I. ASSOCIATES to be of the Church of England (no such restriction being made as to Members), and the organization of the Society to follow as much as possible that of the Church, being diocesan, ruridecanal, and parochial.

II. Associates (Working and Honorary), and Members, to contribute annually to the funds; the former not less than 2s. 6d. a-year, the latter not less than 6d. a-year. Members' payments to go to the Central Fund.

III. No girl who has not borne a virtuous character to be admitted as a Member; such character being lost, the Member to forfeit her Card.

6. E. S. Record.

HE readers of any of our G. F. S. papers will have seen notices for some months past that the correspondence and arrangements for the G. F. S. Flower Mission are undertaken by Miss Minty, The Spain,' Petersfield, and we gladly make known this month how very much the flowers that have been sent are enjoyed by the Sick Members.

The following extracts from a few of the letters will show both where flowers have come from and where they go :

'HAVING read in the Friendly Leaves for this month about flowers for Sick Members of the G. F. S., I write to say that I shall be very happy to know of any who would like some, as I think I might be able to get some during the next few months. I am a Member of the Branch, but my home is in the country

G. F. S. RECORD

G. F. S. FOR IRELAND

G. F. S. CALENDAR: JUNE

THE SPIRITUAL LIFE

CONTENTS.

BESSIE'S ENGAGEMENT. By C. R. Coleridge. MUSIC-' Parted.'

NOBLE WOMANHOOD. By Caroline M. Hallett. SUMMER WIND. By R. Ć. M.

[PRICE

PRICE TWOPENCE. Post Free 24d.

THE WORKSHOP AND WORK BASKET. By A. C.-III. HOME

THE TOWER OF LONDON

WINDOW GARDENING FOR JULY AND AUGUST

THE FURNISHED HOUSE. BY C. E. Ollivant.

THE BABOON. By J. Swart

A GERMAN SPA. By M. E. Townsend

NEW G. F. S. BRANCH AT OLDHAM

P. 145

147

148

148

Chapter VII.

149

152

Chapters XIII., XIV. 153

155

All Communications for the Editors of FRIENDLY WORK should be addressed to the care of the Secretary, G. F. S. Central Office, 3 Victoria Mansions, Victoria Street, Westminster, s.w.

and my mother sends me flowers, and I should very much like to help others to get a few.'

'I HAVE just begun to take in the monthly number of Friendly Leaves, but have been a Member since 1879, and have had a great longing to be of some use to some one. I have just found out that I can help, if you will aid me first by sending me a few names and addresses of the Sick Members that I could send a few flowers to. I cannot aid the Society as I should like, as I am only a young servant and have not the means, but I really could send flowers or help in little deeds, and maybe some day I may be able to be of more use to the G. F. S.'

'IN our May number of Friendly Leaves I see that flowers are wanted, and as I am in Dorset for one week only I would greatly enjoy the pleasure of gathering some for those who are in want. I thought it would be a great opportunity for me, as I am a nursery-maid and here with two young ladies. I cannot send any later than this next week, and as the

HAT is the Spiritual Life? A life to which the Invisible is a greater reality than the visible; a life which is drawn from unseen sources, and is carried on by unseen agencies, and leads to unseen ends the life of the Holy Ghost in a man's soul: a life in which Spirit deals with spirit: a life which has Heaven as its scope, Holiness as its path, and the glory of God as its aim.

All spiritual life springs from union with Christ. Union with Christ! Christ in me, and I in Christ! A thought too high, too wonderful for us to conceive, if God had not clearly revealed it. But Christ Himself has said it, 'I am the Life;' and Christ prayed it, 'I in them and Thou in Me;' and St. Paul attested it, 'I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me;' and every saint has set his seal to it: The life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God.' It is not a Christ I copy; it is not a Christ outside me, giving me life from above, but a Christ in me, who is my life, my true life, my higher life, the life worthy of my immortality. Christ did not say, 'I am the stem, and ye are the branches,' but, 'I am the Vine,' the whole vine, stem and branches; and if I am not in the branch, that branch is dead.

Our natural life furnishes an apt illustration of our spiritual life. All the physical life of a man lies in the head. From the head run little cords, almost innumerable, and of exquisite fine

ness, to every spot in the body, and from every spot in the body little cords again run back to the head. The little cords running up to the head carry intelligence to the head of everything which causes pain or pleasure in that spot from which they come, and the little cords running from the head to the body carry instruction, will, and motion, to the affected spot; but all meet in the head. All the guidance and the supply come from the head, and so the whole life centres there. The head is the life. Separate any part from the head, and immediately it dies. Such is union with Christ. As the body lives in the head, we live in Him: we in Him and He in us. If it be asked, How shall we make this union? the answer is the simplest,-We do not make it, it is made for us. All we have to do is to realize, to appropriate, to use, and enjoy it. It was pledged to us in the Sacrament of Baptism, it is typified to us in the Sacrament of Holy Communion; for the first intention of the Sacrament of Holy Communion is not communion, but union with Christ. As I take the bread into my body I take Christ into my soul, and His life becomes my life. This is our starting-point. Union with Christ is the basis of the spiritual life. Have faith in that union, and accept it as the strength of every duty, the comfort of every sorrow, the very soul and power of every prayer, the pledge of heaven, and the essence of life-I am in union with Christ.

But it may be said, this is a high attainment; a man must be very holy to be able to say, I am in union with Christ. No! union makes holiness, and not holiness union. In the great spiritual chain the first link is pardon—full and complete to every sinner who simply seeks it through God's own appointed way; then follows peace from the sense of pardon; then love, the echo of that forgiving love which has made the peace; and then holiness, which is love's expression; and then Heaven, which is love and holiness perfected. But the union begins with the pardon. We do not work our salvation, but, when we have it, we work it out into the image of Him who gave it, for very love to the Giver.

Rev. J. Vaughan: Addresses on the Spiritual Life.

Bessie's Engagement.

By C. R. COLERIDGE,

Author of 'Hanbury Mills, ‘An English Squire, &c.

CHAPTER VII.

PLYMOUTH AGAIN.

HILE Bessie was thus making her way at Restwich, forming new acquaintances and much enlarging her experiences, her bright presence was much missed at home. There was no one now to put things in an amusing light, to make chatter all about nothing, to glory in every little success of dress or amusement, and to make fun of all their little failures.

Grace and Elsie were as attentive as possible to their uncle, but they did not make him laugh half so often as Bessie did. Peter was either less communicative than usual, or no one understood how to interpret his winks and grunts; and Mrs. Lyte, although when Bessie was at home she was constantly anxious about the daring character of her ideas, and, as she expressed it, never knew what she would do or say next, now that she was absent missed her every hour. Unconsciously she had been the connecting link of the three sisters, and Grace and Elsie, in her absence, though perfectly friendly, went each more on her own way, and became more wrapped up in her own affairs. Fred Selwood, too, was a loss, and, quite independent of his character as a lover, they missed him as an escort and companion, and heard much less in his absence of what was going on about them. Grace's High School interests were not appreciated at home, when deprived of the colouring which Bessie's liveliness could give them; and Elsie's time of study was drawing to a close, and her mind. was full of the step that was to come next. Elsie was fond of learning, and if the funds had been forthcoming would have been glad to pursue her education into more abstract branches; but, though thoughtful and intelligent, she was slow, and much less fitted for teaching than her sister Grace, while she had none of the bright little faculties which enabled Bessie to fill up her time happily and usefully without having recourse to any one definite occupation. A little more money is so pleasant a thing in families where the means are very narrow, that it is easy to become reconciled to the means of obtaining it; and when Mrs. Lyte reflected how very difficult it would have been to provide for her tall daughters, she could not but be glad that Grace earned her own pocket-money, and that Bessie was off her hands. She was a sensible

woman, too, and when she thought of days, weeks, and months, which, according to the old theories, must have been passed by these vigorous, energetic girls, in that little sitting-room, endeavouring to kill time and finding it die very hard, she was prepared for Elsie wishing to occupy herself in some definite manner.

But Elsie's thoughts and wishes had taken by degrees a turn which none of them guessed. Much as the household obviously owed to Bessie her brightness and her faculty for making the best of life, and not only of life, as she had once said, but of clothes, and furniture, and everything else- Bessie herself and all the sisterhood would have been very different if Elsie had not been one of the trio. The spiritual side of her nature was much more fully de veloped than that of either of the others. They were both good and conscientious girls, but Elsie had thoughts and aspirations of a higher kind. From a little child. Elsie had not only always been 'good at church,' she had enjoyed the services there. Grace, who was always correct and quiet, would have thought it very odd and presumptuous to enter into one part more than another, while not to stare about and fidget was all that the lively Bessie had been able then to attain to. And as they grew older the good thoughts brought by their Confirmation and their first Communion found shape in Elsie's heart and expression from her lips. She liked 'good books,' and she disliked those which, however amusing, were unrefined, or in any way undesirable; and Bessie owed much in this respect to her unswerving standard. Elsie grew up, like her sisters, to the view that it was right and well to provide for herself, or at any rate to be able to do so, and, like them, she believed in being useful in her generation; but she wished for something more. There was in her that desire of self-devotion which is indeed a vocation-a call and a desire from the very highest motives. Elsie longed to give herself to the service of that Saviour whom she had been enabled to love with a conscious devotion as yet strange to either of her sisters. She could not remember when she had not felt this wish, and every step in her religious life made it more definite and gave it strength. Elsie did not think she should mind leading any sort of hard life, giving up any of the hopes and pleasures which attract other girls, if she could feel that she was giving herself in a direct manner to His service.

No one but Bessie knew anything of these longings, and she, while regarding them secretly with great respect, had always been a little afraid of where they would carry herself and Elsie, and had always declared

flowers are so lovely here I would regret to lose the opportunity.'

'MIGHT I be allowed to supply a few Members with flowers? It will be a real comfort to me, if only one of the sick I may help to cheer and sympathise with. I think now of the Sick Members of this Friendly Society who are out of reach of the most lovely things of this world, while I, buoyant with health and happiness, can realize daily the handiworks of God.'

'BEING a constant reader of Friendly Leaves, and seeing in it how the Sick Members of the G. F. S. prize the flowers sent them, I have ventured to ask you for a few names. I shall be very pleased to send some flowers weekly during the summer and autumn months. I am neither a Member nor Associate, but having a servant that is a Member, and who has lived in our family for four years, I feel a great interest in the Society and should like to help a little.'

Is it not delightful that, for those who have no means of their own and no presents to give to show their love for others, our loving Father has Himself spread beautiful presents over the world; beautiful creatures, with texture finer and daintier than the most delicate satin, and varying from the fragile thinness of the wild anemone or wood-sorrel to the firm strength and purity of the great white lilies, painted more exquisitely than any painter on earth can approach to, and deliciously scented besides ? Almost all the sweet scents in the world come from plants. Then the finish and perfection of them! The finest work of man will not bear being seen through a microscope, but the more minutely the flowers are examined the more fully is their beauty perceived.

I shall never forget as long as I live-it is literally a joy for ever,' a joy only to remember -the sight of a little bit of a petal of scarlet geranium placed in the sunshine under a very powerful microscope. Fancy lovely liquid crystal balls, of the most glorious and vivid scarlet, clinging together into the form of the petal, apparently for love, for one could not see what else held them so!

But I fear no description will make you see that sight, and it has led me away from another thing I wanted to say.

God has spread the flowers for us, but He has not given them to us all; and partly, I think, that they may be presents for us to give one another.

Now it is very pleasant to walk out in the fields or woods in fine weather and gather a nosegay of flowers, and we thankfully enjoy it; but if they are to be made charming to our sick friends, too, there is something else to be done. They must be nicely chosen, properly packed, sent off at once while fresh, properly addressed; and if we have undertaken to send them regularly, all this must be done regularly, even at times when we are not feeling particularly inclined for it. In fact we must take a little care, and thought, and pains. And the beauty of it is, that the care, and thought, and pains, are a little offering we can make to God and our sisters, so that even in giving the wild flowers we do not give that which costs us nothing. Do not let us be deterred for a moment from sending by the remembrance that we shall have to take pains: the Strength that dwells with us is equal to much more than this.

But now let us see the flowers at the other end of their journey :

'I HAVE just received such a nice box full of beautiful flowers, such a treat at this time of the year! The nurse and nine patients in the ward are quite delighted with them; they are quite fresh and sweet. Many thanks for them, and also your kind letter. I enjoyed Mrs. Townsend's books very much, and would be very glad to get more to read. Kate was the last one that sent me flowers, and a very nice letter; I will try and write to her this week. I have been feeling a little stronger this day or two, but it is such a changeable trouble, consumption, and some linger a long time. Sometimes, when I feel very ill, I weary for the time when I shall be free from all sickness and suffering, and to be ever with the Lord. I know it will be so nice and so happy.'

'You were kind enough to place Fanny name on your Sick Members' list for flowers. I write now to tell you that she died last month. The flowers she received were a great pleasure to her. I believe they were sent by two Members, from whom she also received two or three of the very nicest and kindest letters I ever read.