that heareth say, Come.' You have heard and received the words of eternal life; therefore take up your cross, follow your crucified Master, and share his reproach and sufferings. "From your sincerely affectionate brother in the Lord, "R. WILLIAMS." On the principle indicated in the close of this letter, Mr Williams was already acting. He opened rooms in several neglected districts of the town, and as many as could be induced to attend he exhorted with much power and tenderness to flee from the wrath to come. A marked impression was often produced; and an eye-witness informs us that from these labours a few of the most useful men have been raised up, and are following his way of kindness to the souls and bodies of their neighbours." Mr Williams was thus gradually drawn into the work of a home missionary. He enjoyed it exceedingly. It was an outlet for all the energies of his eager and benevolent nature, and the impression frequently produced was a delightful recompense, and cheered him to proceed. He began to feel that in such labours he would fain "spend and be spent ;" and belonging to a community in which evangelistic effort has been an almost invariable result from personal piety, it is not wonderful that his thoughts began to be directed towards the missionary enterprise. Just as his thorough-going A MISSIONARY FIRST AT HOME. 47 enthusiasm at a former period had forced its way from the workshop to the college, so now the same fervour, intensified and consecrated, was urging him out into the field of the world; and, although in a quarter little expected, a door was about to open. CHAPTER IV. The Mission. SHINE, mighty God, on Britain shine, When shall thy name, from shore to shore, And distant nations know and love Their Saviour and their God? Psalm lxvii. 1-3.-Watts. If the love of Christ, above everything else, does not constrain us to engage in the missionary work, surely, instead of finding happiness, of all persons we shall be the most miserable.-Gordon Hall. D |