wonderful Physician, there is none like Him; He has never been baffled
yet, though for nearly two thousand years He has been called to
exercise His power on the outcasts and incurables of our race. He
knows the disease with which every poor sinner is afflicted, and He
also understands the cure; sinners who have long been given up by
themselves, and others as well--poor, abandoned things, who have been
kicked out of all orderly society, and left to rot in the moral filth
of the streets, or die in the sewers of iniquity, have been found by
Him, lifted out of the mire, washed in the streams of His grace,
clothed in His righteousness, and made fit to sit among princes.

"Jesus, Thy blood and righteousness
My beauty are, my glorious dress;
'Midst flaming worlds, in these arrayed,
With joy shall I lift up my head."

CHAPTER V.

In Membership with the Church.

As soon as Abe Lockwood found the Lord, he felt it was his duty and
privilege to unite himself with the people of God, and he therefore
lost no time in seeking membership.

THE METHODIST NEW CONNEXION at that time had no chapel in Berry Brow,
but conducted prayer-meetings, and held a weekly class in a cottage
somewhere in the village. Abe knew these humble, earnest people, and
felt drawn towards them by strong sympathy; he was sure he could feel
at home among them, and they would be of very great assistance to him
in building up his Christian character. What made him all the more
willing to throw in his lot among them, was the fact that some of them
had frequently shown an interest in his spiritual welfare before he
became converted, and had endeavoured to induce him to attend their
meetings; and now when they all knew the change that had taken place in
him, they were the first to go after him and offer him the right hand
of fellowship,--so he at once united himself heart and hand to their
little band.

It would be well if that zeal and watching for souls, which
characterized the early Methodists, were more frequently displayed
among their successors; how many who are now merely hovering outside
the Christian Church, afraid to run after the pleasures of sin, ashamed
to avow themselves in quest of salvation, would be brought to decision,
and enabled to lead a happy and useful life.

There are many thus hanging on the skirts of almost every Church,
waiting to be gathered up, and shame on the members who quietly and
indifferently permit this