heard through a friend, that she had seen no district nursing so tender and so true. While our Nurses never forget that God has given them a message to the anxious soul, it is always delivered while attending, to the best of their ability, to the suffering body. The 2s. 6d. named as given in money is a very rare occurrence, and, so far from the general induction made concerning our Nurses among others, that they give too much relief and too little nursing, if Miss Lees could have afforded the time and strength to have visited a little longer with our agents she would have formed a distinctly different opinion. This is the one evil which we are always watching against. We have weekly reports from the Pioneers of all our districts, and slovenliness and neglect are extremely rare amongst us, and if occurring are sure to be very soon observed. In Miss Nightingale's notes, in this very report, p. 47, she says:-"Some of the Bible nurses we believe do teach families how to keep clean and how to ventilate, and how to nurse themselves."

The eliciting of this self-help is unceasingly impressed on our five Nurse Pioneers in their official and helpful oversight of twelve nurses each, and this section of the agency Miss Lees did not see. We rejoice also to enlist for each of them the voluntary help of a LADY who will interest herself in their cases and locally provide their supplies; but after all, it is the Christian conscientiousness of our good women themselves to which we appeal, and trust. They are not too fine for their vocation, and we have not had half a dozen failures in our seven years' work. We are sure from observation that for our Nurses to attend contagious disease would only spread it among poor families, yet if our funds warrant it, we shall gladly set apart some of our number to that purpose.

We may add that in the month of April last it gave us great pleasure to receive a spontaneous testimony from Miss Nightingale herself with a cheque of 207. for our Nursing Branch, and the following words of cheer :

"A small gift for the Bible-women Nurses, with Florence Nightingale's deepest sympathy for this noble attempt to provide nursing and cleanliness for the very poor; with gratitude to God, and fervent prayer for its extension and progress."

NOTES OF A BIBLE PIONEER.

"WE began work this morning in a little back court where all were Roman Catholics except one family, and they had no Bible. The father and mother were both unable to read. We tried to persuade the mother to have a Bible for her children, but she would not hear of it, and said they would only tear it up. At another door we were told by a man that they did not belong to our fraternity. On being asked to whom he did belong, he said, as he put a leaflet into my hand, 'If you read that you will understand.' This was one of Bradlaugh's tracts, proving, as he thought, a discrepancy in the account given by each of the Evangelists regarding the parentage, birth, life, and miracles of the Saviour. As we thought of their ignorance, we could only say, 'Lord, open the eyes of these men that they may see.' We often have a mixture of both the bitter and the sweet in connexion with our canvassing work, for while we meet with many cases which make us sorrowful and disappointed, still I have never once, in all the times I have gone to canvass, had to leave without getting some Bible subscribers, which to me is cause of great thankfulness.

"Another morning I accompanied a fresh Bible-woman to the next street to the one in which was held the Mothers' Meeting, but it had never been canvassed. The people were very poor, and altogether of a low class. The first two or three houses were very dirty, with long dark stairs, which we could scarcely get up or down. In a room at the top we found two little children, the eldest in appearance not much over two years of age-so young that it could not tell us anything about its mother. On a chair was a baby fast asleep, its face spotted with flies. As we went nearer we found the little thing was fastened to the back of the chair to prevent it falling down. After some search we got something to put over its face to shade it from the flies. It seemed so heartless in the mother to leave such infants alone, we felt sorry that we did not see her We gave the eldest an orange; his face brightened up, and we could hear him, in his baby way, thanking us as we went downstairs.

"In another room was an aged woman, a Roman Catholic, who was mourning the loss of a little girl that had been taken away from her. She seemed to think all her comfort was gone, and that no one cared for her. Mrs. M- told her that Jesus loved her.

"I hope He does; but I am a poor ignorant sinner. I cannot read.'

"We bade her tell Jesus that very fact, and ask Him to help her. That is a prayer that He will hear.

"But if He loves me why has He let the little girl that was such a comfort to me be taken away?' and she wept bitterly.

"The Bible-woman promised to go and read to her. She was quite pleased for her to do so, rather an unusual thing among the Romanists. We met with several who objected to coming to the Mothers' Meeting, and seemed disposed to rail against it because they knew inconsistent members. We told them we could not make our neighbours all we would wish to see them, but if they went with purer motives themselves they would be sure to get benefit. One woman, who kept a little shop, said she would be very pleased to pay for a Bible; it was just what she wanted for her daughter. Another who lived on the district had come there for the day to let her mother out; she wanted a family Bible and paid 6d. towards it. We were, therefore, not without success, and found several to whom Bible visits have hitherto been unknown."

THE PARKER-STREET DORMITORY.

THE good influences of the late Evangelistic services have reached our Dormitories for Working Women and Girls. Our Bible Pioneer, who is resident at Parker-street, keeps us acquainted with the daily changes of inmates, and recently gives a short account of the good which several have received from attending Messrs. Moody and Sankey's meetings; one especially, who in her former life had been a very depraved character, experienced the great change at one of the meetings at the Opera House, and when she returned home, she, with

two others, knelt down and thanked the Lord for what He had done for their souls.

Another time she says:

"Several of the young people went to the Opera House, and Mrs. returned, thanking God for what He had done for her soul; and also thanked Him for having been directed to Parker-street Home. Also F- J-, who came into the Matron's room broken-hearted under a sense of sin and with the love of Jesus. Matron and Mrs. P — prayed, and gave

thanks with her."

Both these last mentioned are going, one as nurse the other as housemaid, to respectable places.

Sunday, May 30th.-Many of the inmates went to the afternoon service for women at the Opera House, and in the evening to the Mission Chapel in Wild-street, to hear a funeral sermon for Mr. K—, one of the deacons. He had preached in the Seven Dials the Sunday previously, and the last hymn they sung was, "I'll soon be at rest over there." ." Matron says she shall never forget his earnest prayer fifteen years ago for the inmates of Dudley-street Home. Again several of the inmates went to the meeting, and Sally bought five hymn-books out of her rag-money, and said to the Matron, when she came home, "I do hope you will always sing out of these books ;" and it had struck her so much to see a poor old white-headed man stand up to be prayed for.

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Matron gets nice letters occasionally from former inmates now in Queensland, Australia, &c.

The Matron of Parker-street thus writes:

"DEAR MADAM,

"Having mentioned Kate Z―― in our daily report about fifteen months ago, I thought it would be interesting to you to read the inclosed letter, and see her likeness, which I have received from her; and perhaps you may remember we said she was very ignorant and lost to all knowledge of God. After her being in the Home a day or so, she bought a Bible, and said, 'If you, Matron, knew how wicked I have been, you would not have taken me into the Home.' On her being asked

what she had done, she said, 'I have been untruthful and dishonest in what I thought then were little things.'

"Yours faithfully, H. H."

On the back of the photograph is written :

"Sent to Mrs. H- by one who highly respects and has much to thank her for, with hopes that she shall not be forgotten."

"DEAR MATRON,

"I like Australia very well, what I have seen of it, but the climate is exceedingly hot. It was so strange to find this on Christmas-day. I was then a housemaid in a bush hotel. We did not have much company till Boxing-day, but then I was up till three in the morning, for they had a ball. I should not have taken that kind of place if I could have helped it; but I was engaged for three months, without knowing what sort of a place it was; and during that time I never saw a shop or entered a church, as there were none nearer than forty-five miles. I am now housemaid at the Orphanage, a very nice situation. No going out of an evening is allowed, and I think it saves me from many snares. Drink seems the prevailing sin of this country, and there is every temptation to lead young girls astray. They can earn far higher wages here, and a good servant soon gets known. I have myself 307. a year; by God's help have as yet been kept from harm; and I daily pray that He will continue His watchful care over me. I am engaged to a young man in a surveyor's office, but he will not marry for a year or two, when we have each saved something towards a respectable home. I desire to be remembered to all I have known in Parkerstreet; and, dear Matron, do endeavour to impress upon all who are coming abroad the great need they have of the love of God in their hearts, to keep them from evil. We had such a rough lot of girls on board; only twenty of them English, the rest Irish. "Yours ever, C. Z-."

N.B. We are completely out of Dormitory Funds, and must solicit the especial attention of those who have cared for this useful department of our Mission for many years,