theories too far, considers that it would be most desirable to explain to the middle and upper classes, through lectures, the disadvantages of alcohol as it is daily used. Sir Henry Thompson, asked whether we should all be better without drinking alcohol at all when we are in health, replies, "All is a very compre. hensive term: but I think the great majority of persons would be better without it. I conform to that principle myself, and act solely with a view to attaining the best possible health." The testimony of Dr. Richardson is still more emphatic, and in the same direction. THE RAILROAD AS A MISSIONARY PIONEER. THE Allgemeine Missions-Zeitschrift, a monthly journal of missions, published under the direction of Dr. Christlieb, professor at Bonn, and other eminent German divines, has recently reviewed the second series of "Recollections" of the German missionary Leupolt, who was for more than thirty years in the service of the English Church Missionary Society at Benares, India. Our German contemporary says: "We give our readers a specimen selected from that portion which relates to the changes wrought in India within the last thirty years, especially through the agency of railroads. After giving to us a highly amusing description of the impressions received by a native from the first locomotive which he had seen, as communicated to his own people, the good missionary proceeds as follows:-The railroads have taught the natives a lesson of punctuality. They have learned that it will not do for them to come half an hour too late, as they had been accustomed to do; for they soon found that an express train will not wait even for a Babu, no matter how rich or distinguished. Moreover, the inexorable railway pays no respect to caste. Natives of all classes sit mingled together in the cars; and although this sort of intermingling has not destroyed the laws of caste, it has, nevertheless, done much to weaken their force. Some time ago, continues Leupolt, I had a conversation with an intelligent native on the subject. He remarked: Modern science, with all its practical results, including the railway, is opposed to our religion.' 'But,' I replied, what has the railway to do with your religion?' 'Oh, very much,' he answered. You know we have no longer scarcely a vestige of religious faith; we are only held together by our customs and our castes. Any one may believe what he chooses, if only he remains faithful to custom and caste. But the railway has laid the axe at the root even of these. Formerly, when any one wished to take a journey or make a pilgrimage, he consulted an astrologer, to learn when he must set out in order to insure a happy result. Now he must consult the time-table, and learn from the bell and whistle when to start on his journey. Presently he becomes hungry and thirsty. The Englishman who is sitting near him produces his basket and begins to partake of his lunch. But what is the poor native to do? The train will not halt, so that he can withdraw from those in whose company custom does not allow him to eat and drink. But hunger is even more exacting than tradition; and so there is nothing left for him to do except to follow the Englishman's example, and eat. But how with regard to satisfying his thirst? Cups of water are offered for sale at the windows of the car. The traveller has, however, no time to learn to what caste the vender belongs. So he tosses him a copper, and takes the cup and drinks. Strange to say, moreover, our Brahmans teach us that we can do this without violating the spirit of the Shaster; but do not ask me where the permission is given, for I much fear Notices. Literary communications, Books for review, &c., to be addressed to the Rev. WILLIAM TAYLOR, M.A. Business Letters and Orders for the Publications, with Money Orders, TO BE ADDRESSED TO JOHN MACFARLANE, MANAGER, DRUMMOND'S TRACT DEPOT, STIRLING, NB., from whom specimens of the Fublications, with Catalogue, may be had, post free. THE RARITY OF CONVERSIONS. The Christian Era, a periodical devoted to the revival of religion in the Congregationalist churches, says, "It is acknowledged on every hand that the present is a time of spiritual dearth in almost all the evangelical denominations of Christendom. The decrease of over three thousand members which the Wesleyan Methodists have to acknowledge in their recent Conference is, we believe, indicative of the state of the denominations generally. Go where we will, speak with whom we may, there is the same sad complaint of scantiness of results in the matter of conversions to Christ. Why is this? Can it be that God is unable or unwilling to save? A thousand times 'No.' He is the almighty God, and His grace is as powerful now as when three thousand were converted on the day of Pentecost. And He willeth that all men should be saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth.' His sovereignty interposes no obstacle in the way of the salvation of men. Every attribute of His nature is on the side of salvation, and every longing of His gracious heart is that men may return to Him, and find in Him their Friend and their Father. Can it be that the gospel has lost its power? On the contrary, we find that those ministers or evangelists who are most successful as winners of souls, are those who preach the gospel with the greatest simplicity and completeness, and who have few of the adventitious aids which are thought to be so necessary,--such as fine music and beautiful places of worship. Can it be that there is any want in the human heart which Christ cannot satisfy? Again our answer is 'No.' "The causes of non-success, or partial success, are not in God, or in the provisions of His grace. They are in us who are His people. We have been trusting in human oratory, in intellectual preaching, in moral essays, in beautiful music, in stately architecture, in worldly influence,-in a hundred different things, instead of in the Holy Spirit. Or, we have lost our intensity of earnestness and the ardour of our longing for the salvation of men. We have spent too much time in discussing the future of the lost, and in speculating whether, after all, damnation be so terrible as it has been thought to be. The consequences of this fruitless speculation have been disastrous to all concerned. They have blunted the edge of Christian zeal, and they have hardened the sinner in his sin. Or, again, we have been restraining prayer before God. We have not stirred up ourselves to take hold on God. Our hearts have grown cold or lukewarm. We have shared too much the joys of the world, and too little the tears of the Man of sorrows. Thus, as the visible and temporal have gained influence over us, the unseen and eternal have lost their power, and have, at times, well-nigh receded from the horizon of our faith. Or, lastly, we have been bickering and quarrelling about denominational differences, instead of cultivating a spirit of charity towards those who think differently from us and worship in different form from ourselves. Thus, we have grieved the Spirit, broken our communion with God, and brought over our souls a cold, dark cloud of sin. 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Printed by WALTER GRAHAM BLACKIE (residing at No. 1 Belhaven Terrace. Parish of Govan, at his Printing-Office, Villafield. in the Parish of Barony. NOVEMBER, 1879.-New Series, No. 11. PRICE ONE PENNY. THE BRITISH MESSENGER. Published Monthly by the Trustees of the late PETER DRUMMOND, at the THE ARREST. "You are wanted!" "You are wanted!" I turned round quickly, and saw that the speaker was an officer of the law, and that his words were addressed to a person on the street, habited in the extreme fashion of a gentleman's morning wear, who was engaged in purchasing flowers from two little girls at the moment of the disagreeable interruption. His look had something sinister, suggesting the idea of a gentleman swindler. He was evidently much startled, and his first impulse seemed to be to resist. But apparently on second thoughts he felt that this would be useless, and he sullenly accompanied his captor. I watched them moving on together, until at the corner of the street they passed out of sight. The scene haunted my mind all the way home, and in the house I could not get rid of it. As I followed the prisoner in imagination, from his arrest to his appearance before a magistrate, I thought of another arrest I had often read of. It was that of the Apostle Paul. I thought how, when on his way to Damascus breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the followers of the Lord Jesus, he was stricken down by divine power, and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks." And I thought of the blessed consequences of that arrest how the persecutor became the captive of redeeming grace, and the willing prisoner of Christ, led in triumph by Him through the world, and "making manifest the savour of his knowledge in every place." Then my thoughts turned homewards, and became personal to myself: I thought of an arrest in which I myself was interested, and of the trial I must myself abide. As I meditated, I think I slept: at all events, my meditations shaped themselves into vivid forms like those which pass before the inward eye in the visions of the night. I saw a man walking at ease along the highway of life, occupying himself now in business and now in pleasure. By a mysterious sympathy, I seemed to enter into his consciousness as if he were another self, so that I read what was passing in his mind. He was walking after the sight of his eyes and the desires of his heart, pleasing himself, and thoughtless of any law to which he was subject, or any authority to call him to account. He was on his way, as I somehow knew, to fulfil an appointment with a companion in evil pleasure, when suddenly a hand was laid on him that stopped him, and a voice sounded in his ears that filled him with terror. He would have shaken off the hand, and drowned the voice, but could not; for the hand was the hand (as I seemed to know intuitively) of Providence, visiting him with a pang of sickness that brought with it the fear of instant death; and the voice was the voice of Conscience, telling him that for all these things that he was doing God would bring him into judgment. The scene changed. It was now in court. I saw One seated on a judgment throne, whose form I could not discern-only it was full of majesty. A book lay open before him, and the man I had seen was at the bar. An officer-the same who had arrested him— was bearing witness against him; telling how he had followed him day after day in all his movements and had watched him in all his haunts, and that he had seen him commit many evil things. And then a second officer testified that he had as a subordinate accompanied the first, and had by his order kept a faithful record of the prisoner's doings-which record he now produced in court, in confirmation of all that the first witness had said. The man at the bar at first attempted a denial; but this evidence confounded him, and he became speechless. Against the testimony of memory-his own memory-what could he say, in a court where his own conscience was accuser? He began to tremble exceedingly; and when at length he spoke, it was to utter a piercing cry for mercy. Again the scene changed. It was now a prison cell. In the gloom, I saw a man prostrate on the ground and moaning in despair. Suddenly a light gleamed through the grating, the door opened, and One entered. That face! I could not tell whether there was in it more of majesty or of tender pity. He spoke, and there was in the tones of his voice that which hushed the prisoner's moans and made him look upwards. "You are lost," were the words uttered, and O how compassionately! "You are justly condemned; the law requires your death. But the King has no pleasure in your death; he has sent me to tell you so, and has empowered me to administer his mercy. I am in all his counsels, and know his will. He has intrusted me with this mission, because he knows I pity you, and will not spare myself to deliver you; He knows also that his law, which you have violated, is dear to me, and that I will not save you unrighteously; he knows too, that while I will not be deterred by your unworthiness from saving you, neither will I, when I save you, permit you to return to your evil ways, but will on the contrary teach you to forsake them. You know not, you can never know how much it has cost me to find lawful entrance into your prison on such an errand as this what humiliation, what shame, what agony it has cost me in your stead! But it is done; and now you may be saved-in one way. Accept of my mediation; for I have in your stead acknowledged the justice of the law that has condemned you, and have satisfied it; trust me, as my Father has trusted me; and I will be surety to you for your pardon, and surety to him that you will henceforth live a life of loyal obedience. In token that you accept my offer, and commit yourself to me, give me your hand." And the gracious Prince held out his hand. Strange to say, the wretched prisoner hesitated to take it. Pride, prompting him to spurn the Sovereign's grace; self-will, unwilling to yield itself to his authority; the innate love and long habit of evil, dreading to have to renounce those pleasant ways, and shrinking from the immediate beginning of a new life; and distrust-engendered by the twofold influence of a guilty conscience and an evil heart, and making such grace and love incredible,—all these rose strong within him, and contended against the urgent motives to yield. Though there was the terror of death, though there was the royal message of mercy, though a voice within told him he ought to seize the opportunity of quitting his evil life; though there was a mightier influence still, the presence of that loving messenger of mercy who had stooped so low and suffered so much for him-he hesitated. I know not how long his hesitation continued. seemed very long, until I thought the royal visitor would certainly withdraw in anger. But, wonderful to relate, he did not! to relate, he did not! He waited, with eyes of pity, and with pleading words; waited-till he overcame. With gentle force He took the prisoner's hand in His own; and then at last, vanquished and melted by this crowning tenderness, the man allowed him to take it; nay ventured, while with mingled shame and It trust he looked up into his deliverer's face, to return the pressure of his hand. And so I knew that he was safe. And now I heard the Prince issue a command to his officers. In a moment, the prison door was thrown wide open, and the light and atmosphere of heaven streamed in. And one of the officers (I recognized him as the same who had arrested the criminal and borne chief evidence against him—the officer whose name was Conscience) I saw him, at the Prince's bidding, lift the prisoner from the ground and tell him he was free. And at the Prince's further bidding, the same official, his face beaming with satisfaction in the performance of the duty now laid on him, accompanied the released prisoner out of the cell, and walked with him along the highway of life, no longer as a stern keeper, but as a friendly protector, teacher, and guide. He kept the man's former evil companions at a distance, he warned him against evil ways, he instructed him in the way he should go, he admonished him (with severity when needful) every time he went wrong, and he smiled on him complacently when he gave proof of his new loyalty to the King; at the same time he impressed him often with his obligation to the Sovereign's mercy and the Surety's love. Nor was he the only attendant given by the Prince to wait on the pardoned man. The other witness, Memory, still accompanied him with his record; but, opposite the narrative of evil deeds, that kept the man humble every time he read them, there were now written down, in resplendent letters, the meritorious works and sufferings of his Surety, making him very glad. Hope also accompanied him with a heavenly light, to encourage him to walk in the good way; and Love now prompted him to run in the service of his Lord. I saw him running joyfully on; and as I looked I awoke, and behold! it was more than a dream. TREASURE-TROVE; OR, A WANDERER'S LESSONS FROM LIFE. III. HOW TO BENEFIT INFIDELS. HAVING in my last paper mentioned some cases of hopeful dealings with sceptics, let me now refer to a few other incidents, showing how we may hope, by God's grace, to be of some service to infidels. A bright young artist rises before me. He was by birth and education a Romanist, outwardly conforming to the dominant faith, but, like hundreds besides, quite sceptical. He was a good son and kind brother, and (as far as I knew) with no outwardly vicious habits. Being a good pianist and exceptionally skilled at drafts and chess, he was a favourite with men of all ranks and sects of different nationalities. He was one of that type of men whom earnest Christians specially rejoice to see becoming believers, because they expect they will prove diamonds of the first water. The men and women around him were little else than human butterflies, living for pleasure. Few either of the Protestants or of the Roman Catholics whom he met commanded much of his respect. As a generous man of honor, he had already used his brush to satirize some of the prevalent insincerities of the confessional and worship of the Romanists; and I well remember the unmeasured scorn with which he told me of a transaction he had had with a very conspicuous Protestant, who, when leaving the city, had sold him some goods, and delivered them to him for removal privately on the Lord's day. I in reply censured his own act; not believe in any such obligation as that gentleman but he answered that he made no profession, and did professed to be under. It was painful to be forced to own, that, in so far, the sceptic was more righteous than the professed Christian. But I took advantage of the scorn he felt for inconsistency and wrong-doing, to urge him to do justice to GOD's claim on himself. He was silenced, and evidently moved. Thus then it appears that a first condition of a man's doing good to infidels, is, that they shall have time and full and fair opportunity to take stock of his own ways. They will not listen till sure of his sincerity in speaking; but they respect one who speaks to them so. Milk-and-water Christian lives they do not understand. Alas for the poor man who, when asked by an infidel neighbour whether he really believed him to be such a sinner as to be in danger of everlasting misery, and answering that he did, received the reply that had he-the infidel-believed so regarding him, he would not have allowed him to remain so many years unwarned. We need to be always abiding in Jesus, that the warm glow of HIS would be free of their blood. They may not at first love to souls may be ever flushing our cheeks, if we understand, and so they may resent or sneer; but I have never yet met a sceptic who would not give you a hearing if quite sure you were in earnest, and if spoken to becomingly. Unofficial Christians have undoubtedly, at first, a certain advantage with the irreligious of all classes, because it takes them a shorter time to get alongside the foe; provided they are able prayerfully to pour a heavy enough broadside in Christ's name on defiant unbelief. If a sceptic begins the assault, the humblest believer need not fear but that a swift cry to Heaven will bring some polished stone into his sling that will go straight to the brow of unbelief. I was once preaching out of doors, in a village two miles from the city where I lived, in company with one of a firm that employed three hundred workmen. Whilst I was speaking, my companion encountered a scoffer, who threw in his face the taunt that we would not have taken all that trouble for nothing. When informed of the facts, however, he asked us into his house. I looked at his books; and seeing who his sceptical godfather was, gave him quietly some information on points that lay in the direction of his studies, but that were beyond his authors; and I went on to deal with his own position. At parting, he assured us that if all ministers had spoken with him as reasonably, he would have had less difficulty. He afterwards consented to read the narrative of the young Irishman in Spencer's Pastoral Sketches, and owned that it overthrew his atheism. I leave this story to utter its own moral. Another point or two comes out in the case of the Danish gentleman from Copenhagen of whom I have |