An effort for Church Endowment.

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"Lowestoft, 25th May, 1876.

"Dear Sir, I promised to give towards increasing the endowment of Flitcham £10 for every £90 raised up to £500; which sum was to be offered, as a benefaction, to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, to be met by a grant from the Common Fund.

"Whenever you are prepared to pay the £450 to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, I will pay £50 to them.

"The Rev. B. O'Malley."

"Your faithful servant,

"JOHN T. NORWICH."

"This is my case, and I have faith in you as English gentlemen to give an honest verdict, that the Living was poor before I took it; and that my Bishop, who started my movement with £50, and that my patron, who began my endowment effort with £20 a year, have arranged all this for me. So between my Bishop's sum of £50 and my patron's £20 a year, I trust you will give the £5 to my church. In conclusion, I thank you for your patience with my story for my disendowed church."

Here is what the Squire and his guests said in reply to my speech, before they gave me the £5, for which I was at work. "We are all agreed that the Living was poor before you took it; that it had been kept poor on purpose by Henry VIII. and his party in order to keep the vicars in subjection to the farmers and others; that you are the only successful vicar who got £20 a year from the good patron; and that you had no alternative but the course which you have pursued, as your livelihood, which you made by taking duty in other churches, was taken away,

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Winning £5 for the Church.

contrary to the terms under which you took the Living. We praise you for having paid the expenses required by the good patron for his proposal to give £20 a year permanently to the church, for the benefit of all future vicars. We blame those, whoever they be, who clamoured to put double duty upon you, without paying you a guinea for it. In our opinion, you should never cease to try to get compensation for the way you have been treated for having done so much good for future vicars in that church. We wish you God speed!"

The Squire then handed me the £5. I did not thank him or his guests for the money, as I had earned it; for it was on condition of making my case good by documents and facts that I got it. I thank God always for all He gives me, because I deserve nothing from Him; for even the good thoughts and desires, and the first beginning of good in me, have come from the Holy Ghost, and I have not deserved His presence, nor His grace, nor the pardon of my many sins in the Saviour's blood.

CHAPTER XXXII.

A sermon upon multitude of thoughts and God's comforts-The state of the sinner when first awakened-The effects of conversion-The sinner who sings his prayers makes God of himself-The mark of the holy man-The true source of the victory Christ won over the devil-God's comforts could not be what is called "the means of grace"-The folly of depending on ourselves for help, as we have no control over those things which cause us to commit sin-Worldly rank, or unchecked passions, the source of most troubles-Suffering not always a proof of guilt-Sins of ignorance not forgiven— Troubles attending COURT Systems-David's comforts.

N°

OW that my labours and trials were coming to an end, I took to my pulpit, and preached the following sermon, choosing for my text Psalm xciv. 19, "In the multitude of my thoughts within me, Thy comforts delight my soul."

Oh! miserable sinful brethren, I cried, when the lost sinner is first brought to see his terrible state, he flies to God, as if he was falling headlong into hell; and even the strong Christian, when sorely pressed by the world, the flesh, and the devil, runs to Christ for protection. When God converted Paul, he cried "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" When Isaiah saw the Lord he could not help crying out, "Woe! is me, for I am undone." The jailor cried, "What must I do to be saved?" I myself when I became converted (and blessed be God for this comfort) felt greatly disturbed about my sins, and about the proper way of coming to

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What takes place in conversion.

God for deliverance. I have heard several, when awakened by God's grace, after having heard a sermon, saying on their way home "Lord have mercy on us!" In my ministry, I have known the result of finding out by God's grace that the soul is bound fast in sin. In every case the penitent pleaded guilty, cried for mercy, and fled to Jesus and his blood as his only refuge and comfort. In conversion, hell appears to us, the conscience is smitten, the soul is disturbed, our lost state and God's horror of sin are shewn to us, and we make, with God helping us, supernatural efforts to obtain mercy and comfort for our soul. The soul is dead and estranged from God until these things take place, and until it feels miserable for having displeased God. The unconverted think it is miserable to see the soul distracted in this way; but they know no better, and they cannot be taught while they are in this unchanged state, because “the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, neither can he know them" (1 Cor. ii. 14).

It is a fact that a woman, a few years ago, saw the baby, which was her only child, falling into the mouth of bears at Dublin, when she leaned over the wall (while holding the baby) to look at them. She forgot the infant while thinking of the bears, and so her baby dropped down, and in an instant was eaten by them in her presence. Like the mother forgetting her child, the unconverted man has been forgetful of his soul, and he loses it while it should be his first concern. His mind and heart have been occupied about the savage monsters of his fallen nature, and his untamed passions, which keep him riveted in forgetfulness of his soul

How conversion shows itself.

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and of God. This woman's condition, on the occasion, as I was told for a fact, was one apparently between going out of her mind and dropping dead at the sight. Well, the sinner when first made to feel that his soul is lost is in a similar plight. He has agony, despair, and woe. Those who are not converted themselves cannot realize this state; but I can, and if they will not believe that conversion, in many, if not in all cases, does produce outward changes as well as a new state in the soul within, I refer them to the conversion of Paul. This convert trembled, fell to the earth, became blind, and went without food for three days on the occasion of his conversion. Stubborn Paul was obliged to yield against his will to God's conversion ; and these were the consequences of God's grace overpowering his natural bad will, and subduing his passions.

When the sinner is really converted he will speak to God, though tremblingly, without singing his prayers like High Church people and Cathedral clergy. Singing implies merriment (Jas. v. 13), and feeling proud of one's self. Laughter arises from consciousnesss of having power, or of having gained a victory. Singing or laughter arises from a state of mind which feels superiority over something. Those who sing their prayers are little gods, and they do not pray at all. I have been at many death-beds, but I have never yet known a dying sinner to address God by singing. Prayers should be said, and that with a heartfelt sorrow for sin, and matters of praise should be humbly sung. It was Herod who gave not God the glory of what he enjoyed, and, for making himself to be God, his reward