and Shades of Mission Work. 




Lights and Shades 



FQission 



LEAVES FROM A WORKER S 
NOTE BOOK. 



BEING REMINISCENCES OF SEVEN YEARS 
SERVICE AT THE CAPITAL. 

r885,-l892, 



BY 

B. H. W. 

V 
4 






OTTAWA : 

FREE PRESS PRINTING AND PUBLISHING HOUSE, 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I THE MASTER S CALL 

CHAPTER 11 = .OPEN DOORS 

CHAPTER III A GREAT VENTURE 

CHAPTER IV A MUCH NEEDED INSTITUTION 

CHAPTER V LIGHT IN DARK PLACES 

CHAPTER VI... .RETROSPECTION AND ANTICIPATION 



PREFACE. 



To write the story of the past seven years of service for 
the Master as it ought to be written is a task beyond 
the ability of the author, All that is offered therefore is 
a series of rapid sketches portraying the main features of 
the work rather than giving a connected historic narra 
tive. That, written as it has been, amid the rush and 
whirl of a busy life, it is not free from blemishes which a 
careful revision would have removed, will be apparent to 
the reader. 

Such as it is, we send it forth with the earnest prayer 
that the Master may use it to inspire young Christians 
to offer themselves to God, to be used just when and 
where and as He wills in the world s great Mission field. 

B. H. W. 

YOUNG WOMEN S CHRISTIAN INSTITUTE, 
OTTAWA, OCT. 1892. 



LIGHTS AND SHADES 

OF 

MISSION WORK. 

THE MASTER S CALL. 

CHAPTER I. 

TT was a beautiful evening in August 1885, when a young 
girl, just budding into womanhood, stood thought 
fully at a shop window watching the sea of faces which, 
like a swelling tide, passed down Sparks street on a 
Saturday evening, and then receded only to return. What 
a sight ! What a study ! To her it was overwhelming. In 
the swelling, surging mass were hundreds of young 
women with pale, careworn, unsatisfied faces. What a 
blessed release it must have been from the crowded, 
ill-ventilated work rooms in which many had toiled 
through the long, hot, weary hours of the day. 

With all the diversities of character, endowments and 
capabilities, both physical and mental, with thoughts, 
imaginations and aspirations all on different planes, she 



10 LEAVES FROM A WORKER S NOTE BOOK. 

saw but two classes, those whose aims and desires never 
reached beyond their own selfish gratification, and those 
who, having tasted of the unsatisfying earthly streams 
were, perhaps unconsciously, thirsting for that water " of 
which if a man drink he shall never thirst." 

An intense desire came into her heart as she hurried 
home that night to gather them into some room or hall 
and tell them of One who was becoming day by day 
so increasingly precious to her and in Whom she had found 
the consummation of all her soul s deepest longings. 

Was it a strange coincidence that on opening the Word 
that evening she should have read the following ? "Arise 
stand upon thy feet : for I have appeared unto thee for this 
purpose to make thee a minister and a witness, both of 
these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in 
which I will appear unto thee. Delivering thee from the 
people and from the Gentiles unto whom now I send thee. 
To open their eyes, to turn them from darkness to light 
and from the power of satan unto God that they might 
receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance among them 
which are sanctified." (Acts 26.) 

Surely it was a call from the Master Himself. But how 
ready was unbelief to cry out, " Behold I am a child, I 
cannot speak," and to apologize for unfitness and to 



THE MASTER S CALL. 11 

bring all kinds of difficulties, excuses and objections to 
Him. Again He spoke through His own Word, " Say 
not I am a child, for thou shalt go to all that I shall send 
thee and whatsoever I command thou shalt speak. Be 
not afraid of their faces for I am with thee to deliver 
thee saith the Lord. " 

Was it a dream ? Was it a vision ? Could it be pos 
sible that He whom the Heaven of Heavens cannot con 
tain had condescended to speak face to face, " as friend 
speaketh with friend," with one so unworthy, and that He 
had really chosen such an instrument to be used in the 
highest, the noblest, the grandest work in which mortal 
man can engage the work of winning souls ! Such were 
the thoughts that forced themselves upon her as she 
timidly went forth to do the Master s bidding. 

The bright, comfortably furnished rooms of the W. C. 
T. U. were then secured for an hour on Sunday after 
noons and hundreds of invitations to a Gospel meeting 
to be held at 4:30 were carefully written in plain, bold, 
round hand, but how to distribute them became a perplex 
ing question. A prominent dry goods merchant suggested 
visiting the work rooms and kindly offered to give an intro 
duction to his employees. It was a grand opportunity, but 
imagine the embarrassment of a shy, shrinking, sensitive 



12 LEAVES FROM A WORKER S NOTE BOOK. 

girl, on being suddenly ushered into an immense room 
where nearly one hundred young women were at work and 
introduced as " a young lady who was about to formulate 
some plan for an association of young women, and who 
will now address you." What could she have said ? "Un 
accustomed as I am to public speaking ?" Surely it would 
have been the truth. For a moment she was "covered 
with shame and confusion of face." Unfortunately there 
was no reporter present to record that maiden effort, 
and the " address " must pass into oblivion. It 
evidently made a marked impression, however, upon the 
poor girls, for one was heard to remark afterwards, 
" She s a Salvationist," " She s a Protestant Nun," said 
another, " She thinks she can get us to join a religious 

club of old maids, I suppose," and a merry peal of laugh- 

* 
ter resounded through the room. 

A terrible temptation came as she left that place to give 
it up and to throw away the invitations that cost so much 
time and effort. However, when the next block was 
reached and the flourishing establishment of R. & Co. 
loomed up before her, the words, "Thou shalt go to a II 
that I shall send thee whatsoever I command thee thou 
shalt speak be not afraid of their faces for I cm with 
thee," came like a message from heaven, and when in 



THE MASTER S CALL. 13 

fear and trembling the request was made and granted to 
visit the head dressmaker, an opportunity was given of 
speaking to the girls personally and soon they made her 
feel quite at home. One sitting by a machine said, 
u Girls, I think it would be just lovely, let s go." 

Inspired with a new hope from this visit, all the leading 
houses and printing offices were then visited and invita 
tions distributed. 

At length the long-looked for Sunday arrived and im 
mediately after Sunday School the rooms were opened 
and seats carefully arranged, while she wondered if her 
audience would consist of eighty or one hundred. Surely, 
she thought, there would not be less than forty, for hun 
dreds of invitations had been given out. After looking 
nervously over some carefully prepared notes on the text, 
"The Lord is my Portion," she waited for the first sound of 
footsteps in the long corridor, but the only sound that 
broke the awful stillness was the ticking of a large clock 
which soon caused considerable uneasiness by striking 
five, half an hour after the appointed time of meeting and 
no one had appeared. What could it mean? Surely 
there could be no mistake about the call. It seemed so 
clear and definite. Almost overcome with the nervous 
strain of the previous few days, she threw herself at His feet 
and poured forth her grief and disappointment. 



14 LEAVES FROM A WORKER S NOTE BOOK. 

The following Sunday found the rooms again opened. 
No special effort had been made during the week, but 
simply to lay the matter before Him and with no will but 
His she again waited to be used or laid aside. Again the 
meeting consisted of two, the Master and His willing ser 
vant, and a blessed meeting it was. She seemed to get 
a vision of Abraham who was called to do what his 
whole soul rebelled against and how, obedient to God s 
Word, the wood was laid on the altar, and upon it his 
only well beloved son, that he might be tested as to his 
willingness to do whatsoever He might say to him and 
it occurred to her that the Lord might be trying her heart 
to see whether she was willing and obedient. " He knows 
my unfitness, " she thought, " He could not entrust so im 
portant a work to such an instrument, " and so disappoint 
ment gave way to implicit confidence and with a lighter 
heart the rooms were again closed. 

Another week had passed, it was a dark, wet, chilly 
Sunday in September. " Surely, " she thought, " no one 
would venture out on such a day, " but something seemed 
to lead her to the rooms once more. Imagine her joy on 
finding wet foot prints on the stairs, and then seven 
young women waiting in the upper hall. 



THE MASTER S CALL. 15 

The little class of working girls thus formed became 
eventually the nucleus of a great work. 

The attendance steadily increased until scores of girls 
went each Sunday to hear the "Girl Evangelist." They 
came from all kinds of motives, some to scoff and to laugh 
at the mistakes which the Lord permitted her to make in 
order to keep her humble; others because they enjoyed the 
bright, cheerful songs of redeeming love; some, friendless 
and discouraged, came to find a way out of all their dark 
ness into the sunshine of life again. The hearts of these 
dear girls were soon reached by sympathy and love, and life 
upon life without a purpose, received almost unconsciously 
a new impetus which led to resolutions to turn over new 
leaves, until many had undertaken the hopeless task of 
their own reformation. 

Strange that one so blind had been chosen of God "To 
open the eyes of the blind, to turn them from darkness to 
light," yet so it was, until in His infinite mercy He taught 
through a little incident the much needed lesson of 
justification by faith. 

At the close of one of the meetings a young woman was 
found under deep conviction of sin. There had been an 
unusual manifestation of the presence and power of the 
Holy Spirit as our young worker spoke of the heart 



1 6 LEAVES FROM A WORKER S NOTE BOOK. 

searching question which God put to the first sinner 
"Where art thou ? " And He had evidently whispered 
to this poor soul, the sad word "Lost." For weeks she 
had striven to do the best she could and at last the truth 
of her lost and helpless condition was being fully realized. 
Never shall we forget the heart-rending 1 words so broken 
with sobs" Oh, ichat shall I do ? What shall I do ? 
What more can I do ? " 

" Suppose, dear girl, you give up trying and begin trust 
ing. It says somewhere Believe on the Lord Jesus 
Christ and thou shall be saved. " 

" But I do believe, I always did believe." 

" Perhaps you do not believe in the right way; what you 
want is saving faith." 

" Well, how can I get saving faith ? " 

"Ask God to give it to you." 

" How shall I know that the faith He gives is saving 
faith ? " 

" I think you will feel very much happier." 

A new hope came into the poor broken spirit as they 
knelt together to pray for " the right kind of faith," and as 
they separated she went on her way wondering if she "felt 
any happier," while our young worker rejoiced in the vain 
thought that she had helped to lead a sinner to Jesus. 



THE MASTER S CALL. 17 

Oh, the unutterable joy of that hour, as she looked up 
into the starry heavens and thought of the angels about 
the throne, she would not have changed places with one of 
them. They could not win souls, they could not " preach 
the gospel to the poor, nor heal the broken-hearted." 

Once she used to sing : 

" I want to be an angel 
And with the angels stand." 

Now she could thank God that she was still in the flesh, 
and had the unspeakable privilege of labouring together 
with Him for the salvation of the lost. 

Not many days had passed, however, when her convert 
returned looking the picture of misery. She had not yet 
received the the right kind of faith, poor girl, nor did 
she feel any happier. 

What was to be done ? The cry went up from the depths 
of her heart " Lord, save her; if I could carry her into 
the kingdom I would, but I can do nothing oh do a 
thorough work in her soul for Jesus sake." Suddenly the 
Spirit seemed to bring to remembrance the text : "All we 
like sheep have gone astray, we have turned every one 
to his own way, but the Lord hath laid on Him the 
iniquity of us all." 



1 8 LEAVES FROM A WORKER S NOTE BOOK. 

"You realize that you have gone astray, but did you ever 
think that the Lord hath laid upon Him all your sin and 
that He had taken the blame of your wanderings ? Your 
salvation is all His work. " He bare our sins in His 
own body on the tree, that we being dead to sin should 
live unto righteousness : by whose stripes ye were healed, 
for ye were as sheep going astray, but are now returned 
unto the Shepherd of your souls/ 

" But I have not returned, because I cannot believe in 
the right way. 

" Oh, Mary, Mary, never mind about believing in the 
right way ; after all, it is not so much how we 
believe as what we believe. Suppose two men fall from a 
steamer, both are struggling in the water, when a life 
preserver and a walking stick are thrown them. The 
man who grasps the stick begins to sink. Why ? Is it 
that he does not take hold of it in the right way ? No, he 
does not take hold of the right thing. You are struggling 
in the waves of sin. Your only hope is trust in the 
finished work of Christ, and it seems a matter of little 
consequence how you trust, believe or grasp it." 

" Then why is it, that when I do believe, I do not feel 
any happier ? " 

" I am beginning to doubt that feeling has anything to 



THE MASTER S CALL. 19 

do with salvation. Our blessed Lord said : He that 
heareth my word and belie veth on Him that sent Me 
hath everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation, 
but is passed from death into life, whether he feekth 
it or not." 

Soon the dark clouds of difficulty and doubt disappeared, 
and a ray of heaven s own sunshine came into that 
troubled face. 

" Why, then," she said, triumphantly, " I have passed 
from death into life." 

"Yes, dear girl, you have. Let us praise Him for it." 

Mary s subsequent life proved that the Lord had done 
a thorough work, notwithstanding all the hindrances that 
had been thrown in her way, through the ignorance of 
one who sought her highest interests. 

This little incident marked an important epoch in the 
history of the class, for hardly a Sunday passed that 
several did not linger to inquire the way and that dear 
old room with its green window shades and its newly 
carpeted floor, became the birthplace of many souls. 



OPEN DOORS. 



CHAPTER II. 

FEW months later found a little band of whole 
hearted, self denying girls, willing to live and work 
and die if need be for the salvation of others. But what 
could they do ? Deprived, as many of them had been, of 
educational advantages, they could not teach ; they could 
not visit the sick and poor, for from Monday morning 
until Saturday night their time was another s ; they could 
not even give of their slender earnings which in many 
cases went towards the support of aged mothers and 
younger brothers and sisters. Notwithstanding, there was 
an ever increasing desire to show forth their love and 
gratitude to Him who had done so much for them, in some 
definite Christian service. Their hearts could echo the 
language of the little hymn, 

" I will not work my soul to save 
That work the Lord hath done, 

But I will work like any slave 
For love of God s dear son." 

Soon a way opened in which their services could be 



OPEN DOORS. 



utilized and their latent powers developed. Several good 
voices were found and it was decided to form them into a 
choir and to interview the authorities of the jail and hos 
pital with a view to getting permission to hold services of 
song on Sunday mornings. 

How often has a gospel hymn the advantage over a 
sermon ! The truth of it touches the heart of the hearer 
unawares when he is not on the defensive against the 
gospel. Eternity alone will reveal the number of souls 
who have been led into the Kingdom through the singing 
of a hymn, the chorus of which, perhaps, has echoed and 
re-echoed in the heart long after the last strains had died 
away. 

Permission having been granted, after careful prepara 
tion and earnest prayer, six young workers went forth in 
fear and trembling into the woman s corridor of the county 
jail. 

What a strange scene awaited them that morning ! The 
classification of prisoners in 1886 was not what it is now. 
Ten young women who had been arrested late Saturday 
night and were awaiting their trial, were there in "party" 
dress. White kid slippers and gloves, a profusion of 
cheap artificial flowers, paint, powder, diamond dust, c.,, 
were noticeable. Some had evidentlv been the worse of 



22 LEAVES FROM A WORKERS NOTE BOOK. 

liquor, some had been smoking cigarettes. Crouching 
in the farthest corner of a cell was a shapeless bundle 
of humanity, evidently an imbecile who had been 
picked up in the woods near the city and retained there 
for four years. Locked in another cell was an insane 
woman who made the place ring with her wild shrieks. 
Several others in plain, loose fitting " duck " wrappers on 
which were printed the large white letters C.C.P. (County 
Carleton Prison) were counting the days when they would 
no longer languish in durance vile." One was a little 
girl, an orphan, who was serving a term for larceny. What 
a school for a pure minded child ! 

Theyfelt rather disconcertedat first; however, the matron 
paved the way for them by saying, "Girls, these youngladies 
have come to sing to you this morning ; come now, bring 
up the benches, get seated. It is very kind of them to 
think of you and to try to makeSunday brighter for you." 
Hymn books were then distributed and several joined in 
the old familiar hymn, " Tell me the old, old story." The 
choir then sang 

" I will sing the wondrous story 
Of the Christ who died for me, 

How He left His throne in glory 
For the cross of Calvary." 



OPEN DOORS. 23 



One, inexperienced in such work, then followed with a 
few remarks based upon the hymn which had just been 
sung, but they laughed her to scorn. Tears came thick 
and fast as she made repeated attempts to regain their 
interest and attention, but it seemed of no use. At length, 
turning to the motherless child who had been the cause of 
much of the trouble, she said : 

" Annie, suppose I were to read in the Evening Journal 
or Free Press that you had been tried and found guilty of 
murder and were condemned to suffer the utmost penalty 
of the law, and that on the evening before your execution 
I were to come down here and say, You are not pre 
pared to die and I cannot bear the thought of you going 
down to eternal perdition a lost soul. Here, slip off your 
convict s dress, let me put my ulster and cap on you 
and I will arrange my storm collar up about your face, 
now you may walk out with all confidence, they will never 
dream that it is you. I will take your old brown wrapper, 
sleep in your cell and in the dawn of the morning they 
will lead me to the gallows and I will be hung in your 
stead and for your sin. " 

Every ear was strained to catch the words as they fell 
from her lips, even the insane woman seemed calm for a 
time. 



24 LEAVES FROM A WORKER S NOTE BOOK. 

Suddenly, breaking the stillness, the little incorrigible 
said thoughtfully : 

" You nor nobody else would ever do that for the likes 
o me, cause nobody care s nough." 

"Yes, dear child, somebody dees care. Jems cares 
and He suffered the just for the unjust that He might 
bring you lo God. 3 His own self bare your sins 
in His own body on the tree. " 

After further conversation and several hymns, the meet 
ing closed with a few words of prayer, and to their surprise 
they were invited to come again the following Sunday. 

A short, brisk walk soon brought them to the Protestant 
Hospital, where they were kindly received by the matron, 
Mrs. Gooderson, who ushered them into the men s ward. 
What achange of scene from the one they had just witnessed 1 
Instead of the dark, gloomy, dismal corridors with their iron 
bars and gates, were long, well lighted, well ventilated 
wards, with plants and flowers and birds. There was an 
air of sweetness and cleanliness about the place. The 
nurses with their white caps and aprons gliding in and 
out amongst the beds must have seemed like ministering 
angels to the poor fellows who had suffering and sorrow 
depicted on every line of their wan faces. They sang 
together, very softly : 



OPEN DOORS. 



" The great Physician now is near 

The sympathizing Jesus." 

And as the last strain died away one of their number 
said timidly, " Yes, dear friends, He is near and He says 
to you as Pie said to Hagar in the wilderness What 
aileththee? While we behold various bodily diseases 
in those about us, God s all searching eye can see what we 
cannot see, the diseases of the soul. What aileth thee ? 
Do you say I will not believe what I cannot under 
stand. That is a case of blindness. The little hymn 
says : 

The blind rejoiced to hear the cry, 
Jesus of Nazareth passeth by. 

There never was a blind man who came to Jesus that He 
couldn t heal even those who were bora blind received 
their sight. 

Do you say < I don t feel that I m such a bad sort of a 
fellow, I m as good as the most and better than a great 
many. Then you must be a spiritual paralytic if you 
cannot feel that you are a sinner. The same Lord Jesus 
who healed a paralysed body once, can heal a paralysed 
soul, if you will only let Him. 

No doubt some would say, I want to have a jolly good 
time, I want to get rich, < I want to get a good edu- 



->6 LEAVES FROM A WORKER S NOTE BOOK. 



cation. There is a burning thirst, a restlessness which 
are symptoms of fever. Some seem to have the yellow 
fever, a craving for gold ; others have brain fever and 
want to be scientific in their type of mind. He who drew 
near to the bedside of Peter s wife s mother is drawing 
near to you this morning and His touch has still its heal 
ing power. If he sees a desire for soul health He will 

undertake your case and and and 

There was a pause, an awful stillness. All thought of 
what she was going to say had suddenly vanished. The 
embarrassment of the situation became so apparent that 
she closed the book and said nervously, " Let us pray." 
There was another painful silence of a minute or so and 
then she attempted to lead in the Lord s prayer, but even 
that for the time was forgotten. 

The work thus commenced " in weakness and in fear 
and in much trembling " has been full of incident and 
fruitful in results. 

On one occasion at the close of one of the meetings 
a worker approached an old sailor from the Isle of 
Man, who " didn t want anyone to talk religion at him," 
and so he covered his face in the blankets. It was rather 
discouraging, but she had a message of life for him that 
morning, and asked why he had started out on 



OPEN DOORS. 27 



the sea of life without the Captain, without the compass, 
and without having made any provision for the journey. 
"You have never gone over the way before, you don t 
know where the dangerous places are." 

" And who does, I d like to know," he said bluntly, as 
he drew the blankets down. 

"The Lord Jesus Christ," she replied; "He is the 
Captain of our salvation, He has been over every knot of 
the way and He knows where the breakers are, and as 
surely as you undertake to pilot yourself through life with 
out Him, you will make sad shipwreck of your soul." 
Nothing more was said, but the following Sunday as she 
entered the ward, her sailor friend was eagerly awaiting 
her return, and never shall we forget the joy that lit up 
that weather-beaten face as he said : 

"I ve got good news for you, He s goin to do the 
steerin after this." 

Several weeks later we heard that, while waiting for a 
train at the C.A.R. depot, he gathered a little crowd about 
him and told them the story of his conversion, pulling from 
his pocket a little Bible, a parting gift from her who had led 
him to Christ, he said : 

" Yes, boys, He s goin to do the steerin after this, and 
here s the compass." 



28 LEAVES FROM A WORKER S NOTE BOOK. 

This simple, earnest testimony to those poor fellows 
resulted in one being led to take Christ as his guide 
through life. 

Another incident occurred recently while the regular 
weekly meeting was being held in the woman s ward, 
one of the patients interrupted the speaker by crying out : 
" Oh my God, my God, I m lost and I m dying, what 
must I do to be saved ?" 

Quick as thought she called upon the workers to unite 
in prayer for that soul, while she went to her bedside 
and with open Bible pointed out the way of salvation. 
All her difficulties were met with the Word itself, and 
soon the light of the glorious gospel shone into that dark 
soul and she was led to rejoice in the assurance of full 
salvation. Before the dawn of another Sabbath she had 
been called to walk through " the valley of the shadow of 
death," but to her it had no terrors, nor was it a dark 
valley, for shadows cannot be seen in the dark ; the Light 
of the world was there even Jesus. 

Another door soon opened in the Orphans Home, 
in a wing of which were twenty aged widows to whom 
" the Sabbath was (not) a delight," but rather a long, 
tedious, lonely day. Loss of sight and hearing had 
deprived many of the appreciation of the Church services 



OPEN DOORS. 2Q 



and of reading. At the Invitation of the Matron a small 
staff of workers visited the old ladies in their rooms, and 
after gaining their confidence invited them to the School 
Room where a short and novel meeting is conducted every 
Sunday afternoon. Old fashioned hymns and psalms are 
sung, some of which they repeat from memory without 
reference to time or tune, after which prayer is offered 
and it is not an unusual thing for one or two to remain on 
their knees, through the singing of the following hymn or 
until aroused by one of their more fortunate sisters whose 
sense of hearing is more acute, and who sometimes informs 
them that the prayer was over long ago. 

The reading and exposition of a portion of Scripture is 
the prominent feature of the meetings, and a beautiful 
sight it is, to see one to whom the Lord has committed 
this work, and whose life has been made beautiful through 
the refining influences of sorrow, sitting in the midst with 
open Bible, while in a sweet, clear voice., she reads of One 
who has gone to prepare a place for them. 

Old Bi Bi " who long since has passed her three score 
and tenth year claps her hands with delight while the 
tears trickle slowly down her furrowed cheeks. Grandma 
Reynolds stands with her ear close to the mouth of the 
speaker, and every now and then pats her gently on the 



30 LEAVES FROM A WORKER S NOTE BOOK. 

shoulder and says: "It s a bonnie, bonnie vvurd, you ll 
be shure and come bawck next Sawbbath." 

It is sweet to hear the dear old saint sing with quiver 
ing voice in her broad Scotch tongue : 

We see oor fr ens await us ower yonner at His gate ; 
Then lat us a be ready, for ye ken it s cjettin kite : 
Lat our lamps be brichtly burnin ; lats raise oor voice 

and sing, 
For sum we ll meet to pairt nae mair, i the palace o 

the King. 

This beautiful Home which is a noble testimony to the 
generosity of the citizens of Ottawa must be to these friend 
less ones, some of whom had been left alone in their utter 
helplessness to die, a fitting type of the "Home over there" 
where all is love and sunshine and joy and where " they 
shall hunger no more neither thirst any more neither 
shall the sun light on them nor any heat." 

Another fruitful field of service opened in Evangelistic 
Work amongst children. It was felt that " a moment s work 
on clay tells more than an hour s work on brick, and work in 
human hearts should be done before they harden." None 
are so easily influenced and few so easily won as the little 
ones. Their simple unquestioning faith enables them to 
grasp the plan of redemption when many an older 



OPEN DOORS. 31 



one has stumbled over it because of its very simplicity. 
Strange that so few direct, personal and persistent efforts 
have been put forth for their immediate conversion in the 
Church, in the Sunday School and in the home. We 
cannot be too thankful for the Sunday Schools, which 
have accomplished a great work among the children, but 
how many Sunday School teachers have hindered the 
little ones from coming to Jesus ! They teach Bible 
history and geography, they tell them that if they will try 
to be good and do the best they can that they will go to 
heaven when they die, and they wait until they reach what 
they consider an age of responsibility before they tell them 
that they are poor, lost, guilty, helpless sinners needing 
salvation. Is it not true of a child as of a man that except 
he be born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God ? 

Dr. Dwight, of Yale College, speaking of the desirability 
of labouring for the early conversion of children, says : 

" The conscience is at this period exceedingly tender 
and susceptible, readily alarmed by the apprehension of 
guilt. All the affections also are easily moved and are fit 
to retain permanently and often indelibly whatever im 
pressions are made. To every good thing the heart is 
drawn, comparatively without trouble or resistance and 
united by bonds which no future art or force can dissolve." 



32 LEAVES FROM A WORKER S NOTE BOOK. 

It was laid upon their hearts to gather in the little ones 
and to speak to them of their need of One to save them 
from the guilt, the penalty, and the power of sin. The 
various Schools were visited, and an opportunity given of 
addressing the children in the different class rooms, and 
inviting them to a meeting in the Coffee House Hall. 
The novelty of a children s evangelistic meeting drew 
upwards of 600 to the hall long before the hour intimated, 
and as the number of workers was quite insufficient to cope 
with such a crowd, confusion reigned supreme. Repeated 
attempts were made to gain their interest and attention, 
but it was of no avail. Suddenly the secretary of the Y. 
M.C.A. appeared on the scene, and after making his way 
through the crowd with much difficulty reached the plat 
form and began clapping his hands together in a violent 
manner. It had the desired effect, for in less than two 
minutes their undivided attention was given. 

" Now," said he, "proceed:" 

Holding up a little book our young worker, who was be 
ginning to realize that she had, perhaps, more zeal than 
judgment, said : "Children I have a strange picture book 
to show you this afternoon, and though there are no words 
nor letters printed or written in it there is a wonderful story 
there, I wonder were I to show you the different pages 



OPEN DOORS 33 



if you could read it. Look, the first is black, the next red, 
then white and gold." 

The first is a picture of the heart of every 
boy and girl in this Hall, before they ask the Lord Jesus to 
wash away there sins.. There is nothing in all this earth so 
black as sin. Once there was a contagious disease that 
broke out in the old country that they called the black 
plague ; nearly everybody caught it and there were so 
many sick people that the Doctors couldn t go and see 
them all, and hundreds and thousands died and they 
couldn t get hearses and coffins enough to bury them ; so 
they dug a big pit, and they sent black carts through 
streets to collect the bodies which were thrown into the 
pit. There was black on almost every door, and the 
people were all in black ; it was one of the saddest pictures 
in the pages of English history. But there is a blacker 
plague than that in the world now. It broke out in the 
garden of Eden, and it spread over the whole earth, there 
is not a man, a woman or a child who has it not ; I mean 
sin. God says : 

" There is no difference, for all have sinned and come 
short of the glory of God," and "sin when it is finished 
bringeth forth death." Ah ! boys and girls it is a black 
picture is it not ? Let us leave it and look at the next : 



34 LEAVES FROM A WORKER S NOTE BOOK. 

RED. Do you know what that means ? That " the 
blood of Jesus Christ, God s son, cleanseth us from all sin." 
A little boy was dying one day and the Minister called 
and said : " Freddy you ve been a naughty boy ; are 
you not afraid to die?" "No sir," he said, confidently. 
"Why," said the Minister "will you not be afraid when 
the Judge of all the earth shall call you before him 
and show you the big book in which all your naughty 
words and deeds are written down ?" 

" No sir," he replied, " I know I ve been naughty and I 
know it s written down, but when the book is taken out 
Jesus will draw his pierced hand over it and blot it all out 
with his own blood so that the Judge can t see." 

" How do you know He will, my boy ? " 

Because the Golden Text last Sunday said : " I even 1 
am He that blotteth out thy transgressions and will not 
remember thy sins." 

Dear boys and girls, Jesus wants you to trust Him just 
as Freddy did. He wants you to come to Him for forgive 
ness of all your sins ; He says, " Suffer the little children 
to come unto me," 

A little girl said once : " How can I come to Jesus? He s 
a great way up, and I m a great way down, and I don t know 
how to come ;" she went to her Papa for help but He could 



OPEN DOORS. 35 



not tell her, nor could her mother, for they had not come 
themselves. At length, going to her own. little room, and 
kneeling down, she said : "Dear Jesus, I don t know how 
to come but 1 just DO come." When we come to Him in 
this way He will give us hearts pure and white and clean 
like this," (holding up the white page.) 

Let us take David s prayer and make it our own. 
" Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow." Then shall 
we be ready to enter with Him into that city which is of 
pure gold, and which has no need of the sun neither of 
the moon to shine in it, for the Glory of God does lighten 
it and there shall in no wise enter in to it anything that 
defileth, " but they which are written in the Lamb s book 
of life." 

In this simple way, and by means of object lessons, an 
effort was made to bring the truths of the Gospel within the 
comprehension of the little ones and at the same time to 
retain their interest. The attendance kept up wonderfully 
during the first year, and until the place of meeting was 
changed, when there was suddenly a great falling off, and 
the work has not since been resumed on the same scale. 

The experience of that year, however, proved that there 
are few fields of Christian service in which as rich a 
harvest of souls may be gleaned for the Master as in 



36 LEAVES FROM A WORKER S NOTE BOOK. 



work among children. Testimonies like the following 
were received through the mail : 

MY DEER TEECHER, 

i love Jesus Bcause he elide to saave me and i want to 
B his littel girl but i m sow notty that I dont no how. 

Your loving frend, 

M. A. 
DEAR Miss , 

You will be glad to hear that I have turned a Cristian 
and God has forgave all my sins and converted me. Pray 
for me that I may be able to tell the boys at school. 

R. T. 

n 

Though the spelling and the grammar were far from 
perfect the sentiments were beautiful. 



A GREAT VENTURE. 

CHAPTER III. 

twelve months experience in work amongst 
the female prisoners of the County Jail, it was felt 
that little permanent good could be effected owing to the 
fact that when their term of imprisonment expired, did 
they desire to do better, the bar-room and house of vice 
stood wide open, while every respectable home and means 
of earning an honest livelihood were closed and barred 
against them. 

Many in response to the oft repeated question, " Why 
do you not forsake such a life ? " have said : " Where can 
we go ? " " Who will take us into their homes without a 
recommendation ? " " Where will we get our next meal ?" 
Outcasts they were without a true friend or home, treated 
much as the lepers were in olden times, is ic any wonder 
that many were found who would gladly avail themselves 
of any help that could be given them in reclaiming their 
characters ? 

The need was felt of a Home where a helping hand and 
shelter could be offered to any sinful, friendless woman 



38 LEAVES FROM A WORKER S NOTE BOOK. 

without regard to creed, nationality, age or condition, at 
any time, night or day ; the only requisite being a desire 
to lead a better life. 

A gentleman hearing of the need immediately offered 
the liberal sum of $400. towards the opening of such an 
institution, provided the young women who had been 
laboring to uplift their fallen sisters in the Jail would un 
dertake the management. 

After much prayer and waiting upon God to know His 
will, it was decided to accept the offer on condition that 
they should have the co-operation of an advisory com 
mittee of earnest Christian women. 

No. 412 Wellington street was then rented, possession 
being granted in November, 1887, but owing to the 
fever epidemic, it was not opened till January. 

Of these two long months of waiting, there is an un 
written history of evil prophecy, discouragement, and 
opposition. They were told that the respectable citizens 
of Ottawa would not support such a hot-bed of vice ; that 
they could not possibly manage such " vicious creatures 
as they desired to reach ; that it had been tried and 
proved that faith would not work in a city like Ottawa, 
and that they had better not adopt the " faith principle " 



A GREAT VENTURE. 39 

for its support ; they were told also that it was a most un* 
popular work, and most unbecoming for young women to 
undertake. Hardly a day passed that letters of warning 
were not received asking them to take the fever as an 
evidence that it was not God s will that such a work should 
be undertaken. 

On the morning before Christmas, however, upwards of 
fifteen members of the Bible class gathered in the newly- 
rented house, armed with pails, brushes, brooms, and 
other indispensable articles, known to the house-keeper, 
and together they whitewashed, scrubbed and cleaned the 
old building from attic to cellar. Yes, and furnished it 
with accommodation for fifteen inmates and a matron at 
a cost $247. Bureaus and wash-stands combined were 
made of inverted flour barrels with tops of white marble 
oil cloth and draped with cretonne, over which hung a 
small mirror. Evangelist Crossley, on the day of the 
opening, advised the inventor to get out a patent on it. 
Some are in existence to-day. 

At nine o clock Christmas eve, house cleaning being 
finished, a weary looking lot of girls met in the dining 
room, some with faces bespattered with white-wash, others 
showing traces of black lead, and just as they were they 



40 LEAVES FROM A WORKER S NOTE BOOK. 

knelt and asked the Divine Friend of the friendless to 
come in and hallow each room with His manifested 
presence and love, and to make it a birth place of 
precious immortal souls. 

Everything looked so clean and bright and cosy as they 
separated for their various homes. But while they slept 
" the sleep of the righteous " that night, a water pipe in 
the upper story burst, and all night long a torrent of 
water poured through ceilings, walls and floors. Imagine 
the picture of desolation which awaited them Christmas 
morning ! To reach the supply tap in the cellar they 
had to wade through six inches of ice cold water and 
make their way through a beautiful cascade which dashed 
down the cellar steps, carrying with it bakepans, brushes, 
and other useful and ornamental articles. It was a scene 
never to be forgotten. The stoves which had been left so 
beautifully shining and bright were covered with white 
wash, and ornamented with a fringe of icicles ; the car 
pet in the reception room was completely submerged, and 
it too had its share of whitewash. 

Surely, never did a work receive such a baptism of dis 
couragement and opposition. It seemed as though all 
the forces of evil combined had arrayed themselves 



A GREAT VENTURE. 41 



against them in order to hinder the commencement of a 
work which had for its chief aim the glory of God in the 
salvation of the most degraded. 

On the 9th of January, however, the matron having ar 
rived, the Home for Friendless Women was formerly 
opened with a dedicatory service in the dining hall. No 
sooner was the meeting over than the first inmate ar 
rived poor Zeph. St. Amand, a name well known in 
Police Court circles. 

Over six hundred have since found a shelter beneath 
its roof. The following is taken from one of the annual 
reports : 

" As the faces of these ruined girls and women come 
" up before us our hearts yearn with unutterable pity for 
" them. Many were so young and being possessed of an 
" enviable share of beauty had been flattered and sought 
" for ; but alas ! upon how many a fair brow has been 
" written that pitiable word unfortunate. We can hardly 
" speak of this class without emotion. Often have we 
" wept and prayed with poor broken-hearted motherless 
" girls who have been more sinned against than sinful 
" Some on the very verge of despair have been almost 
" ready to take their own lives. 



42 LEAVES FROM A WORKER S NOTE BOOK. 

" It is from the ranks of these unfortunates that our 
" abandoned women come. Often when the first fatal step 
" has been taken and all hope of reclaiming their char- 
" acter gone, they sink lower and lower until they lead a 
" life of sin in order to support themselves. 

" Miss Barber, of Montreal, in speaking of this class 
says : Abandoned girls abandoned truly,butby whom ? 
" Abandoned, alas ! by Christian women, mothers and 
sisters who will one day stand looking into the tender 
" eyes of Mary Magdalene s Saviour and tell Him why 
" they left to perish those whom He came to seek and to 
" save. That they are not abandoned by God any one 
"may prove who has faith and love enough to rescue 
"them in His name," 

"We have seen more evidence of blessing resulting 
" from work amongst these classes than any other. The 
" poor girls know they are lost and need no argument to 
prove that they are sinners and that their only hope is 
" in Christ. 

" It is a significant fact that during an experience of 
" three years in this work we have not found one aban- 
" doned woman who was not a victim of intemperance." 

A large number of inmates were respectable women 



A GREAT VENTURE. 43 

and children who have been deserted by faithless 
husbands, a class which is increasing so alarmingly that 
steps should be taken at once to do something to remedy 
the evil. 

Many interesting cases might be mentioned of those, 
who having sought shelter in their time of need, and hav 
ing received impressions for good there, have turned 
from their evil ways. But space will not admit of a full 
statement of them. Three keepers of dens of iniquity 
who sought shelter in the Home to evade the police, have 
given up the old life and are struggling to earn an honest 
livelihood. 

A poor orphan girl with no friends or home, said with 
her latest breath : Were it not for this Home I would 
have been eternally lost. Kiss me again ; no one has 
kissed me since my mother died." 

Another, an English emigrant who had graduated in 
the school of crime at the early age of twelve, testified in 
a prayer meeting in one of the churches recently, that she 
had been picked up out of the gutter in a helpless state of 
intoxication, and brought to the police court on more than 
one occasion, but that she had been converted in the 



44 LEAVES FROM A WORKER S NOTE BOOK, 

Home and kept from yielding to the old temptations for 
upwards of two years. 

In the Protestant Hospital is a poor girl whose life is 
fast ebbing away because of past dissipation. When the 
first symptoms of disease appeared she fled for refuge to 
the Home, and at the close of one of the gospel meetings 
was asked a pointed question about her soul s welfare. 
As she evidently did not wish anyone to mention the sub 
ject to her, she fled to her own room and securely fastened 
the door, but she could not shut out the question it 
seemed to echo and re-echo in her ears" How shall you 
escape if you neglect so great a salvation ? " 

The Spirit of God soon worked deep and real conviction 
and she was led to cry for pardon and mercy ; for hours 
she seemed unable to get a sense of His forgiveness, un 
til, on opening an old Bible, she read, " Neither do I con 
demn thee, go and sin no more." 

Such testimonies, and these are not exceptional cases, 
serve to show something of the good that is being accom 
plished in the hearts and lives of the inmates, and not 
until the secrets of all hearts are revealed will it be fully 
known how many have been led to realize God s forgiving 
love. 



A GREAT VENTURE. 45 

Many were brought to the Home through three im 
portant ingathering agencies, viz : Visitation at the 
Police Court ; the Prison Gate ; and dens of vice. 

The Police Court of the present enlightened age, with 
its public sessions, is one of the grandest schools for the 
education of young criminals ever instituted. Here 
many are found who, having passed the entrance ex 
amination, are branded as belonging to the criminal 
class, and encourged in every possible way to begin a 
career of infamy and shame. 

The following notes from the diary of one of the 
workers will speak for itself : 

Friday, Court crowded. Cabmen, shantymen, Lower 
Town saloon keepers, toughs of all descriptions, polluted 
the air with fumes of strong tobacco and whiskey, long 
before the Chief called * Order " and the Magistrate 
took the chair. 

The first case called was that of a saloon-keeper. The 
charge selling liquor without a license. Fine $50 and 
costs. 

Next, a young girl steps into the dock. She is tall, 
slight, fair and well-dressed. As the charge of larceny is 
laid against her, she is covered with shame and confusion. 



46 LEAVES FROM A WORKER S NOTE BOOK. 

The trial proceeds, rude, coarse jests are heard from the 
motley crowd in the rear. At length her whole story is 
before the court. She was a housemaid in a respectable 
family ; had parents living in the country ; was tempted 
to take what was not her own, and in an evil hour, 
yielded. " That is enough," said the Magistrate. " As it 
is your first offence, you may go, but if ever you are 
brought before me on a similar charge, your sentence 
will be a severe one." 

Her face crimsoned as she turned and met the rude 
gaze of the crowd, and as she hurried down the aisle to 
the door, a rough fellow was heard to say to his compan 
ion : 

" Come on Bill, she s a bouncin fine-lookm girl for 
sweet sixteen. Let s follow her and strike a mash." 
Before they could reach her, I had drawn her arm through 
mine, and led her out by another way. 

" Where are you going ?" I asked. 

" I don t know," she replied ; " I ve lost my situation. 
My month would have been up next week, and I have nt 
a cent in my pocket. Oh, if I were only at home !" she 
sobbed, " this would not have happened." 

" Would you like to go home ?" 



A GREAT VENTURE. 47 

"Yes." 

" Then come with me, you can have dinner with us and 
we will see you safely to the train this afternoon." 

A " pass " was obtained from the Mayor, and one more 
unfortunate rescued from the snares of evil men, and 
pointed to One mighty to save. 

Saturday. The Smiths case; which has been remanded 
for a week, came up this morning. Poor little fellows 
one is only ten years of age ; the other, twelve. When I 
entered the court they were sobbing bitterly, and begged 
the Chief to allow me to sit with them inside the bar. 
The request was acceded to, and Tommy threw his arms 

about me and sobbed : " Dear Miss W , do git me 

offjist this once, and I ll be a little Christian, so I will." 

Their s was the last case called. " What am I to do 
with these little incorrigibles ? " said the Magistrate to the 
Chief, in an undertone. " This is the fourth time they 
have been brought before me in as many months." 

" Their friend, sitting over there, has some plan on 
foot," said the Chief, " about sending them to an Indus 
trial School, I think." 

" Are you prepared to do anything for these boys ? " 
said the Magistrate. 



48 LEAVES FROM A WORKER S NOTE BOOK. 

" I have been in correspondence with the Superintend 
ent of the Mimico Industrial School," I replied, " and he 
is willing to have them admitted, provided you will fill 
out these forms which I hold in my hand." 

" And who is to pay for this benevolence ? " he asked. 
" The Industrial School Act provides that the municipality 
should be responsible." 

" I fear," said he, " that the municipality of the City of 
Ottawa cannot afford to be benevolent to the extent of $4 
per week. No doubt, there are hundreds of mothers in 
the city like Mrs. Smith, who would be glad to avail them 
selves of an opportunity of pawning off their ill-brought- 
up sons on the municipality." 

" But, sir, the municipality will spend hundreds of dol 
lars in a few years in trying to reclaim them after they 
have become hardened criminals. Would not the old 
adage : An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of 
cure, hold good in this case ? " Nothing more was said, 
but, after giving them another severe reprimand, he dis 
missed the case. As the little fellows bounded down the 
aisle, with a hop, skip and jump, fully a dozen street arabs 
who had watched the case with interest, gathered around 
them, while one said, excitedly : 



A GREAT VENTURE. 49 

"You re a brick, Jim!" 

" It was your pluck that got you off," said another. 

While one little urchin with a sling in his hand 
whispered : " Golly ! but I felt like levelling "my boome 
rang at the pate of that conceited bobby that runned 
you in." 

Monday found poor Mary Jones, alias Jenny Smith, alias 
a dozen other names, up again on the same old charge 
" drunk and disorderly." Being unable to pay the fine, 
she was removed to the cells, where we found her giving 
vent to her passionate temper. However, all her efforts 
to smash and annihilate everything and everybody who 
came within reach, made little impression on the cement 
floor, solid stone walls, and iron bars of her narrow cell. 
" Well, Annie," I said, " What is the matter ? " 
" What brings you here ? you heretic, you hypocrite, you 
hathen Chinee, What are you prowlin about this place 
for?" 

" I heard you were in trouble again, and I thought I 
would drop in and see if I could help you. Turning to 
the constable, she said, Will you unlock this cell and let 
me in with Annie? " 



50 LEAVES FROM A WORKER S NOTE BOOK. 

" Certainly, miss." 

Soon we were locked in together, and, as the kind- 
hearted constable walked down the corridor, I seated my 
self on the cold, hard floor, " her ladyship " occuping the 
only piece of furniture, a small wooden bench. 

" Now, Annie, I want to have a little talk with you 
about 

" You can talk as much as you have a mind to ; twont 
do me any good," was the angry retort. 

" Why did you leave the Home last week ? You have 
been doing so well lately, and I thought you were trusting 
Jesus to keep you from yielding to the old temptation." 

" He is not angry with you, dear girl, but it grieves 
Him to the heart to see you in this state." 

" But look (handing her a pocket Bible) He says to you 
this morning, If you confess your sins He is faithful and 
just to forgive your sins and to cleanse you from all 
unrighteousness. " 

" There is no use talkin , Miss W , He won t for 
give me ; He has forgiven me so often already that I can 
not expect him to do it again." 

How many times have you asked Him to forgive you ?" 



A GREAT VENTURE. 51 

" Oh, hundreds of times ! " 

"But, He says that we should forgive each other 
seventy times seven, or four hundred and ninety times. And 
do you not think that he is far more patient with us, and 
more ready to forgive, than we are to forgive each other ?" 

" Do you think he would, just this once ?" she said. " It 
will be the last time, for if I yield again I ll give up 
tryin ." 

We knelt together, and, as I took her hand in mine, it 
seemed cold and stiff. Never shall I forget the agony of 
soul through which the poor, weak, erring one passed. 
Her whole heart seemed to echo the language of the 
Apostle : * Oh ! wretched man that I am ; who shall 
deliver me? until at length she had such a vision of 
Jesus as her only Saviour, that she could say : " Thanks 
be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord 
Jesus Christ." * 

Thursday. Found Mrs. Nelson in one of the cells this 
morning, just recovering from a state of helpless intoxi- 

* [It was the last opportunity I ever had of speaking to her. 
After serving her sentence she was admitted to the Home and, 
as she had evidently not recovered from the effects of excessive 
drinking, was confined to bed for a few days, where she was 
visited by the good Countess of Cavan, to whom she gave a 
beautiful testimony as to what Jesus had been to her in the past 
week. A few moments later ehe was found still and cold in death. 



52 LEAVES FROM A WORKER S NOTE BOOK. 

cation. She was in a sad plight, poor thing, having slept 
part of the night in a coal bin, and lost her shawl, hat and 
shoes, and was evidently much concerned about her 
children, whom she had left alone in a house on Albert 
street. As she was sent down for a month, we went in 
search of the neglected little ones, and found a beautiful 
curly-headed boy of five, asleep on the broad windowsill, 
his pale, wan cheek resting against the pane, while his 
little sister had crept into a clothes-basket on the floor 
which was half full of wet linen, and she too, was fast 
asleep. They had evidently been waiting and watching 
for mother until at length they had cried themselves to 
sleep. We took them to the Home, which was only a 
short distance away and where they were kept until their 
unworthy mother s release." 

Many have thus been gathered in, among whom were 
a large number of young girls who were rescued from 
entering upon a criminal career, and sent home to parents 
and friends. Visitation at the prison gate at the hour 
when female prisoners are discharged, has been another 
means of getting some to seek shelter in the Home. 

One cold January morning, an aged woman, clad in a 
thin calico dress, without a shawl, cloak or warm wrap 



A GREAT VENTURE. 53 

of any kind, appeared at the gate. She was homeless 
and friendless, having been arrested the previous August 
for vagrancy, and so frail and feeble was she that it was 
with the greatest difficulty that she was led to the street 
cars, in which she was conveyed to the Home. 

Comparatively few, however, come directly from the 
prison some having homes of their own, others turning 
a deaf ear to the pleadings of those who seek their best 
interests, while quite a number are driven off in cabs 
before an opportunity is afforded of reaching them. 

House to house visitation by the Bible woman has been 
another means of gathering in the lost ones. On more 
than one occasion she has visited houses of vice, and led 
to the Home a number of the inmates, who were too 
intoxicated to know where they were going. Four 
were thus rescued from a den in a narrow lane in lower 
town one evening, the mistress of the establishment having 
remained in the Home for two years, while one a beauti 
ful girl of sixteen, an orphan was removed to the hospital, 
were she died a few days later from the effects of 
dissipation. 

During the first eighteen months of its history, the work 
was carried on under great disadvantages, owing, partly, 



54 LEAVES FROM A WORKER S NOTE BOOK. 

to insufficient accommodation, and to the fact that it was 
impossible to classify the inmates ; so that those just 
entering upon a life of sin might be kept apart from those 
who had become hardened criminals. It was found, also, 
that laundry work, which had been started with a view to 
giving employment to the inmates, could not be carried 
on satisfactorily, as many of the women were physical 
wrecks, and unable for hard work ; consequently, it was 
shirked and slighted whenever an opportunity presented 
itself. 

In order to obviate these difficulties, it was decided to 
enlarge the building, and to purchase machinery for the 
laundry. 

In March, 1890, the new building was ready for occu 
pation, and great was the joy of the women as they moved 
from the dark, cold crowded wash-room, into the large, 
airy rooms where the work of the Home Steam Laundry 
is now carried on, and which is one of the best equipped 
laundries in the city. In the basement is a twelve-horse 
power engine and a large boiler. On the ground floor is 
an office, a sorting and wash-room, with a large hydraulic 
washer, a centrifugal wringer, starch dipper, starch kettle, 
soap boiler, and stationary tubs. Upstairs, in a large 



A GREAT VENTURE. 55 

room 36x28 feet, and lighted by seven windows, are to be 
seen every day from fifteen to twenty-five women at 
mangles, skirt boards, shirt tables, starching tables, 
curtain stretchers, collar and cuff ironer, &c. ; and where 
there is also a dry closet and laundry stove, while on 
the third flat are seven bed rooms, with accommodation 
for eighteen persons. This, in addition to the old build 
ing, giving room for thirty-six. 

The Home is not a place for the maintenance of the 
idle, as will be seen from the fact that hundreds of family 
washings pass through the laundry each month. 

Nor is it, as some suppose, an institution for the en 
couragement of vice, the only cases ever refused admis 
sion being those unwilling to sign the following form of 
application : 

" Desirous of forsaking a life of sin, I apply for ad 
mission to the Home for Friendleas Women, agreeing to 
the following conditions : 

" Not to leave the Home without the matron or assist 
ant, until a situation or another home is obtained. 

" To live quietly and peaceably with the inmates. 
"To obey implicitly the orders of the matron." 



56 LEAVES FROM A WORKER S NOTE BOOK. 

Maternity cases are admitted solely on the following 
conditions : That a paper drawn up by the magistrate 
be signed by all applicants in the presence of four 
witnesses, pledging themselves to remain in the Home 
for twelve months ; that each is required to care for her 
infant and to take it with her on being .discharged, and 
that no case can be admitted a second time. The Board 
heartily disapproves of any arrangement or institution 
that provides for relieving the patients of the care of 
their offspring, thus rendering it easy for them to escape 
the full penalty of wrong doing. 

When the young founders of the Institution decided to 
go forward in the name of the Master to open a door of 
hope to their less fortunate sisters, they believed that a 
prayer hearing prayer answering God could supply all 
their need without the aid of personal solicitation or the 
stimulus of bazaars, entertainments, raffles, &c., and they 
decided to look to Him alone for the support of the 
work. An experience of five years has proved that their 
confidence was not misplaced, God having honored 
their faith above what they had anticipated. 

In taking a retrospect of His leading in the matter 
however, it would seem as though He has revealed 



A GREAT VENTURE. 57 

to His servants the fact that " faith without works is 
dead," prayer having been answered through ways and 
means they never anticipated. 

It was thought that the need would be met with the 
free will offerings of His people and thus it was for a 
time, but soon the laundry which had been opened to 
furnish the inmates with employment became a fruitful 
source of revenue and eventually the Master Himself 
placed the work on a self-sustaining basis, and with hearts 
filled with praise, they have learned to say with Miss 
Havergal. : 

He answered all my prayer, abundantly, 
And crowned the work that to His feet I brought, 
With blessing more than I had asked or thought, 
A blessing undisguised and fair and free. 
I stood amazed and, whispered, "Can it be 
That he hath granted all the boon I sought, 
How wonderful that He for me hath wrought ! 
How wonderful that He hath answered me." 
O faithless heart 1 He sail Jhat He would hear 
And answer thy poor prayer, and He hath heard, 
And proved his promise. Wherefore did st thou fear, 
Why marvel that the Lord hath kept His word? 
More wonderful if He should fail to bless 
Expectant faith and prayer with good success. 



A MUCH NEEDED INSTITUTION. 

CHAPTER IV. 

TT has been said that " There are three words to whose 
music the heart never ceases to vibrate ; " Mother," 
" Home, and " Heaven." Specially is this the case with 
young women. Home and heaven are to many the sweet 
est words in human language because of their intimate 
connection with one who is to them the chief attraction 
mother. 

It is a lamentable fact, however, that there are hundreds 
of lonely hearts, in this city of mothers and homes, who 
have never realized the sweetness of either ; not that they 
are motherless, but unmotJiered, nor homeless but without 
the comforts and joys of a true home ; young women who 
crave that love and its demonstration, which is so lacking 
in many of the so-called homes of our working girls. 

Anxiety and hard work seem at times almost to deaden 
natural affection in many parents, and cases have fre 
quently been met with where girlish confidence has been 
repelled by those whom they call mother. 



A MUCH NEEDED INSTITUTION. 59 

To them, home has no depth of sacred meaning, it is 
a mere boarding house which offers no brighter attract 
ions than very ordinary table fare, and a bed with the 
children. 

There are hundreds of others, sewing girls, shop girls, 
clerks, students, who, having left the parental roof to 
seek employment or educational advantages in the city, 
need a home and mothering. Think for a moment of 
the hardships, the loneliness, the need, of this class. 
Their limited means drives them to seek out the cheap 
est boarding house to be found, where a small, close, 
ill-ventilated room is taken and shared with two or three 
others to lessen expense. Hastily dressing in the 
morning they hurry to their uninviting breakfast. Un- 
refreshed they go out to their long day of toil or study. 
Evening finds them worn and weary, perhaps nervous 
and irritable as well. How shall they spend the evening ? 
They have no good books, no pleasant and innocent 
recreation lies within their means. They are too weary 
to work, and they must have change. What wonder if 
many spend the free hours on the streets or in places of 
questionable amusement where undesirable acquaintances 
may be formed. Sunday comes and if no one invites them 



60 LEAVES FROM A WORKER S NOTE BOOK. 

to church or Bible class they spend it idly lounging in 
their close little room, perhaps reading dime novels, or 
with such companions as can be found only in cheap 
boarding houses. 

These and many other circumstances made it most de 
sirable that self-supporting young women should have a 
Home, where love and sympathy would greet them, and 
where they could be mothered and shielded from temp 
tation. 

In order to meet this need as well as to secure a place 
of meeting for the Bible class, which had grown to have 
a membership of over one hundred, No. 98 Albert street, 
since known as the YOUNG WOMEN S CHRISTIAN IN 
STITUTE was rented in January 89, the ground floor 
being fitted up as a class room and an office or study, 
the two upper flats with bed room accommodation for 
twenty. 

Upwards of one hundred and fifty young women, most 
ly students and strangers have since found beneath its 
roof a bright, happy, Christian home, and friends, in 
terested in their welfare. Scores of others have been as 
sisted in obtaining employment, while hundreds without 
reference to social or denominational distinction have re- 



A MUCH NEEDED INSTITUTION. 6l 

ceived sympathy, encouragement and help, and have 
found a hearty welcome in the classes and meetings. 

During the first six months of its history, the attempt 
was made to establish classes in kitchen garden, cooking, 
dressmaking, art needlework, painting and vocal culture, 
with a view to bringing a large number of young women 
desirous of fitting themselves for spheres of usefulness in 
homes of their own under Christian influences. Expe 
rienced teachers were secured for the various classes and 
soon over two hundred names were registered on the roll 
books. So many applications were received for the 
cooking class, taught on the Huntingdon system, which 
limited the class to a membership of twelve, that it was 
necessary to form two other classes, one for servants, which 
was held in the evenings, one for young girls attending 
school, while twelve young women about to assume the 
responsibilities of housekeeping were enrolled in the third. 

The attempt proved a success in every way but one. 
Boarders complained of noise from choral class, of irregu 
larity of meals caused by the "cooks" having possession of 
the kitchen, while both teachers and scholars felt the need 
of larger accommodation, and as the Institute depended 
for its support upon the fees of boarders, it was thought 



62 LEAVES FROM A WORKER S NOTE BOOK. 

desirable to discontinue all but the Bible classes until 
more suitable quarters could be obtained. 

This work has been prosecuted without formal organiza 
tion and without any appeal to the public, but a change in 
the method of operation has been made recently and the 
work established on broader lines. The Ottawa Young 
Woman s Christian Association has been organized the 
object of which is the assistance spiritual, mental, moral 
and physical of young women. 

It is the purpose of its founders that it should be a grand 
agency in moulding and fashioning the character of the 
ideal woman depicted by Wordsworth in the well known 
lines : 

" A spirit, yet a woman, too, 
" Her household motions light and free, 
" A creature not too bright or good 
" For human nature s daily food, 
" A perfect woman, nobly planned, 
" To warn, to comfort and command ; 
" And yet a spirit, still and bright, 
" With something of an angel light." 
This object the association contemplates working out 
in the establishment of an ideal home with clean, well 
ventilated sleeping apartments and attractive dining room 



A MUCH NEEDED INSTITUTION. 63 

ready to provide every physical comfort ; with library, 
reading rooms, and class rooms, thus affording to many 
who would otherwise remain mere toil-worn machines, 
the opportunity of becoming thinking, reasoning, social 
beings ; with a bright large hall where Bible Classes, 
Gospel meetings and Prayer meetings can be held, and 
weary souls pointed to the rest that is so sweet to the 
toiler ; with an employment office through the agency of 
which situations can be obtained ; with a well equipped 
gymnasium where students, sewing girls, and others with 
sedentary occupations can secure healthy exercise and 
physical regeneration, and with Committee rooms having 
facilities for carrying on such benevolent work as a Diet 
Dispensary, Flower Mission, Dorcas Club, &c. 

Shall not the young women of our city who wield almost 
omnipotent influence in the home and in society have such 
an institution where facilities would be afforded them for 
the highest and fullest training of all their power for God ? 
Too long has the slavery of folly and fashion, the sleep of 
indifference, the death of wordly pleasure possessed many 
of our Ottawa girls. It is high time that they should 
awake to the realities of life and its solemn duties and 
sublime possibilities. The greatest need of this age is 



64 LEAVES FROM A WORKER S NOTE BOOK. 

Christian women, not butterflies. The young women of to 
day will be the mothers of to-morrow and in promoting 
any scheme for their elevation we are not only labouring 
most effectually for the extention of the Kingdom of our 
blessed, loving Lord, but we are laying the foundations of 
bright, happy Christian homes. 



LIGHT IN DARK PLACES. 

CHAPTER V. 

/T\HE attention of the Christian world has been drawn 
recently to Gen. Booth s new book, " In Darkest 
England and the Way Out." In reading his awful presen 
tation of life as it exists in the mother country, there arose 
in the mind of the writer a parallel in a modified form to 
be found at our very doors. 

Did it ever occur to our readers that in our city with a 
population of 56,000 (including Hull) there are one hun 
dred and forty licensed liquor stores and saloons from 
which the water of death flows day and night for the 
destruction of the people ; that hundreds of precious lives 
are being sacrificed upon the altars of Venus ; that up 
wards of 33,000 are worshipping at the shrine of " the 
Queen of Heaven and Mother of God-" 

Such facts as these led our little band of Christian 
workers to undertake an aggressive evangelistic work> 
and like many efforts of a similar nature it had a very 
small beginning. 

While visiting from house to house in a narrow, 



66 LEAVES FROM A WORKER S NOTE BOOK. 

muddy lane leading off Chapel street, they found 
themselves suddenly and unexpectedly admitted into 
a low tenement in which were ten men, smoking, 
drinking and gambling. It would be difficult to imagine 
who felt the embarrassment of the situation most. Their 
first impulse was to withdraw as quickly as possible, with 
an apology for the intrusion ; on second consideration, 
however, they determined to look to the Master for 
protection, while they might tell as best they could, 
under the trying circumstances, the object of their visit, 
viz : To warn lost men and women to flee from the 
wrath to come, and trust in Jesus for salvation. The 
surprise, the amazement in each face could hardly be de 
picted ; cards were dropped, tumblers and bottles moved 
aside, and a solemn hush came upon all as they spoke of 
the three " R s " Ruin, Redemption, Regeneration. 
After a few words of prayer, and the singing of a hymn, 
which by the way, attracted five other rough fellows 
from a neighboring den, they were invited to come again. 
As they did not covet another experience of the kind, it 
was proposed to rent a market hall in the vicinity for a 
meeting to be held once a week. 

The proposition met with the approval of all present 



LIGHT IN DARK PLACES. 67 

and several signified their intention of not only attending 
themselves but of bringing their friends. 

The following Wednesday evening the hall or loft 
having been secured at a reasonable rent, lanterns, 
borrowed mostly from the neighbors, were suspended 
from the beams, while seats were made of scantling laid 
upon blocks, a load of which had been deposited at the 
entrance of the hall, an old stove covered with rust and 
a three legged table being the only other articles of 
furniture. Snow drifted in from the broken windows 
which added considerably to the picturesqueness if not 
to the warmth of the first Mission Hall. 

True to their promise came the crowd of roughs 
whose one aim in life seemed to be the finding of some 
new way of killing time. The first to arrive was a one- 
armed, one-legged gipsy pedler, who had just served a 
term in the Central Prison for horse stealing ; then came 
a low sized Frenchman known to the boys as John L. 
Sullivan. Upwards of twenty others, all men, had gathered 
by 8 o clock, when the meeting commenced. They had 
evidently come for " a good time, " for when the attempt 
was made to sing the first hymn, several tried to drown 
the strains of music by shouting, " We won t go home till 



68 LEAVES FROM A WORKER S NOTE BOOK. 

morning," while prayer was interrupted with loud hall 
elujahs. They listened, however,to a short, pointed 
Gospel address, and after the last hymn was sung, 
dispersed very quietly. 

The mission thus started is situated in the midst of the 
largest collection of snares set by evil men and women 
to entice into sin and ruin, in the city. Here it is that 
the lowest and worse elements of humanity are to be 
found, and that souls are swept along the downward 
way, night after night. 

Intemperance is the chief sin, and it is undoubtedly 
the cause of nearly all the crime, vice and wretchedness, 
which the workers try in a measure to alleviate. In the 
midst of it all the mission stands as a beacon light to 
warn them of danger. The singing of gospel hymns 
from the balcony generally arrests the attention of 
passers by, and workers are engaged in urging all who 
come within its doors to abandon sin, seek the Saviour, 
and begin a new and better life. 

The work has been full of interest and incident, 
though not as fruitful in results as one would wish. 
When we consider, however, the lives which many of 
these men and women have lived, nurtured and 



LIGHT IN DARK PLACES. 69 

trained as they have been from earliest infancy in 
the school of ignorance and crime, is it any wonder 
that the work is a slow one? Good impressions re 
ceived at the meetings are often dissipated because of 
influences of evil to which they are necessarily exposed. 
Many start out with a sincere desire to be kept from their 
besetting sins, but fall back again into their old ways. 
None but those who are constantly engaged in the work 
can realize how nobly and desperately many of these 
unfortunate victims of appetite and adverse circumstances 
struggle for the victory. 

A fatherless, motherless boy, who lived with his sister 
in a home of shame, and who had become a confirmed 
drunkard at the early age of fourteen, staggered into the 
mission one night to hear the singing, was convicted of 
sin, and lingering with the inquirers at the close of the 
meeting, was easily led to decide to trust Jesus to save 
him from the power of sin. He became a regular attend 
ant at the meetings for several weeks, but was found one 
evening at the open air service, evidently very unwilling 
to enter the hall. When asked the reason, he replied, 

" T aint no use, if a fellow had half a chance might be 
some hope for him. Last night when I went home found 



70 LEAVES FROM A WORKER S NOTE BOOK. 

em all drunk, and I got mad, cause she (sister) called me 
bad names and I swore at her so I did." 

" Oh Jack," said his friend, " did you not ask the dear 
Lord to forgive you and to save you from yielding to that 
old habit?" 

" No, Miss." 

"Why? J 

" Cause," said he, almost defiantly, " I m just waitin to 
get her alone and, and " 

"You will tell her how sorry you are, wont you, my 
boy." 

" Indeed I wont, I ll give her the biggest trouncin 
she ever got in her life, and you bet she ll never call me 
bad names again might as well be killed for a sheep as 
a lamb might as well wait till I ve got a big sin to confess 
as a little one." 

Will our readers come with us in their imagination to 
Jack s home. It is only a few steps from the hall. We 
enter a narrow lane or gateway leading off Clarence street 
and soon find ourselves in a muddy back yard, where stands 
an old out-building which was evidently meant for a stable 
or store house. As we enter there is not a trace of any 
thing to show that it is inhabited by human beings. Heavy 



LIGHT IN DARK PLACES. 71 

festoons of cobwebs are suspended from the ceilings, the 
few remaining unbroken panes in the windows are frosted 
with age, the door is ever open day and night 
and here the neighbour s chickens, dogs and cats find a 
refuge from the wind and storm. A rickety staircase 
leads to the second floor which is not much more 
inviting than tne first. This upper chamber serves as 
parlor, dining-room, bed-room and kitchen, all in one. A 
pile of rags on the floor in one corner, with two salt sacks 
for a covering, serves as a bed for three. On the table 
are a number of unwashed tomato cans and sardine 
boxes, picked up out of heaps of refuse, which do good 
service as cups and plates. Here night after night drink 
ing, dancing, card playing, are carried on until morning. 
Is it not enough to make the angels weep to think of 
that poor orphan boy striving to lead a Christian life in 
the midst of such influences. May the Lord hasten the 
day when the Government shall see the necessity of 
establishing in Eastern Ontario an Industrial School 
similar to the one at Mimico, where youths entering a 
criminal career may be taken out of such surroundings 
and trained for spheres of usefulness. 

Such revelations of misery, depravity and degradation 



72 LEAVES FROM A WORKER S NOTE BOOK. 

are not exceptional. Illustrations are furnished daily 
of the power of strong drink to ruin, to degrade and 
brutalize both mind, body and soul. 

A regular attendant at the mission is J. L. He 
is a Frenchman of mature years though a dwarf in 
size. His face reminds one of Dore s picture of the 
inhabitants of Dante s Inferno. A better subject for 
a representative of Evil Incarnate could hardly be 
found. Joseph, who is the only child of over indulgent 
but intemperate parents, learned to drink and smoke at 
the age of seven. He never attended school and seldom 
went to Mass. The profession he follows at present is 
that of night bar-tender in a Lower Town Saloon, his 
work lasting generally from 10 p.m. till 3 or 4 a.m., in 
payment for which he receives after each night s work a 
cheap bottle of whiskey. This he carries home and 
shares with his aged parents. Drinking is then indulged 
in until daylight when all three sink into a state of drunk 
en stupor, from which they generally recover late in the 
afternoon or evening. Joseph is then sober and ready 
for the evening meeting. On one occasion the workers 
were under the painful necessity of having him removed 
from the hall for disturbing the meeting, and the following; 



LIGHT IN DARK PLACES. 73 

evening he took revenge by throwing into their eyes 
a handful of cayenne pepper. He was then lost sight of 
for several weeks. When told by a friend, however, that 
no action would be taken to have him prosecuted, he 
ventured to return one evening and manifested unusual 
interest in the meeting. On leaving the hall he was met 
by one of the young women, whom he had so cruelly 
treated, with a warm grasp of the hand and a few kind 
earnest words, that went right to his heart. 

" Glad to see you back again Joseph, we have forgiven 
you and have prayed that the dear Lord Jesus may not 
only forgive but save you." 

The Spirit of God seemed to work conviction for a 
time, but as yet no evidence has been given of a desire 
to forsake sin. 

T. M. and J. S. are both fathers of large families 
Their children attend the mission Sunday School. They 
were once strong, fine-looking, manly fellows, but have 
long since lost good situtations as well as their manliness, 
their prospects, their health, their strength, their all, 
through strong drink. Both depend upon the meagre 
earnings of their overworked wives for support, and seize 
every opportunity of stealing from them the articles of 



74 LEAVES FROM A WORKER S NOTE BOOK. 

clothing received into their homes to be laundried, that 
they may pawn them for liquor. 

The men are not the only victims of intemperance in 
this locality. What a sad and terrible sight are the 
intemperate women ! Some with little babes in their 
arms, who, as Bishop South truly said, are " not so much 
born into the world as damned into it," and who from 
the day of their birth, drink in the vile poison from 
their mother s breast. Is it any wonder that even the 
children are found with an insatiable thirst for it ? 

A poor little fellow, deformed and crippled, is a born 
slave of the bottle. His mother gives him all he wants 
whenever she can get it. 

" Shure, it s his only comfort " she says, " the house is 
cold and food is scarce, and poor Charlie, it helps to keep 
him warm and comfortable-like." 

Charlie s boy friends who make a few cents now and 
again, in disposing of rags, bones and bottles, put their 
little earnings together and spend it in liquor obtained 
from a grocer, who is told that it is for u ma," and together 
they have "A spree like grown up people." 

Darker scenes than these are witnessed daily by those 
who have faith enough in the saving power of God, to go 



LIGHT IN DARK PLACES. 75 

forth in His name to rescue them from sin and shame, 
for Bacchus is not the only false god who is licensed by 
the government and worshipped by our home heathen. 
What shall be said of the votaries of Venus ! Too 
long have public prejudice and perverted modesty 
silenced the church, the state, the press, from giving rev 
elations which would shake society at the Capital to its 
very foundation. 

The time for silence, for timidity, for false modesty 
for prudishness has long since passed, and those who 
hear the deep wail of anguish, and see the unutterable 
woe, which comes up from the abyss of moral corruption 
in our midst, are in duty bound to speak out. 

We boast of our Sabbath-keeping, church-going people. 
We look with pride upon our thirty-two churches, and 
our numerous charitable institutions. We congratulate 
ourselves on the ever increasing amount given each year 
to foreign missions, while all the time young lives are 
being sacrificed in our very midst at the shrines of these 
false gods, as truly as in India where the heathen mother 
sacrifices her child to her idol. 

Children have been found as young as fourteen with the 
awful realities and responsibilities of motherhood upon 
them. 



76 LEAVES FROM A WORKER S NOTE BOOK. 

Gay, giddy, thoughtless girls are being ensnared in 
dens of infamy and shame, which are not only tolerated 
but patronized by the law-makers of this guilty land, and 
by whom, alas ! they are being ruined as effectually and 
irrevocably " as one, who, for caprice might burn a price 
less diamond into a chip of carbon, from which condition 
all the chemists in the world can never recover it." 

That the deliberate author of a ruin such as this should 
be entrusted with the responsibility of a legislator nay 
worse should be permitted to come to the Lord s table 
and be received into the society of the good and the pure, 
is a sin and a shame. 

Cases have been placed in the hands of lawyers who 
have expressed the hope that the grief stricken parents 
would " see the propriety of dropping the case, for if, 
brought into court it would involve the putting of good 
men into the witness box and he would be sorry to tar 
nish their reputation." 

Do these men with greater advantages of education 
and position, expect when arraigned before Heaven s 
Court and Heaven s Righteous Judge, that He will acquit 
them, pronouncing them " good men," while he banishes 
the poor unfortunate to outer darkness ? " 



LIGHT IN DARK PLACES. 77 

Scores of these dens are known to the police and in 
asking their co-operation in an effort to break them up, it 
has been found that however clear the evidence, neither 
magistrate nor police can interfere, unless parties living 
in the immediate neighborhood are willing to appear 
against them in court, and this they are generally unwill 
ing to do. 

From a human standpoint the work of the mission is 
a hopeless one. No amount of reasoning has any effect 
upon those who are so completely under the mastery of 
appetite and passion that they cannot break away from it, 
although they see the most terrible consequences staring 
them in the face : but the Master has bidden His servants 
" gather up the fragments " of ruined lives, the wrecks of 
hope and love, and bring them to Him whose very touch 
means healing and salvation. He alone can bring out of 
a lost manhood or womanhood, a new creation as many 
a living witness to His saving power can testify. 

The most hopeful feature of the work in connection 
with the Mission, has been the Sunday School and 
the Boys Brigade, in both of which the effort is made to 
go before and get the start of sin in the lives of the 
children by winning them for Christ. 



78 LEAVES FROM A WORKER S NOTE BOOK. 

On leaving the hall one evening, one of the workers 
overheard the following conversation between two child 
ren who had listened to the " old old story," evidently for 
the first time. 

" D ye hear what he sez bout a man with a swear name 
what died to save the likes o 3 us, do you think its 
true ?" 

Shrugging her shoulders her little barefooted, bare 
headed companion replied : 

" Guess taint its one of them stories what people 
reads in books." 

It led to the formation of an interesting class of boys 
and girls, some of whom were black, some white, some 
were Gypsies, some French, all neglected little ones un- 
reached by the churches. Quite a number have given 
evidence of true conversion and their prayers and 
testimonies are an inspiration to many older Christians. 

" Tis sweet to watch the opening flower, but more 
To view the budding beauties of a soul." 

The Boy s Brigade was organized with a view to 
securing the attention and interest of a large number of 
French youths between the ages of fourteen and twenty, 
who were a constant source of annoyance and trouble in 



LIGHT IN DARK PLACES. 79 



the meetings. They meet once a week during the 
winter months in the hall, when the following interesting 
programme is gone through with : 

The singing of Gospel hymns to martial tunes, march 
ing, calisthenic drill with dumb-bells and wands, concluding 
with a short Gospel address and prayer. 

The Brigade is very popular amongst the boys, and as 
there is room for only a limited number, and as regular 
attendance and perfect order are made conditions of 
membership, an opportunity is afforded of giving the 
Gospel message in a well attended, orderly meeting. 

Missions of a similar nature have been established at 
Cathcart Square and Hull under very trying circum 
stances. The Square is situated in the lower part of the 
city in what is known as Letter O District, which is 
densely populated by the working classes, and within a 
radius of a mile of which J:here is not one Evangelical 
church or Mission. Here, notwithstanding the bitterest 
opposition, the way of salvation by faith in a crucified 
Redeemer, has been preached to hundreds of French 
Roman Catholics, mostly boys and young men, every 
Friday evening. Four times the door has been torn off 
its hinges, windows smashed, curtains torn into shreds 



80 LEAVES FROM A WORKER S NOTE BOOK. 

and benches overturned. Stones have frequently been 
hurled through the windows while meetings were in pro 
gress, but notwithstanding all, the work goes on, better 
order is being maintained at length and a deeper interest 
evinced in the work. 

The stereopticon was found to be a grand agency in 
bringing the truths of the Gospel within the comprehen 
sion of this class. For instance, a hymn may be sung, such 
as " Jesus saves," as the last strains die away suddenly the 
lights are turned out, and a beautiful colored representa 
tion of the angel appearing to the shepherds brought 
out on the canvas, which affords an opportunity for a few 
earnest words on such passages of scripture as, " Unto 
us is born in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ 
the Lord," or Mary s song, " My soul hath rejoiced in God 
my Saviour." Illustrations of the power of the Lord to save 
from sin may be furnished from scenes in the life of 
Peter. 

A representation of Peter sinking, our Lord standing 
with outstretched arms ready to save him, illustrates the 
condition of the sinner, sinking beneath the waves of 
sin, powerless to save himself by any effort of his own, his 
only hope being in Jesus. A picture representin Peter s 



LIGHT IN DARK PLACES. 8 1 

deliverance from prison, serves as a good illustration of 
how the Lord saves from the power and bondage of sin- 
The angel, which may be taken to represent the Saviour, 
finds Peter in darkness, asleep, bound, he lets the light 
shine in upon him, smites him to rouse; him up, strikes 
off the fetters,opens the prison and sets him free to serve. 
The idea can be developed or enlarged upon in such a 
way as to hold the attention and interest of the most 
incorrigible attendants at the mission, their reverence for 
such pictures going a great way in maintaining order even 
in a dark room. 

On one occasion, after singing the well-known hymn, 

"Why not, why not come to Him now" 
One of the workers spoke from the text, " Why tarriest 
thou ?" mentioning among others the following reasons 
given by many for not coming to decision : 

" I m afraid I can t hold out." A picture of the Good 
Shepherd with the wandering lamb on his bosom illus 
trated the text, "Neither shall any pluck them out of 
mine hand." 

" Too much to give up." The rich young ruler suddenly 
appeared on the scene and then Peter and John leaving 
all to follow Jesus, and it was pointed out that coming to 



82 LEAVES FROM A WORKER S NOTE BOOK. 

Christ does not mean giving up so much as receiving 
something infinitely better than the world could give. 

" Too far gone, no hope for me now," says another. 
A representation of the Saviour at the tomb of Lazarus 
revealed His power to raise into newness of life even the 
most hopeless cases. 

Another gives as an excuse, " I cannot see things as 
you do, religion is all an enigma, it doesn t appeal to 
my reason." Blind Bartimeus appeared on the canvas 
and it was shown that he could not see either, until he came 
to Jesus, and then he saw things as he never saw them 
before. 

In this simple way deep and precious truths are brought 
within the comprehension of the most illiterate and the 
Master has set His seal of approval upon the work. 

The effort to introduce into Hull the light of the 
glorious Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, must ever re 
main a memorable event in the minds of those who were 
called to the work. 

What Isaiah said of the Gentile world may be truly 
said of Hull, " Behold darkness covers it and gross 
darkness its people." A darker state of things could 
hardly be found in "Greenland s icy mountains," or 
" India s coral strand," than exists at our own doors. 



LIGHT IN DARK PLACES. 83 

Let our readers picture to themselves a death-bed 
scene witnessed by two Christian workers, which is not 
an exceptional case, or in the least overdrawn as many 
can testify. A poor young French girl of about fifteen 
years of age was dying. Great was the sorrow in the 
house. The neighbors gathered in, amongst them 
several Protestants. As death approaches they fall on 
their knees and tell their beads a number of times. 
Every few moments the dying child is sprinkled pro 
fusely with holy water so as to quite wet the person who 
was holding her. Then a ball of some kind, supposed to 
have some mysterious power, was pressed to her sides. 
Every now and then a brass crucifix was placed to the 
young girl s lips and kissed, and when just about gasping 
the last breath, the brass image was put quite into her 
mouth and because her teeth closed on the image the 
friends were well pleased. Into the powerless hand of 
the poor dying child was placed a lighted candle. The 
hand being closed over it and held by a friend, and so 
with beads, balls, candles, crucifix and holy water 
in abundance the poor child passed away, and 
still the awful delusion does not end. Another 
young woman goes to the church and takes the wafer for 



84 LEAVES FROM A WORKER S NOTE BOOK. 

the dead one. The rest of the drama is being concluded 
by the priest, who is getting all the money he can from 
her poor relations and friends to pray her soul out of pur 
gatory. What a satire it is upon our Christianity and our 
civilization that the existence of such heathen darkness in 
our very midst should attract so little attention. No 
doubt much of the indifference is due to the woeful 
amount of ignorance that prevails with reference to the 
teachings of the Roman Church. 

Christian people have expressed surprise at the persist 
ent efforts to evangelize the French, notwithstanding 
bitter opposition, and have said : " Why not leave these 
people alone ? If they are true to their church and live 
up to the light that they have they will not be lost, for 
after all it doesn t matter much what they believe, if they 
are only in earnest." 

The priests of Baal lived up to the light that they had 
and were terribly in earnest in crying to their false gods, 
but they fell under the just condemnation of the only true 
God. Saul was true to his convictions when c breathing 
out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of 
the Lord," but who would say that it was pleasing to God. 
Salvation depends not upon how we believe but upon what 
we believe. 



LIGHT IN DARK PLACES. 85 

Of their earnestness and devotion there can be no 
question. They are a standing rebuke to many Protes 
tants in this respect. But that they are LOST and under 
the condemnation of God is evident from the following 
facts : 

God says : " Thou shalt have no gods before me " (Ex. 
20: 3); "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and Him 
only shalt thou serve" (Mark 4: 10), Roman Catholicism 
says : " Mary is the entire ground of our hope " (see 
Pope s letter to clergy 1832), while a devotional book in 
common use in our City and vicinity contains the follow 
ing prayers to " the Mother of God." 

" O Queen of the universe and most bountiful sovereign, 
thou art the advocate of sinners, the sure port of those 
who suffer shipwreck, the resource of the world, the 
ransom of captives, the solace of the weak, the comfort 
of the afflicted, the refuge and salvation of every creature* 
Hail thou who art the peace, the joy, the consolation of 
the whole world. Hail Paradise of delight, the sure 
asylum of all who are in danger, the source of grace, the 
mediatrix between God and man. Refuge of sinners pity us." 

Again we read, " Mary is that celestial ark which will 
surely save us from wreck of eternal damnation if we on 



86 LEAVES FROM A WORKER S NOTE BOOK. 

take refuge in time. The ark of Noah would only receive 
the few men and animals who were sdved in it, but Mary 
receives and saves with certainty all who take refuge under 
her mantle. But, Oh ! my Queen, how many men are lost ? 
And why ? Because they will not have recourse to thee." If 
this io not worship, What is it ? It is an insult to God. 
It is ignoring the sacrificial, mediatorial work of Jesus the 
Son of God, of whom Peter said : " Neither is there sal 
vation in any other, for there is none other name under 
heaven given among men whereby we must be saved," 
Acts 4. 12. And of whom Paul said : " There is one God 
and one mediator, between God and man, the man Christ 
Jesus," (i Tim., 2. 15). The Lord evidently anticipated 
this apostasy in the Church when in Luke n., 27, it is re 
corded that " a certain woman lifted up her voice and 
said unto Him, Blessed is the womb that bare thee, &c." 
But He said, " Yea rather blessed are they that hear the 
word of God and keep it," and this brings us to another 
evidence that these poor deluded people are lost, because 
the church falsifies and withholds from its people the word 
of God. 

We read in Rev. 22 : 18. " If any man shall add unto 
these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that 



LIGHT IN DARK PLACES. 87 

are written in this book and if any man shall take away 
from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take 
way his part out of the look of life." We have only to refer 
to the Douay Bible to see the number of books that have 
been added and we may seek but in vain for the second 
command in the decalogue " Thou shalt not make unto 
thee any graven images." Rome has obliterated it and 
divided the tenth so as to retain the correct number. 

Still another evidence of the lost condition of those 
who hold the doctrines of the Romish Church can be 
found in that they ignore the only true way of salvation, 
faith in the finished work of a crucified Redeemer, and 
trust to baptisms, masses, confessions, fastings, indul 
gences, good works and purgatory. "He came to save 
His people from their sins," was He not able to do what 
He came to do without the aid of all these things ? Is it 
not most dishonoring to the Lord to doubt the efficacy 
of His atoning cleansing blood and to claim that " venial 
sins can be expiated only in purgatory ? " 

The sight of a whole city bowing down to a false god, 
without the Word of Life, and without a knowledge of the 
way of salvation, stirred the hearts of several of God s 
children to undertake its evangelization. Accordingly a 



88 LEAVES FROM A WORKER S NOTE BOOK. 

small house in one of the worst localities was rented and 
fitted up with seating accommodation for about fifty. 
Circulars were distributed through the streets inviting 
men and women to a gospel meeting to be conducted 
in French every Thursday evening. Long before 
the hour appointed a large crowd had gathered about 
the building which was densely packed as soon as 
the doors were open, those interested inwardly 
congratulating themselves upon the success of 
the effort. It was noticed, however, that the audience 
was made up exclusively of men, big rough fellows, who 
did not deign to remove either hats nor pipes when 
several lady workers entered. It was thought, however, 
that such uncouth behaviour was more from want of 
knowledge than lack of courtesy, and so they proceeded 
with the meeting though the air was stifling. After the 
singing of several Gospel hymns the French Colporteur 
addressed the meeting taking for his text, " For God so 
loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son that 
whosoever believeth on Him should not perish but have 
everlasting life." For nearly twenty minutes they listened 
attentively to a simple earnest Gospel address, when sud 
denly a piece of cord wood was hurled with great force at 



LIGHT IN DARK PLACES. 89 

kis head, missing it, it smashed to atoms a coal oil lamp. 
This was evidently the signal for an attack The 
workers were surrounded and dragged out into the 
street and kicked about the face and head. A policeman 
who appeared on the scene was powerless in such a 
crowd but dispatched messengers for help. Soon five 
others arrived who surrounded the little band and escort 
ed them to the station under a perfect shower of stones, 
pieces of ice and sticks of hardwood. On arriving at the 
station, the police charged the mob which soon dispersed. 
A posse of Ottawa police were then telephoned/or, who 
conducted the little band to their homes in safety, and so 
ended the first attempt to evangelize the city of Hull. 

The question naturally arose what was to be done ? 
To abandon the field was to deal a paralysing blow, not 
only to French Evangelization, but to civil and 
religious liberty throughout the whole province, to 
maintain their rights as British subjects to hold a Pro 
testant meeting in a Roman Catholic community, meant 
evidently the sacrifice of precious lives. It was a question 
which perplexed some of the best minds both in the church 
and state, for great fears were entertained for a time of open 
rebellion and civil war. While the question was under 



90 LEAVES FROM A WORKER S NOTE BOOK. 

consideration in the House of Commons and in almost 
every pulpit in the city, God was testing his servants and 
bringing them to the point of willingness to lay down 
their lives if need be that Hull might have the glorious 
light of the Gospel. It was then decided that a meeting 
should be held as advertised the following Tuesday even 
ing. Almost immediately an offer was received of an 
escort of one thousand armed men. It was declined how 
ever, as it was felt that it would be more in keeping with 
the mind and will of the Master, that everything should 
be avoided that had any tendency to stir up strife. So 
it was arranged that two young women who had taken a 
prominent part on the previous occasion should go alone, 
protected only by Him who said, "Fearthou not; for 
I am with thee, be not dismayed for I am thy God, I will 
strengthen thee, yea I will help thee ; yea, I will uphold 
thee with the right hand of my righteousness." 

The promises never seemed so sweet and "precious as 
when they crossed the bridge and found the whole city in 
a state of excitement. Groups of men were to be seen on 
almost every street corner, talking excitedly in French, 
while now and then could be heard such threats as "We ll 
drive the Suisse (a term first applied to French Protestants 



LIGHT IN DARK PLACES. 



coi. verted through Madame Feller, a Swiss lady, 
who established a mission near Montreal) into the river." 
" We mil blow up the hall." " If they come over to-night 
they wll be carried back," &c. 

As tley turned into the dark, narrow street that led to 
the Mr,sion Hall, they were met by a fine, stalwart 
specimei of Christian manhood, who said : 

" There is going to be serious trouble to-night, a mob 
of several thousand surrounds the Hall. What will you 
do?" 

" God las sent us," was the reply, " He will protect us 
or be responsible for the consequences." 

" You vill go, then ?" 

" Yes." 

" Then I will go with you." 

For a moment they hesitated, arguments were used to 
try and make him break his resolve for the sake of his 
wife and seven little ones who were dependent upon him, 
but he too had learned to trust Jesus and if ever his faith 
was called into exercise it must have been then. Some 
difficulty was experienced in gaining access to the Hall 
owing to the great crowd which had assembled. The 



92 LEAVES FROM A WORKER S NOTE BOOK. 

chief of police was on hand, however, and cleared to e 
way so as to enable the workers to enter. 

As soon as it was ascertained that " the Suisse had 
arrived a revolver was discharged which threw the whole 
crowd into a state of confusion and uproar. The Chief of 
Police and his little band of men tried to quiet tie mob 
promising that meetings of a similar nature woild never 
again be held in Hull, but it was of no avail, fire arms 
were freely discharged, the building bombarc ed with 
stones, windows and doors smashed and it seened for a 
time as though hell were let loose. The meeting was 
held notwithstanding, and if ever there was earnest 
pleading with God for the lost in the City of Hull, there 
was then. It _lasted for fully one hour when suddenly 
there was a lull, the loud oaths and curses seemed to 
fade away, there was a cessation in the stone ;hrowing, 
(many having gone to the quarry for a fresh supply of 
rocks, as it was ascertained afterwards,) and it was feared 
by those in the building, who, by the way, were all 
Protestants, that the whispered threats with reference to 
the blowing up of the building was about to be accom 
plished. It was noticed that the neighbors had removed 
and this confirmed their suspicions which proved after- 



LIGHT IN DARK PLACES. 93 

wards to be groundless. Quick as thought the lights 
were turned out and the door quietly opened, and as heavy 
shutters covered the windows of the room in which the 
meeting was held, it was not noticed by the crowd that 
one after another had filed out into the darkness and 
made their way quietly through the mob to the Police 
Station where a horse and sleigh was waiting to convey 
them safely to the other side of the river. Thus God ful 
filled His promise in protecting those whom He led out 
to establish the Mission, though many who had bravely 
stood up in their defence were seriously injured. So 
ended the second attempt to introduce the Gospel into 
Hull. 

The third was made the following week and cost the 
city council $500.00 for special constables. Perfect order 
was maintained however and their right to carry on an 
an undenominational evangelistic mission vindicated. 

It was necessary to secure better and safer quarters for 
the work, the old Hall having been left in a shaking con 
dition, and as a suitable place could not be rented, a 
building on the same street was purchased in which 
meetings have been held ever since. House to house 
visitation has been carried on with some measure of 



94 LEAVES FROM A WORKER S NOTE BOOK. 

success, and copies of the Word of God have been 
placed in a number of homes. The following notes from 
the diary of their French Missionary show something of 
the good work that is being carried on : 

What can be more touching than to find street after 
street, closely packed with small houses filled with people 
hungering for the Bread of Life. We called this afternoon 
at a certain house and asked if they would like to possess 
a copy of the Bible. They had never heard of such a 
book and we explained that it was about the life of 
Jesus. Men, women and children gathered around as we 
read the old, old story, and the unanimous opinion was 
that " it must be a good book," and they were easily in 
duced to purchase a copy. 

An old man of over seventy lived in the next house and 
as we read to him the story of Nicodemus he stopped in 
the midst of filling his pipe, with tobacco in one hand and 
knife in the other, and seemed so eager to catch every 
word. We left him a copy on approbation (one of De 
Sacy s translation, having on the title page letters of 
endorsement from Cardinal de Noailles, L Abbe Courcier 
and several other prominent men in the Roman Catholic 
church), and on calling the following week found that it 
had been burnt by order of the priest." 



LIGHT IN DARK PLACES. 95 

Surely such facts as these should stimulate all true 
believers in the Lord Jesus to more earnest, self-denying 
efforts for these unsaved ones in our midst. Never 
before " since the day when Our Lord s hands were 
nailed apart to embrace the whole world, has there 
been a greater need of heroism like that of Paul or 
Stephen. 

On every side surrounded by the light of the Gospel 
are thousands who have never heard the joyful news 
of salvation by faith in the finished work of Christ. Who 
then will help on this blessed work either by placing 
themselves at the disposal of the Holy Spirit to be fitted 
for an obedient, devoted and aggressive line of welfare 
against sin and error or by contributing to the support of 
the work. Too long has the Church ignored the last 
wish and command of her Lord, " Go thou into all the 
world and preach the Gospel." 

Too long has the pleading cry of Jesus, " Whom shall 
I send and who will go for us ? " been met with the reply 
u Here am I send him." God wants your money or your 
life for this work. Shall he not have it ? 

One month after the opening of the Hull Mission, 
March 3rd, 1890, the Ottawa Gospel Mission Union was 



96 LEAVES FROM A WORKER S NOTE BOOK. 

organized with a view to uniting under a Board of Man 
agement, the missions referred to and establishing such 
other agencies as might be used of God for redeeming the 
bodies and souls of those who seemingly cared little for 
either. 

Like the Young Men s Christian Asssociation and the 
British and Foreign Bible Society the Union is strictly 
evangelical and unsectarian, its membership consisting of 
men and women in good standing with the various 
evangelical churches who were deeply impressed by the 
necessity of more united aggressive efforts to spread the 
knowledge of the Gospel among the unevangelized 
thousands in our midst. It was felt that such work could 
only be done advantageously through co-operation on the 
part of Christians of all denominations. For obvious 
reasons no one church could do it effectually. The number 
of workers available would not be sufficient, and even if 
this were not so the fact of its being undertaken by a 
denomination would narrow the sphere of its operation. 

The work of the Union includes the missions at Anglesea 
and Cathcart Squares and Hull ; house to house visitation 
by Bible women, the publication and distribution of tracts 
having a local reference, special evangelistic meetings 



LIGHT IN DARK PLACES. 97 

in halls and churches, parlour Bible readings, cottage 
meetings, training classes for Christian workers, and last 
but not least the Gospel waggon . 

A large pleasure van is rented twice a week and filled 
with twenty-five or thirty earnest workers who take with 
them an organ, a cornet occasionally and a good 
supply of tracts and papers. Driving out to districts 
destitute of churches and missions they begin to sing 
bright, stirring gospel hymns with now and then a solo. 
Soon a crowd gathers and an interesting congregation it 
generally proves to be. Here stands a man in his shirt 
sleeves enjoying a quiet smoke, there is a woman in rags 
with a tiny baby in her arms, just opposite is a bar crowded 
with men who come out to hear the singing, even the bar 
tender with his long white apron stands at the door and 
for a time drinks in the pure clear air of heaven without 
the poisonous fumes of whiskey and tobacco. Quite near 
is a dancing hall where twenty or thirty couple are tripp 
ing the light fantastic, they rush to the windows and 
doors, regardless of the orders of the dancing master. 
Soon the whole space is covered with people willing to 
listen to the gospel. Scores of men are there who would not 
attend a place of worship if they could ; poor, over- worked 



98 LEAVES FROM A WORKER S NOTE BOOK. 

mothers are there who couldn t if they would, while way 
back in the darkness are ladies and gentlemen who hap 
pen to be passing and would like to listen without being 
seen, for the Nicodemuses are not all dead yet. Only 
those engaged in the work can fully realize what a 
privilege it is, to look into the sad, unsatisfied faces of these 
dear ones and speak to them of Jesus. All that Ottawa 
wants is more of Jesus and less of creeds and forms and 
ceremonies and what the Gospel Waggon seeks to do is 
to point the multitude to " the Lamb of God, which taketh 
away the sin of the world." 

While the meetings are being held tract distributers 
leave the van and mingle with the crowd when oppor 
tunities are afforded for personal dealing with souls. A 
young worker approaches a rough fellow, and offers him 
a tract, at first he refuses to accept it, and then calling to 
her, he says . 

" Say miss, I ll take it and read it too, if you believe in 
purgatory." 

" I do believe in purgatory," is the ready reply. ".Pur 
gatory means to purge, to cleanse, to purify, the blood of 
Jesus Christ is my purgatory, for it has cleansed me from 
all sin." Another is met with a request to visit a dying 



LIGHT IN DARK PLACES. 99 



mothe^ who is unsaved, while another receives a warm 
shake of the hand and an earnest " God bless you, take 
this toward the expenses of the work." 

Four meetings are generally held each evening during 
the summer months and thousands who would not be seen 
going into a church or mission in daylight, creep around 
under cover of darkness, pretending to be indifferent and 
listen to the singing and preaching of the truth. 

It is a recognized fact that the largest proportion of our 
city congregations are women ; and if men are to be 
reached the place to do it is out on the street. What 
right have we to say that the Gospel shall be preached in 
the churches or missions only and then say to the people 
if you do not come and get the Gospel where we put it, 
you may die in your sins ? Shall we not do as Jesus did, 
go to them and offer them the Gospel where they are ? 

Down through the ages comes the call, like a clarion 
peal from the trumpet of the great Captain of our Salva 
tion, " Go OUT QUICKLY INTO THE LANES AND STREETS 

OF THE CITY AND BRING IN HITHER THE POOR AND 

THE MAIMED AND THE BLIND." " Who then is willing 
to consecrate his service this day unto the Lord ? " 



RETROSPECTION 

AND ANTICIPATION., 

CHAPTER VI. 

TSAIAH was once permitted to have a little glimpse of 
"*" the glories of heaven and in his graphic description 
of the ministering spirits about the Throne, said : " Each 
one had six wings, with twain he covered his face, with 
twain he covered his feet and with twain he did fly." 

In looking back over these seven years of service for 
the Master with its failures and discouragements, its lost 
opportunities, its disappointments one feels like hiding 
the face like the seraphim from the praise and congratula 
tions of man and veiling the feet of all past services with 
the wings of higher aspiration and flying away to "regions 
beyond " to higher and harder things for God. 

" They turned not as they went ; they went every one 
straight forward." 

" Forward." Shall it be so ? 

This is a matter that each individual reader has a share 
in deciding. There are fields white to the harvest yet 
unoccupied for want of men and means. There are lost 
ones waiting and longing for deliverance from the power 
of sin. What has been accomplished is as nothing 



RETROSPECTION AND ANTICIPATION. IOI 

compared with what is yet undone. Never before was 
there such a need of direct effort to save souls. Time is short. 
Jesus is coming and He is calling to His own to consecrate 
their time, their means, their social influence, their 
opportunities their all to this blessed work. 

Young Women, will you not help " forward " in 
building up a Christian Association, the sacred influence 
of which will be felt in all ranks of society not only in this 
city but throughout the length and breadth of the 
Dominion ? 

Mothers, as you look into the pure sweet faces of your 
own dear sons and daughters will you not help to carry 
forward the glad message of salvation " into the darkest 
and saddest dens of sin and sorrow in this city and 
bring some mother s boy or girl out to breathe the 
sweet fresh air of holiness and let the sunlight of heaven 
fall upon their pale, sweet faces and gladden their 
crushed and blighted lives ? Forward ! Until in an 
ever increasing multitude of hearts and homes our King 
is " loved, honored and obeyed." 

Fathers, brothers, will you not help forward in 
maintaining a perpetual evangelistic society in the Mission 
Union. Churches are engrossed in their Sunday schools, 



102 LEAVES FROM A WORKER S NOTE BOOK. 

their Young People s Societies, their prayer meetings 
and other agencies for the edification of their members, 
all of which are so necessary ; but who will help to 
reach out after the churchless ? Who will help to bring 
Christ to a Christless Christianity ? 

The need is felt not only for workers, but means with 
which to build "three tabernacles," one without delay 
for the Young Women s Christian Association ; one be 
fore 1896 for friendless women ; and one before 1898 for 
the work of the Mission Union, with a large auditorium 
where evangelistic meetings would be held every night 
and discharged male prisoners and " out of works " fur 
nished with cheap board and lodging and with tem 
porary employment in an adjoining wood yard or broom 
factory. 

The Master is bidding His servants " go straight 
forward." He is offering them grand opportunities of 
expressing their love and devotion to Him in the sacrifice 
of their time and means, and He will not fail to reward 
them. 

We read that in the dark days when the returned 
captives were slowly struggling to rebuild Jerusalem, a 
few friends came from Babylon bringing treasures of gold 



RETROSPECTION AND ANTICIPATION. 103 

to aid their brethren in the erection of the temple. The 
gifts were received and a beautiful memorial was prepared, 
the gold moulded into crowns, bearing the names of the 
givers and placed on the head of the high priest and then 
hung up in the Temple of the Lord in remembrance of 
their sacrifice of love. Beautiful type of the honor God 
will give to those who give Him gladly of their means. 
It grows into crowns in the heavenly Temple, which Jesus 
is not ashamed to wear as an everlasting memorial. 

" A little while," for winning souls to Jesus, 
Ere yet we see His beauty face to face ; 

A little while for healing soul diseases, 
By telling others of a Saviour s grace. 

" A little while " to tell the story, 

Of Him who made our guilt and curse His own, 
" A little while " ere we behold the glory, 

To gain fresh jewels for our heavenly crown. 

Tis but a little while, the way is dreary, 

The night is dark, but we are nearing land ; 

Oh ! for the rest of heaven, for we are weary, 
And long to mingle with the deathless band. 

F. R. H. 



SUBSCRIBE FOR 

The Friend = 



)F TH] 



= Friendless 



AN INDEPENDENT MONTHLY JOURNAL 

EDITED BY THE AUTHOR 

AND 

Devoted to the dissemination of the Gospel, 
the culture of the Christian life, and to 
aggressive evangelistic and rescue work. 



TERMS: Five cents per copy; fifty 
cents per year. 




TERMS : House linen and ordinary articles 
of underwear, 30 cents per dozen. 
Starched clothes extra. Lace curtains 
a specialty. 

Parcels called for and delivered to any 
part of the city. 

Further information may be obtained 
by telephone, or from the matron. 

HOME FOR FRIENDLESS WOMEN, 

412 Wellington Street. 



THE FOLLOWING 

Having a local 
reference and 
suitable for distribution among the unsaved, 
can be obtained at the office of the 




No. 98 ALBERT STREET, 
OTTAWA. 



THE PRODIGAL SON AND His IMITATORS 
By C. F. 5 cents per dozen or 35 
cents per 100. 

FAILED By B, H. W, 5 cents per dozen 
or 35 cents per 100. 

THE BEE AND THE BONNET By B. H. W. 
5 cents per dozen or 3 5 cents per 100.