ntrol of the district where my work lay; and so the
Church was given to me in which to conduct all my meetings, while the
other Halls were adapted as Schools for poor girls and boys, where they
were educated by a proper master, and were largely supplied with books,
clothing, and sometimes even food, by the ladies of the congregation.

Availing myself of the increased facilities, my work was all
reorganized. On Sabbath morning, at seven o'clock, I had one of the most
deeply interesting and fruitful of all my Classes for the study of the
Bible. It was attended by from seventy to a hundred of the very poorest
young women and grown-up lads of the whole district. They had nothing to
put on except their ordinary work-day clothes,--all without bonnets,
some without shoes. Beautiful was it to mark how the poorest began to
improve in personal appearance immediately after they came to our Class;
how they gradually got shoes and one bit of clothing after another, to
enable them to attend our other Meetings, and then to go to Church; and,
above all, how eagerly they sought to bring others with them, taking a
deep personal interest in all the work of the Mission. Long after they
themselves could appear in excellent dress, many of them still continued
to attend in their working clothes, and to bring other and poorer girls
with them to that Morning Class, and thereby helped to improve and
elevate their companions. My delight in that Bible Class was among the
purest joys in all my life, and the results were amongst the most
certain and precious of all my Ministry.

I had also a very large Bible Class--a sort of Bible-Reading--on Monday
night, attended by all, of both sexes and of any age, who cared to come
or had any interest in the Mission. Wednesday evening, again, was
devoted to a prayer-meeting for all; and the attendance often more than
half-filled the Church. There I usually took up some book of Holy
Scripture and read and lectured right through, practically expounding
and applying it. On Thursday I held a Communicants' Class, intended for
the more careful instruction of all who wished to become full members of
the Church. Our constant text-book was _Paterson on the Shorter
Catechism_ (Nelson and Sons), than which I have never seen a better
compendium of the doctrines of Holy Scripture. Each being thus trained
for a season, received from me, if found worthy, a letter to the
Minister of any Protestant Church which he or she felt i