dissent and protest, per se, being themselves negative, furnish neither a substantial bond of union nor the requisite forces for progress. This, however, depends entirely upon the character of the principles against which the dissent, or the protest, is directed. In this case they were directed against the negative or privative elements in the creed of their opponents, and therefore they derived from the positive alternatives which their opponents had rejected, all the strength and fertility which the broadest and most emphatic affirmative principles could supply. Sacerdotalism implied that certain high spiritual privileges and functions were the exclusive prerogative of a limited number of individuals, to whom they were communicated under very restricted conditions of time, place, law, and ceremony. In opposition to this, our ancestors contended that the richest grace and highest gifts of spiritual life and service were freely open to the acceptance of all mankind by the direct and unconditional benevolence of God; and that neither priest nor kaiser found a more favoured place within the holy of holies than the humblest believer. Calvinism wore as its distinctive mark the special selection of a few favoured individuals from among the millions of depraved humanity, while the immense majority of mankind were delivered over to those uncovenanted mercies which made it such a terrible thing "to fall into the hands of the living God." General Baptists, on the other hand, asserted

religious feelings, the growing solemnity and importance of beginning life, in its truest and richest sense, the special wakefulness in observing the spirit and conduct of those who profess to be Christians and guides of others, the fearful possibility of injuring for years by thoughtless words or inconsiderate deeds the feeble germs now struggling towards growth, made me very anxious that he should have a clear start, and so make more solid and satisfactory progress in thorough practical godliness than many whom I have known. Some Christians, it seems to me, are weak and irresolute all their days because they do not begin well. They set out with false expectations, unreasonable hopes, and erroneous notions; and therefore make ill-directed efforts to reach a goal they do not see, and obtain a blessing they do not understand. They have no clear ideas of "the way of salvation," no definite principles of life, no accurate Biblical knowledge, no perception of the simple conditions of spiritual health and vigour; and hence, just as a child that is badly nursed and ill-trained at the start, gets ricketty, has scarcely a well-shaped or strong limb, and goes all its days with the marks of its bad training upon it, so some Christians " go mourning all their days;" never stand straight, have no moral principle, and no religious power, simply because they have been suffered to make so bad a beginning. In the Christian life the old proverb has much truth, "To begin well is to end well." Many "failures" are directly traceable to want of sufficient wisdom and care at the start.

George Mostyn's condition was probably a cause of less solicitude to me, because I knew that his sister Margaret, or Maggie as she was familiarly called, and who was about a year and a half his senior, was, though altogether different in character and in religious experience, well fitted in some respects to aid him in his early efforts. She had an ardent enthusiasm, and had formed a passionate ideal of life. She yearned to be and to do something really effective. She used to say, with all her strength of conviction, quoting the words of the poet :

""Tis a vile life that, like a garden pool,
Lies stagnant in the round of personal loves,
That has no ear save for the tickling lute
Set to small measures,-deaf to all the beats
Of that large music rolling o'er the world;
A miserable, petty, low-roofed life,
That knows the mighty orbits of the skies
Through nought save light or dark in its own
cabin."

And all these yearnings of her young and love-filled heart centred in her Saviour. She did not merely receive Him; she

delighted in Him. He was "altogether lovely," the chief of all her joys. Just as bread satisfies hunger, or water thirst, so Christ satisfied the deep and wide cravings of her spiritual nature. As a well-made key fits into its lock, so the Lord Jesus met all the demands of her active conscience, her great mental needs, the intensity of her religious ardour, and her resolve to make her life really noble and useful. She revelled in the overflowing fulness of the satisfaction she found in the Christ of the gospels; her young and trustful spirit found its perfect heaven in the sweetness of His love.

"And have you no doubts at all, Maggie ?" said George one day, in the course of a long conversation.

Doubts," she said, "how dare I doubt the love of ONE who has died for me, and who, if it were necessary for my good, would die for me again to-day? Instead of doubting, I feel I cannot trust Him enough; and I almost pant for opportunities in which the strength and simplicity of my trust may be tested, and so increased."

"But have not such questions as these ever disturbed your peace-'Am I really a Christian ? Am I deceiving myself? Is all this real, or am I being led away by my own excited feelings ?""

"Of course, George, I've been tempted occasionally, but it has only been for a moment; for I have at once recalled the words of Jesus, 'He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life,' and 'He that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out;' also the saying of John, 'The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin;' and the temptation has been vanquished, and in the victory I have had another occasion for thanksgiving. I know very well that my salvation does not depend upon my state of feeling, whether it is happy or sad, but upon my simple acceptance of God's Son."

66

And, Maggie, do you really say you have no recollection whatever of the hour in which you became a Christian? Can't you name the day or the circumstances ? Didn't you feel any sudden and decided change?"

"No, George. As I told our pastor when I became a member of the church, it always seems to me as though I had gradually and almost unwittingly grown up into the Christian life, just as the seeds of the sweet-williams and nasturtiums grew into leaf and flower. God set me in a good soil; the warm beams of his love have been kindling about me all my life, the gentle dews of parental prayer have softened my heart, and kind arms have protected me from many of

the evils of the world, and I have slowly become a follower of Christ. Or I may say it seems to me like this: our dear father and mother are both beautiful mirrors of the Saviour's gentleness and grace; I have been looking therein for at least half a score years, and gradually I have been changed into the same image, as by the Spirit of the Lord. Certainly I have had no sudden shock, no special revelations ; I can't say on such a day, in such a place, I was converted; but as I look back I can see God has led me along just as a mother does a child, from the days when it is so feeble that it cannot walk, and when it has life but is not conscious of it till its strength is firm and its step steady, so He has guided me until now, when I can say with joy, To me to live is Christ.' He is the perfect ideal of my life, my blessed Saviour, my all in all! I love Him, and I want to be like Him and do His will from day to day; and I sometimes think, dear George, that if you were but a Christian, my joy would be complete."

"Ah, well!" said he with a sigh; "I want to be a Christian, as you know, but I find no end of difficulties in the way. I feel as if I couldn't get a clear start any how; and I won't profess anything I do not really feel. There is enough of that in the world without my adding to it. But what puzzles me more than a little is, that what was so easy to you is so very difficult to me."

"But, George, surely you haven't forgotten the sermon of a few Sunday evenings ago, on 'Take my yoke upon you and learn of me.' Don't you remember the passage showing that God does not lead us all to Christ along the same line and in precisely the same way ?"

66

Indeed, I can't call it to mind just now. What was it ?"

"I'll quote as much as I have of it in my notes, for I believe it meets this difficulty of yours exactly."

And away went Maggie in her eager zest to her desk, and brought out a small note-book, in which she was in the habit of writing all that she could remember of her pastor's sermons. Having found the place, she said, "Here it is. The subject of the introduction is the different modes in which faith in Christ is started in the souls of men. These are only my notes of it, and of course they are very brief."

"Men are not all converted in the same way, though by the same Spirit. Though all are led to Christ, yet they are not led along the same lines of experience. Peter hears the invitation of Jesus, and is soon by His side. Natha

niel, meditating on the Hebrew Scriptures under the fig-tree, is asked by Philip to come and see' Jesus of Nazareth, and his prejudice is conquered by learning that the Nazarene is omniscient. The woman of Samaria finds Christ when she sees in the Stranger at the well one who tells the secrets of her life as fully as if he had known her all her days. Saul of Tarsus does not cease his rebellion and start for the cross till he is struck down on the road to Damascus as by lightning. The chart of experience is covered with roads, every one of which leads to the Centre, Christ Jesus. There is the road beginning at the godly home of Eunice and Lois, and going through the scriptures. Another road starts from the Sunday school, another through the Bible class, another is correspondence or converse with Christians, another is sorrow, and another disappointment; indeed the roads are numberless, but each one may conduct to the presence of the Lord Jesus, just as all the roads of the Roman Empire led straight to the seven-hilled city. The main thing is to get to the Centre, Christ Jesus; the road along which we go is only of secondary importance."

"There, George," said Maggie, as she laid down her note-book, "doesn't that make it clear that you ought almost to expect to have a different experience from mine in beginning the Christian life? You know how we differ in our tastes, in our ways of looking at things, and in no end of matters; and surely you ought not to be puzzled and surprised if we differ in this."

"Yes! well, I can see that; but it is not only from you I differ, but from so many others. My case seems altogether peculiar. Fred Wilson, who was baptized last month, told me that he was converted within an hour. He was at the prayer meeting, and during one of the prayers he felt like Bunyan's Pilgrim, as if the load had gone from his back, and he could rejoice in the liberty of the children of God. And here I've been brought up in a pious home, and amongst Christians all my days, and yet seem as if I can't make a beginning.'

"But, George, you often say no two faces are alike, no two trees are alike, no two crystals even are exactly alike; why should'nt the same thing be true of the beginnings of the Christian life ?"

"If so, which I suppose I must admit, what is the use of Christian experience and Christian biography, which you say is such very helpful reading ?"

"This, that it shows you in what all 'beginnings' agree, and so makes known what is essential in a beginning. For

instance, it is very clear that in every case of spiritual life, be it of young or old, and of either sex, and of any training, there are these things-faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, bringing pardon for sin and joy in God; dissatisfaction with and sorrow over the past, and an ardent aspiration towards a higher life in the future; followed by an honest and stedfast endeavour to have the same mind that was in Christ, and to live a similar life to His. These facts you will find in different degrees of strength in every young Christian life. Some believe and trust more fully than others, some aspire more, some work more; but all believe, aspire, and work."

"There, Maggie, you start another of my difficulties, in using that word faith. I am constantly hearing it, and words like it; and I know that I believe a great deal, and a great deal, too, about Jesus Christ, and yet this question of 'saving faith' troubles me; and so I go on from one difficulty to another."

"Well, George, I think I must stop, for it is nearly prayer meeting time. Let me arrange for you to see our friend Mr. Longford about that matter, for I am sure he could explain it much better than I."

With this understanding, George and Maggie went to get ready for the weekevening prayer meeting. JOHN CLIFFORD.

WHEN I saw you the other day, Mr. Editor, you said you should like to have a few of my photographs for insertion in your Magazine, and though with that pliability which has often led me into trouble, I consented, yet I have doubted the wisdom of my promise ever since. For really I have such a host of them, and they differ so much, not only, as of necessity in subject but also in the degree of skill with which they are executed, that I positively do not know where to begin, or which to select. More than a quarter of a century I have been engaged in this captivating art, and I am so devoted to it that I never take any journey without my apparatus, or go into any company without trying to get "a picture," even though I may have to imitate Hogarth, who used to sketch the rough outlines of faces on his thumb nails; in fact I feel as if the camera and the chemicals were a part of myself, and I could no more live happily without them than my dog Sancho without his bone. Hence I have, as you know, a large, strange, and miscellaneous collection of portraits. Some of them were taken almost in an instant, under a bright summer sky, with a full and clear light, and on a well prepared sensitive surface; others were slowly printed in the dark and murky atmosphere of cities and towns in the closing months of the year. Even by the fireside, at the genial tea-table, on 'Change, in railway carriages, at home and abroad, my familiar lens has done its work, increasing my pictorial stock; so that here

are pastors and deacons, Euodias and Syntyches from the chapel; fathers and mothers and children from the home; stockbrokers from the market; students from the colleges; ugly, repulsive, and unbearable bachelors from nowhere; fair, attractive, but hard and harsh damsels from the wide deserts of rejection; heroes from the lonely garret and the splendid palace; saints of the purest beauty from the various walks of life: indeed, a multitude which few clerks could number, and no writer, not even an artist, fully describe. What am I to do then? I can't bear suspense. It is worse than gnawing hunger to me. rather fight a dozen foes than be impaled for five minutes on the horns of either a dilemma or a trilemma; and therefore at once I seize the CHAPEL ALBUM, fondly hoping that I may catch the attention of most of your readers for a few moments, and interest them by setting forth its contents, whether they worship in the calm Sabbath quiet of the Pew, or work from that throne of the preacher, the Pulpit.

I

I'd

suppose you, sir, would naturally expect me to begin my list with a selection from the Pulpit; but in my humble judgment as speakers always say when they are about to utter their most dogged and obstinate opinions-in my humble judgment, the pulpit often gets too much honour. It is always first; and therefore I mean to reverse the order of proceeding for once at least. Some men imagine that the world is the wrong way up, and that chaos will soon come again if every