light and love of the gospel of Christ. Oh, how pitiful is the moan for help that comes up to us from the purlieus of Whitechapel, from the grim regions of Bethnal Green, Shadwell, and Westminster, and from the noisy streets about Drury Lane and Lisson Grove!

But as if the scenes were not black enough, and the swift march of heedless destruction needed to be accelerated, "Every day through this wealthy country there are men and women busy marring the little images of God that are, by and by, to be part of its public-shadowing young spirits, repressing their energy, sapping their vigour, or failing to make it up, corrupting their nature by foul associates, moral and physical. Some are doing it by special license of the devil, others by Act of Parliament, others by negligence or niggardliness." It is too true, sadly true! Garish gin palaces suck up all "the means, the lives, the eternal destinies of the wrecked masses about them," with fatal eagerness. Cramped and narrow rooms, reeking with foul air, covered almost beyond moving with persons of different sexes, make purity impossible, disease inevitable, nervous depression a habit, gin a cardinal solace, and death a welcome visitor. And yet the Christian church, appointed to save, works with a slack hand, hesitates and cowers before the multitudinous forms of suffering and wrong, tries to repair where she should pluck up by the roots, spends thousands of pounds over copes, albs, and stoles, and quarrels over sectarian differences instead of going out to seek and save the lost with an enthusiasm that is never daunted, a simple compassion mighty to heal, a burning zeal that never flags, and a self-sacrifice that keeps back nothing that is necessary to work out the salvation of the wretched myriads dying at our doors.

Still there is another side to the picture. Ginx's Baby is not without real and wise friends. There are others, thank God, in our cities and towns, beside Sister Suspiciosa, bustling Mr. Trumpeter, and fussy Sir Charles Sterling, who have him in their care, and are sedulously working for his good. Sympathetic and loving hearts have studied his needs, and for the sake of Christ their Lord, have devoted themselves with beautiful simplicity, unobtrusive goodness, and heroical courage, to the work of his redemption from the cruel wrongs into which he, poor child, has been born. Only yesterday we saw a capital illustration of this sort of work at Number Sixty-six, Earl Street, Lisson Grove. Number sixty-six is a house hired some eleven years ago by a kind-hearted and beneficent lady, for the purpose of spreading therein, three times a week, a

G

good and substantial dinner for "invalids," in fact, for "the poor, the maimed, the halt, and the blind." The institution is pre-eminently Christlike. Jesus came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and in his abundant labours gave the precedence in order of time to the more palpable and more impressive necessities of the body. He went about all Galilee teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness, and all manner of disease among the people. The work is as sensible as it is Christian. Its principle commends itself to our common sense as much as to our sympathies, for it is that of doing good to the "suffering body, and then sowing the seed of the kingdom into the softened soil." Medical missions grow out of the same feelings and follow the same law. The practice of training Bible women to the duties of nurses of the sick has the same commendation. The first work is to nourish the feeble body, and to give physical relief, whether the spiritual counsel be accepted or not-a plan infinitely superior to the degrading system of making the reception of religious instruction the necessary condition of receiving temporal aid. So good an organization was sure to grow. Hence, under the fostering care of the Lady Superintendent, there sprang up, five years ago, an adjunct by its side, called the "Sick Children's Dinner Table."

A room in Number Sixty-six was fitted up in a simple and useful way, and in that room, last year, no less than 2,206 dinners were eaten by little children in different stages of convalescence or of actual sickness. Besides that, above 200 shilling orders on the dairyman, and about 70 sixpenny orders on the butcher, were given on behalf of children who were either very ill, and so unable to leave home, or else suffering or recovering from infectious diseases. And all this, and even more, has been done for less than a hundred pounds. The author quoted above says, with only a little less truth than satire, "In an age of luxury we are grown so luxurious, as to be content to pay agents to do our good deeds for us; but they charge us 300 per cent. for the privilege." Here the blessed work of feeding the hungry and restoring the sick is done without delegation, and with all the elevating energy of personal love, and therefore shows its working expenses reduced to a minimum.

It is truly a most pleasing sight to a philanthropic heart, to see the poor little shrunken creatures coming into the institution one by one, bright and cheerful with the anticipations of the good meal they are about to enjoy. One thinks of

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the homes and the scenes they have left. Eager, with a hunger born of returning appetite and health, they have asked in vain at home for nourishing food; here they may eat without stint of the very best. Often oppressed with the fearful melancholy and terrible coarseness of the life in the cellar, they now bask in the sunshine of cheerfulness and piety, and are themselves gladdened and raised by it. Passing along in single file, they go to the upper room," deliver to the lady who presides for the day, the ticket, which is their warrant, together with a halfpenny, and then seat themselves side by side at the table, which runs along two sides of the room. Soon the well-cooked beef and potatoes appear. All join in asking the blessing of God upon their meal, and then in quiet earnestness, and for some minutes almost without a word, the happy children proceed with the pleasant work. Dinner over, they turn round, and sit with their faces towards the lady seated at the table in the middle of the room. The voice of thanksgiving is now heard; and then a verse of scripture is learnt and repeated, first by each one, and then by all in conThen comes the dessert, in the

cert.

shape of oranges, apples, figs, &c. This being preferred to puddings for several reasons, the main one being that the children eat so heartily of the meat that it is undesireable to allure them to use their masticating powers much further. Such works as these need no commendation, and it is a pity that they should ever lack assistance. They aid the poor just at the moment when the need is most urgent, and by a method which secures the whole benefit of the charitable act to the right person. They check the spread of disease, and give the feeble another chance of independence, and of making their own way through the world; and lastly, they afford a practical commentary upon, and enforcement of, the principles of the Gospel of Christ. This brief sketch of what one Christian lady has done in one little corner of this great city, shows at least this, that if the followers of the Saviour would only do all that lies in them to enlighten the ignorant, to repress evil, to counteract the effects of poverty and disease, and to banish the temptations to vice and crime, the world would be much happier, and the fearful problem, "What shall we do with Ginx's Baby?" would be a little nearer solution. J. CLIFFORD.

THE history of individual schools in our body, presents a chapter of Christian labour of the deepest interest to all who are anxious to see the world brought to Christ. It is an instructive and humiliating narration of conflict with prejudice and ignorance, but full of hope and encouragement, which should nerve us all to renewed and persevering diligence and self-denial.

From all I have been able to ascertain, Kegworth has the honour of being the first amongst our churches to establish a Sunday school. Accounts vary a little as to exact date, but it seems most probable that it was about the year 1789 or 1790, that a Mr. William Holmes, a zealous friend of the Baptist cause at Kegworth, who manifested a deep concern for the education of poor children, took an active part in raising a Sunday school, comprehending in its plan the children of dissenters and those of the Established Church. This good man was also a friend to the education of young men for the ministry; for in the records of the General Baptist Academy for 1798 the following minute appears :-"The thanks of the committee are presented to William Holmes, of Kegworth, gent., for his liberal

donation of £10 to this institution." For several years he laboured indefatigably on behalf of the newly-formed Sunday school, and helped it greatly by his purse. He was the soul of it: it prospered, and he rejoiced in it. Circumstances occurred, however, which he did not approve, and Mr. Holmes thought it might be best to form one specially for dissenters; and about 1793 the one in connection with our Kegworth Church was opened, principally through his instrumentality his heart was in it, and though now between 60 and 70 years of age, and thus not able to bear the personal labours he had devoted to the original school, he delighted in it, and supported it liberally. About the same time, Dr. Parkinson, rector of Kegworth, began a Sunday school in connection with the Established Church: it was not in opposition to the Baptists, for the rector and Mr. Holmes were intimate friends. Dr. Parkinson sometimes visited the Baptist school, and assisted in teaching; and Mr. Holmes reciprocated the favour by giving instruction to the church scholars. Every fourth Sabbath the church scholars went in procession to the Baptist Chapel, accompanied by their teachers, and there

was a periodical return of the compliment. The children of both schools met for instruction in their respective rooms, at eight o'clock on Lord's-day morning-a feat which I think we should find difficult to accomplish in these days. At Christmas they were treated with plum cake and elder wine!- -a system in defiance of the objects of the present popular "Band of Hope" movement. Mr. Holmes provided the funds for the Baptist school at first, but afterwards it was supported, as at present, by annual collections.

This useful pioneer in the Sunday school enterprise, William Holmes, died in the year 1808, leaving a little property for the use of the Baptist Society. He had made it his practice while living to devote onesixth of his income to religious and charitable purposes. A woman is still living in Kegworth who was one of the first scholars in the school, and a Methodist gentleman of the same age well recollects a good deal of its early history. The present school-room was partly built in 1815, and there have been repeated enlargements since. There are now two good-sized rooms against the chapel. The school, with its branch at the neighbouring village of Diseworth, now contains about 160 scholars and 50 teachers.

Although our friends at Barton inherit all the fame and honour of the "Mother Church," they cannot lay claim to having given birth to our first Sunday school. Engaged, as was the Barton church, in important evangelical and denominational labours, we are not to be surprised that some other churches took precedence of them in the work of Sunday schools. Still, so early as the year 1800, they entered upon this work also, urged to it by circumstances something like the following:-At that time a couple of the friends from Barton went to a neighbouring church to get married, and when called upon by the clergyman to sign their names, they could not, because they were unable to write. Though not an unusual circumstance in those days for young couples to be compelled to make "his mark" and "her mark," yet the clergyman made a remark which appeared to cast a reflection upon the Barton friends. They were not only stung by his sarcastic expression, but stimulated thereby to action, which should, if possible, wipe away the cause of the opprobrium and reproach which was too gladly embraced by their enemies to their discredit. They at once determined to try to impart instruction to the young, and as the Sabbath afforded the most convenient opportunity, the children were gathered together on that day, and for several years were instructed in a private house. Ciphering, as well as reading and writing, was

taught on the Lord's-day; and it is said that one friend, who in those days, and even at Barton, took in a newspaper, used not unfrequently to impart information on political subjects to the assembled school. The advantages of Sabbath school instruction soon had a salutary influence not only upon the tender minds of the young, but also upon the gates and hedgerows of the village and neighbouring farmers. On one occasion, when one of these successors of Jabal (Gen. iv. 20) was asked for a subscription towards the Sunday school, he at first declined; but when his wife reminded him of the advantages of Sunday schools, and how much less their hedges were broken, their gates left open, and their cattle let out to stray, than formerly, he agreed to contribute a sovereign a year to so useful an institution. Imitating the example set at Barton, schools were established in many of the adjacent villages where there were churches in connection with the Barton church. There are now Sunday schools in connection with this "Mother Church," in six different villages, containing about 400 scholars and 71 teachers. The late Rev. Joseph Goadby, of Loughborough, was connected with this Barton school in his youth. So also were Mrs. Stubbins, Mrs. Buckley, and Mrs. Thomas Bailey, three ladies whose lives and services will ever be remembered with gratitude in connection with our Orissa Mission. The late John Orissa Goadby, whose life and labours were sacrificed, by far too early to our human view, to the benighted land whose name he bore, was several years a teacher in this school.

About the year 1794, our friends at Melbourne appear to have taken the first steps towards raising a Sunday school, which was conducted upon the Derby Road. This first effort seems to have been abandoned, in consequence, it is supposed, of the death of Mr. Samuel Robinson, who had taken a zealous and active part in its conduct. In 1809, however, the school was re-established, in an old building near the chapel. In the first year there were 150 scholars, and public collections were in that year made on its behalf amounting to £20. The school so prospered that the friends were induced to build new rooms in 1810; and these were enlarged in 1835. In 1851, with the praiseworthy and notable liberality of the Melbourne church, the debt upon the old school-rooms was cleared off, and in 1852, two new school-rooms were erected. Mr. John Brooks, who laboured in connection with the Orissa Mission about ten years, and Mr. William Brooks, who is still rendering invaluable aid to the cause of Christ in that land were connected with this school.

Chisel in hand stood a sculptor boy,
With his marble block before him;
And his face looked up with a smile of joy,
As an angel dream passed o'er him.

He carved the dream on that shapeless stone,
With many a sharp incision;

With heaven's own light the sculptor shone:
He had caught that angel's vision.

HAVE you ever been into a sculptor's studio? Have you seen that strange and miscellaneous assemblage of casts of heads, of medallions, cameos, intaglios, busts, monuments, groups of figures, and I know not what besides stored away in his large workshop? Above all, have you witnessed the sculptor at his work, giving blow upon blow to the hard marble, until the shapeless block has assumed a form of grace and loveliness, and stood forth lacking nothing but life? He does not, as you might have supposed, begin his work by chiselling the huge block of stone. That

would never do. He has a long and sometimes a most difficult labour to perform before the instruments are fixed, and the first blow is given. You know you can dig a garden and set potatoes better if you have a line to guide you. Crochet-work requires patterns in the outset, though the nimble fingers may become independent of them after a while, because the pattern is so clearly printed on the mind. The rules of arithmetic are rarely easy till you have had an "example," showing in detail how the rule is applied. Before that, "rules" are mostly puzzles. The apprentice sees a skilled and experienced workman or master make a door or a window frame, and sets about the task better prepared for his work than bushels of books or talk I could ever have made him.

He has seen

it done, and the eye is the chief inlet of knowledge. It is always much easier to work out a result when you know what that result is to be. How often we used to look at the end of the book for the 66 answers " when we had a difficult problem to solve? Yes! patterns are powers. Sage indeed was that man who invented the steam engine; but he need not be the wisest of men who copies what is thus originated. The sculptor must first know what he is to cut out of the stone before he can begin his work. He must have a MODEL. And therefore he either makes a picture in his mind, as of "Charity," or 'Pity," or the "Reading Girl," or "Venus," or else he obtains a photograph, as of 'George Peabody," or Sir Robert Peel." He does not take up his mallet and chisel, and begin hitting aimlessly at the stone, not knowing whether he is to produce a man or a lion, a grave-stone or a bust.

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Sculptors of life are we as we stand,
With our souls uncarved before us,
Waiting the hour when, at God's command,
Our life's dream passes o'er us.

If we carve it, then, on the yielding stone,
With many a sharp incision,

It's heavenly beauty shall be our own,
Our lives that angel's vision.

At the outset he makes sure of his ideal, and then he sets it forth for the first time in soft clay; and after many a touch, and much measuring, until he has brought his pattern as near to perfection as may be, he sets to work on the stone itself.

"Sculptors of life are we," and our first and great necessity is a true and faultless model. Clearly and definitely should we fashion to ourselves, guided by the Good Spirit of God, the work we have to do, the character we have to form, and the destiny we hope to enjoy. Every one has a capacity for being and doing good; but we require a faithful pattern of life, as well as heavenly grace, to enable us to shape ourselves after the Divine likeness. Such a pattern, you know, we have. We are not left to create our own model. Christ Jesus, Son of God and Son of Man, has left us an example. We are to be conformed to His Image. That is our main business here. And that Image is known to us by four photographs, taken with matchless skill, and preserved for men in all ages in the four Gospels. They give us the model. That great Biography sets before us the pattern-life; a living, loving, perfect life, first used for others, and then given up for their salvation. Make yourselves, my young friends, familiar with every feature of it. Do not pass by a single trait. Look again and again: you cannot study it too much; and seek to catch the inspiration for noble and unselfish work it contains. Master the

whole of the Image. Compare John's photograph with Matthew's, and Mark's with Luke's, so that you may know the Divine Original most completely. Be as much at home with His Acts as with the alphabet. Breathe His Spirit. Love Him fervently, and adore Him with all your heart. When Guido was looking at some of the masterpieces of the great Michael Angelo, he felt the kindlings of ambition within him, and exclaimed, "and I, too, will be a painter." So you, gazing upon the face of the Saviour, steeped in sympathy with His work, say, "and I, too, by God's grace, will do my Father's will. I will go about doing good; I will be meek, and patient, and true, and self-denying; I will live for others, and not for self." Leave no portion of the model unstudied,

not a solitary line of it unattempted. Count no point of resemblance to Christ, however slight, a trifle. M. Angelo was once explaining to a visitor in his studio, what he had done at a statue since his previous visit. "I have re-touched this part-polished that-softened this feature -brought out that muscle-given some expression to this lip, and more energy to that limb." "But," said the hasty and heedless critic, "these are trifles." "It may be so," answered the sculptor, "but recollect that trifles make up perfection, and perfection is no trifle." Aim, therefore, at a thorough knowledge of your model, the Lord Jesus. Let His Image dwell in your imagination richly, and seek to reproduce in your life a perfect likeness to Him; aye, even in the details of your life, and what may seem to be its trifles; and then, though your work be faulty, it will not fail to find a place at the last great day amongst the products of the noblest and best moral sculptors that have ever lived.

It must not be forgotten, however, that you may get some valuable aid from good copies of the One Original. Every sculptor makes originals his study where he can, but failing them, he obtains the best imitations, photographs, or representations that exist. Bad copies should be strenuously avoided. I have read of a painter, Sir Peter Lely, that he never would look at a bad picture if he could help it; for he felt that the evil was contagious, and that his mind would be tainted and his pencil go astray. So we say, avoid bad copies of Christ. Never put them in your studio for imitation. Reserve every corner of it for the best productions the Christian church contains. Start with such a copy

as Paul, or John; and then add such as Luther, Melancthon, Baxter, Bunyan, Wm. Carey, Wm. Wilberforce, Granville Sharp, Dan Taylor, Dr. Thomas Arnold, Hugh Miller, and others, from amongst the most recent Christian Biography. See how they lived the Christian life. Behold Christianity in action, and learn the labour which awaits your hands. Sir Wm. Jones read the works of Cicero through every year, that he might fashion his style after that model. Demosthenes, the great orator of Greece, re-copied the history written by Thucydides no less than eight times, so that he might secure a perfect mastery of his terse and concise mode of expression. Familiarity with the lives of good men will quicken zeal, rouse a holy ambition, and prove a powerful incentive to energetic living. Still, do not read every biography that comes in your way. Get some of the best, and read them well. A small garden worked thoroughly, is better than a large farm full of weeds. Lord Eldon took for his motto "Not many things, but much;" and it makes a world of difference which way a youth's life is pointed, whether to the many, or the much. A few of the best copies, known as familiarly as household friends, and their deeds often thought over, will help you immensely in the effort to form a beautiful and Christlike character, This, then, is your plan in the studio of life. Lovingly study Christ Jesus, the one original model, first and foremost; next master the best copies of Him given in the lives of the Saints of God; and then, work with a will, resolved that, by God's grace, 'no day shall pass without a line" of closer resemblance to the Great Pattern. J. CLIFFORD.

CHRISTIAN BAPTISM: ITS SUBJECTS. By R. Ingham. London: E. Stock. Price 9s.

SOME time ago we called the attention of the readers of this Magazine to an instalment of the present work, published under the title of "The Theology of the Commission."* With a perseverance which may never meet with an adequate pecuniary reward, but which must win the heartiest commendation of all true Baptists, our brother has continued his literary labours, and has condensed the results of them into a volume of six hundred and fifty closely-packed pages! Placing this book by the side of his previous work, the "Handbook of Baptism," we are provided

*See G. B. M., 1868, p. 270.

with a treasury of facts and arguments pertaining to this disputed New Testament ordinance, such as never before existed. Every Baptist minister may not be able to procure this treasury; but where this inability is known, every Baptist church, or some friend in every church, should see that no young minister's library is long without it. For the information of those who have any curiosity to know what this new volume contains, we specify its leading topics. Those topics are arranged in thirty-three sections, starting with John's baptism-Christ's baptizing by His disciples-Christ's commission to baptize, and Apostolic baptisms. Then follow all the explicit references to baptism, and all the supposed scriptural confirmations of infant baptism. Here nothing is overlooked