ut the same number who met on a week evening in the ground-floor of a
house kindly granted for the purpose by a poor and industrious but
ill-used Irishwoman. She supported her family by keeping a little shop,
and selling coals. Her husband was a powerful man--a good worker, but a
hard drinker; and, like too many others addicted to intemperance, he
abused and beat her, and pawned and drank everything he could get hold
of. She, amid many prayers and tears, bore everything patiently, and
strove to bring up her only daughter in the fear of God. We exerted, by
God's blessing, a good influence upon him through our meetings. He
became a Total Abstainer, gave up his evil ways, and attended Church
regularly with his wife. As his interest increased, he tried to bring
others also to the meetings, and urged them to become Abstainers. His
wife became a center of help and of good influence in all the district,
as she kindly invited all and welcomed them to the meeting in her house,
and my work grew every day more hopeful.

By and by Meetings and Classes were both too large for any house that
was available for us in the whole of our district. We instituted a Bible
Class, a Singing Class, a Communicants' Class, and a Total Abstinence
Society; and, in addition to the usual meetings, we opened two
prayer-meetings specially for the Calton division of the Glasgow
Police--one at a suitable hour for the men on day duty, and another for
those on night duty. The men got up a Mutual Improvement Society and
Singing Class also amongst themselves, weekly, on another evening. My
work now occupied every evening in the week; and I had two meetings
every Sabbath. By God's blessing they all prospered, and gave evidence
of such fruits as showed that the Lord was working there for good by our
humble instrumentality.

The kind cowfeeder had to inform us--and he did it with much genuine
sorrow--that at a given date he would require the hay-loft, which was
our place of meeting; and as no other suitable house or hall could be
got, the poor people and I feared the extinction of our work. At that
very time however, a commodious block of buildings, that had been
Church, Schools, Manse, etc., came into the market. My great-hearted
friend, the late Thomas Binnie, persuaded Dr. Symingrton's congregation,
Great Hamilton Street, in connection with which my Mission was carried
on, to purchase the whole property. Its situation at the foot of Green
Street gave it a co