! It must not be; men's souls are too
precious to be trifled with; they have _cost too much_ for us to allow
them to starve and die on our doorstep; open the door, put forth your
hand, draw them kindly, but firmly, into the family of the Lord; few of
them will have heart to resist such efforts to save them; but if they
do, then go out to them, stay with them, persuade and entreat them,
pray for them, pray on and on, and in the end you will prevail. We
want more of this watching and waiting for souls in Churches; may God
lay these souls on our hearts!

Abe became a member of the Methodist New Connexion in Berry Brow when
it could scarcely be considered a Church, inasmuch as neither Christian
sacrament nor preaching services were established there: it was merely
a class belonging to the society in Huddersfield. That class, however,
was the living germ out of which was in due time developed a strong and
flourishing Church, having now a commodious chapel, and also an
excellent Sunday School, in which are growing up hundreds of
interesting children, who will some day be a blessing to the
neighbourhood, and an honour to the Church of Christ.

To this little band of disciples our friend Abe was a most valuable
addition; not that either then or afterwards he brought them wealth,
for he was always poor, but because he contributed a zealous, praying
spirit, and encouraged the little flock to fresh exertions.

He was no sooner admitted among them, than he began to exercise his
talents in prayer-meetings, and although he sometimes got confused in
his utterances, he didn't care much, for he used to say, "Th' Lord
knows what I mean, and He can soort th' words, and put 'em in their
roight places; bless Him, He can read upsoide daan, or insoide aat."
But time and constant exercise made a wonderful improvement in this
respect, and as Abe felt less difficulty in uttering what he meant, he
also experienced less restraint of spirits, and began to show himself
in his own peculiar style.

He had a way of responding to almost everything that was prayed for,
and interlacing remarks, and sometimes explanations, when he thought
them necessary. Possibly these comments were more to himself than for
any one else, and were often made quite unconsciously--a kind of
thinking aloud. A rather amusing instance is given where Abe's notes
of explanation were called forth. It appears that one night the weekly
prayer-meeting was conducted as usual