o the fold of God. I
heard of it only to-day, though for more than a year it has been at
work in our midst. Men and women of nearly every denomination have
joined in the organization of this church, and are working together in
love and unity. Methodists, Episcopalians, Baptists, Presbyterians,
Swedenborgians, Congregationalists, Universalists and Unitarians, so
called, here clasp hands in a common Christian brotherhood, and give
themselves to the work of saving the lost and lifting up the fallen."

"Why do you call it a Church?" asked Mrs. Birtwell.

"Because it was founded in prayer to God, and with the acknowledgment
that all saving power must come from him. Men of deep religious
experience whose hearts yearned over the hapless condition of poor
drunkards met together and prayed for light and guidance. They were
willing to devote themselves to the task of saving these unhappy men if
God would show them the way. And I verily believe that he has shown
them the way. They have established a _Christian Home_, not a mere
inebriate asylum."

As he spoke Mr. Elliott drew a paper from his pocket.

"Let me read you," he said, "a few sentences from an article giving an
account of the work of this Church, as I have called it. I only met
with it to-day, and I am not sure that it would have taken such a hold
upon me had it not been for my concern about Mr. Ridley.

"The writer says, 'In the treatment of drunkenness, we must go deeper
than hospital or asylum work. This reaches no farther than the physical
condition and moral nature, and can therefore be only temporary in its
influence. We must awaken the spiritual consciousness, and lead a man
too weak to stand in his own strength when appetite, held only in
abeyance, springs back upon him to trust in God as his only hope of
permanent reformation. First we must help him physically, we must take
him out of his debasement, his foulness and his discomfort, and
surround him with the influences of a home. Must get him clothed and in
his right mind, and make him feel once more that he has sympathy--is
regarded as a man full of the noblest possibilities--and so be
stimulated to personal effort. But this is only preliminary work, such
as any hospital may do. The real work of salvation goes far beyond
this; it must be wrought in a higher degree of the soul--even that
which we call spiritual. The man must be taught that only in
Heaven-given strength is there any safety. He must be led, i