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His instruments to the one great end. And not only do natural parts thus differ among the true servants of God, but also spiritual gifts. The Apostle Paul devotes 1 Cor. xii. to this subject: "One," he says, "has more especially the gift of wisdom, another the word of knowledge, another faith, another gifts of healing, &c. But all these worketh to one and the self-same Spirit, dividing to every man severally as He will." This is a deeply important truth. We are all exceedingly apt to misjudge or undervalue those whose gifts or graces differ from our own; and we do well to lay to heart that there are " Diversities of gifts but the same Spirit; and there are differences of ministries, but the same Lord."

"GOD WILL SEE IT."

BY A. M.

ANY have heard of the little servant maid who, when asked to prove that she really loved Jesus, said: "I always sweep under the mats now." But I wonder if you know another story which illustrates the same blessed truth which comes into the verse-"Not with eye service as men-pleasers, but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart" (Eph. vi. 6). A Grecian sculptor was carving a statue which was to stand in a niche in a heathen temple. Many around him were surprised to see that he took just as much pains with the back part of the statue as with that part which was to be in front. They said: 66 Why are you so careful about that part? It has to stand in a niche and it will not be seen." "Because the gods will see it," he replied. Heathen though he was he worked not as a "man-pleaser." May we not learn a beautiful lesson from him? How perfectly would our work be done, whatever it may be, if we did even the tiniest and the most common-place details of it-details which will perhaps be wholly unseen by others—with the pure motive, "God will see it."

We have entered another year. Let us ask our Lord in deep humility to forgive us the many failures of our work in the past-the many times we have worked as men-pleasers only; and let us ask Him in the future so to purify our motives that as the "servants of Christ," we may do His will from the heart.

Let us now turn from our work to Christ's present glorious work -the building of His Temple. Those who have visited the beautiful cathedral at Milan know how perfectly finished off is each of the

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numberless figures, even on the top, where perhaps one would expect work to have been more roughly done "for effect." Does not this remind us of the perfection of Christ's work in His Temple? Of how He is fitting and preparing, polishing and chiselling each individual stone for his or her place (Eph. v. 27., ii. 10., iii. 21, 22).

"The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me.' Shall we not yield to Him and trust Him?

Did you ever think of the individual responsibility in the last clause of Psa. xxix. 9: "In His Temple doth every one speak of His glory;" margin -"every whit of it uttereth His glory." Are we each doing this?

But the end of our verse has a lesson of its own. “Doing the will of God from the heart." What happy lives we should have if we were always and simply doing His will from our very heart! Do you remember the way Hezekiah did his work? (2 Chr. xxx. 21.)

I never think of this verse without another that a dear friend linked with it years ago as her farewell to me, when she was going to a new and distant home. Will you always think of the two together also? and may they be as great a blessing and help to you as they have been to me. "Not with eye-service as men-pleasers, but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart." "For whosoever shall do the will of God the same is My brother, and My sister, and My mother," (Mark iii. 35).

CHINESE WOMEN AT HOME.

BY MISS M'LEAN.

"How shall I follow Him I serve?"

T is to hearts in which this question is rising that I write this plea for China, and not for China only, but for heathen lands everywhere. For the great need of all lands and all ages is the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and, consciously or unconsciously, the whole heathen world is saying, "Come over and help us."

In the hope of encouraging and stimulating a response to this call among my Christian sisters, I would add my quota to the much that has already been written and spoken on the subject of female effort in the Mission field.

After eleven years' experience of work among the women of China, I have no hesitation in stating that I have found them as easy of access as those of the lower classes at home. The larger part of my time was given to day-schools for girls, and through the girls I had access to

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their mothers. A visit to the homes of the mothers affords the best opportunities for spreading from house to house the to them new story of a Saviour's love. For in each house one can have quite a congregation in the large court into which the entrance door opens, and around which are the several apartments of the different branches of the family to the third and fourth generation. At once the cry goes round on garrulous tongues that the foreign teacher has come, and all turn into the large ting or reception hall opening on to the court. Then tea is served, and questions are set on foot about country, relatives, and the motives which could have led to the abandoning of these for a life among strangers. And so the way is paved to tell of Him who made all things in heaven and in earth. To tell how He who made men, loved them, and sent His only Son to save them from the lost condition into which sin had brought them.

To the Chinese mind, "the Creator," "Heaven," "the Devil," "Sin," and "Hell," are facts, and but rarely a trial of faith. I have never heard the certainty of an eternal state called into question in China by man or woman, either learned or unlearned. Such visits as those to which I have alluded have been frequent in my experience, and very happy were they, while I remembered that the message carried by the human voice might be the Holy Spirit's opportunity to secrete some seed in a heart where, "after many days," the timid sower might prove the joyous reaper. I can think of several converts as the fruit of these visits; though, as a whole, it was a work which I had to leave in the hands of the Divine Husbandman, and under the eye of the Holy Spirit, who said, "Blessed are they that sow beside all waters." I allude to them in order to show what may be effected by a weak woman by means simply of day-schools for girls.

Adjoining the premises on which I lived, there was a Mission Hospital, in which there were a few in-patients, but more out-patients, who were in the habit of coming on stated days to receive medical attention. The women used to wait their turn for nearly two hours in a small mission-room attached to my house, and thus an excellent opportunity of speaking to them was afforded to me, and to the Bible-woman whom I employed. These out-patients came from distant country places to which I could not go; and often, through reports taken home by them, others would come to hear for themselves. In this branch of the work

I can recall no less than seven instances in which men and women were led to give up idolatrous delusions, and profess their faith in Christ.

I had also a weekly class for women who had become converts; and, as a rule, each woman was in the habit of bringing a friend or neigh

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bour with her. I have rarely found a strong attachment to idolatrous practices an obstacle to their embracing Christianity. On the contrary, they appeared to have little or no faith in their heathen religions; and, constantly, in each other's presence, they would concur in all that I had to say about the folly and unsatisfactoriness of idolatry, and would add, "Yes, it is all vague and empty." Their chief difficulty appeared to me the giving up of ancestral worship, or, as they call it, filial piety. Not unfrequently confessed converts are found among those who annually make a public demonstration at the ancestral tombs; and often, those who are ready to take their stand on the side of Christ, stumble at this juncture, for it has always been a pious habit with them to do homage to their departed friends. The abandoning of the practice is, and will always be, to them as the plucking out of a right eye or the cutting off of a right hand.

The training of my two assistants was another part of the work. They came to me for two hours daily, when I read the Scriptures with them, and endeavoured to explain them. The work of these assistants was to go from house to house and find out any who desired a visit from me, and then lead me to them. I have already said that in Chinese homes one can have quite a congregation, for the Chinese have no idea of keeping their friends to themselves; all the neighbours are at liberty to share the visit.

"KEEP YOURSELVES IN THE LOVE OF GOD."!

Keep yourselves in the love of God," in the pure light of His love. Lay yourselves out in His love, as the little birds after the storm' spread out their wet wings in the new warmth of the sun. Lay out every weak and worn-out energy, every tired faculty; spread out every long disappointment, all your years of sickness and soreness of spirit, all your drooping powers-right out in the near sunshine of the Father's own loving gaze. For what is it that a Father's tender heart and. loving eye looks for first but the wounded place on which to spend His chiefest care? (From "A New Start," by the Rev. C. A. Fox),

CONNEMARA AND DUBLIN.-Several very warmly welcomed gifts have come in, making many hearts glad; among others one of £5 for the blankets in the Orphanage, which has caused great joy, as the lady in charge of Glenowen, the Girls' Orphanage, writes that the terrible gale of Nov. 21, much injured the roof, and the rain poured in. They cannot fully repair until spring, so that the blankets are doubly welcome, and some beds at least are secured against the cold. Further details will be given in February. Meanwhile, the following anonymous gifts are most deeply thanked for, received by S. M. Nugent:-M. S. C., 5s; R. H., 8d; Thank-offering from a poor woman, 3s; 24,066, 2s. 6d; F. C., 2s. 6d; E. G., 2s. and cards; East Grinstead, 5s; Mrs. H., 1s; 14,603, 6d; 9,537, 58; Hugh and Emma, 4s; (S. M. Nugent would much like to know "A Happy Mother's " address). Those received by Lady Lighton and Miss Davies will be given in February.