ad met to talk about their
grievances, and Lord Shaftesbury had attended the gathering and
promised to help them, telling them to write to him if they required
further assistance.

The noble Knight of the Garter was not only interested in the
costermongers themselves, but in their animals too.

At one time the costers had used their donkeys and ponies shamefully,
had overworked and underfed them; but gradually they were made to see
how much better it was to treat their animals well. With a good Sunday
rest and proper treatment, the donkeys would go thirty miles a day
comfortably; without it, they could not do more than half.

So, as Lord Shaftesbury had been kind to the costers and taken such
interest in their pursuits, they invited him to a special meeting, at
which they presented him with a splendid donkey.

Over a thousand costers with their friends were there, when the
donkey, profusely decorated with ribbons, was led to the platform.
Lord Shaftesbury vacated the chair and made way for the new arrival;
and then, putting his arm round the animal's neck, returned thanks in
a short speech in which he said:--

"When I have passed away from this life I desire to have no more said
of me than that I have done my duty, as the poor donkey has done
his--with patience and unmurmuring resignation".

The donkey was then led down the steps of the platform, and Lord
Shaftesbury remarked, "I hope the reporters of the press will state
that, the donkey having vacated the chair, the place was taken by Lord
Shaftesbury".

Let us turn for a moment to the beginning of his life, and see how it
was that Lord Shaftesbury was induced to devote himself so heartily to
the good of the poor and oppressed.

Maria Mills, his old nurse, had not a little to do with this. She was
one of those simple-minded humble Christians who, all unknowingly,
plant in many minds the good seed which grows up and brings forth much
fruit.

[Illustration: Lord Shaftesbury inspecting the Costers' Donkeys.]

She was very fond of the little boy, and would tell him the "sweet
story of old" in so attractive a manner that a deep impression was
made upon his heart. The prayers she taught him in childhood he not
only used in his youth, but even in old age the words were often upon
his lips.

When he was a schoolboy at Harrow came the turning point in his life.

He saw four or five drunken men carrying a coffin containing the
remains of a companion; and such wa