She has been a Christian for years; and when her husband was alive she used to attend Miss S--'s Mothers' Meeting. She says she often went in well-nigh broken-hearted, and would come away rejoicing, gladdened by some sweet promise which the Holy Spirit sent home to her heart; but her life was one of hard bondage. During her own decline, however, she is rejoicing in ker Saviour, and it is quite a pleasure to visit her.

"For some time she has been obliged to have a night nurse, and one night she and another person were sitting up with her and singing in the middle of the night to soothe her. She also was joining in the hymn

"Shall we gather at the river ?'

"It was a hot night, and the window of the front parlour on the ground floor, where she was lying, was open a little way, when a policeman was passing on his beat, and, hearing the voices, stood at the window and joined them in singing the last verses. He afterwards knocked at the door and asked them the cause of their singing at that time of night. They took him in to see the patient. She asked him if he liked the singing?

"Yes, very much indeed.' "Then do you love Jesus?' "Yes, indeed, I do,' he said. "Then,' said the poor woman, "kneel down and pray with me.' He did so, and offered a very beautiful prayer, and said, as he went away,' As soon as I heard that hymn, I was sure Jesus was here.'"

THE WILD FLOWERS OF THE HOLY LAND.

There is a beautiful book just prepared for a Christmas present with this title*, with 54 plates, drawn and painted from nature by Mrs. Hanna Zeller, of Nazareth. It has an introduction, by Canon Tristram, who says:

"The chief interest of these plates will lie in the fact that they represent to us the very flowers on which our Lord's eye must so often have rested in childhood, and which provided Him with illustrations for His teaching and parables. They are the flowers not of Judæa, but of Galilee, culled on the hills round Nazareth, and in the plain of Gennesareth, by the wife of our indefatigable missionary there.”

* Jas. Nisbet and Co., Berners-street. Price 17. 1s.

THE BUILDING FUND AND OUR DORMITORIES. WE have little space to do more than render the financial account of our two Dormitories this month, and must refer to them on our re-entrance to our re-built premises at 33, Parkerstreet, in January. A score of the inmates, with the Matron, have been kindly accommodated during this necessary absence from our own shelter, by Mr. Williams, of the Boys' Refuges, and three-fourths of our expenditure in the alterations and improvements is already provided for and paid. We have yet to hope that about 250l. will come in by Christmas time for the Building Fund, without injury to the Bible or Nurse Missions. In returning to a locality in which many mercies have been showered upon us, we trust to find space for the Monthly Meetings of our Associated workers, who now number nearly 300, and accommodation is also provided for about 60 Superintendents. The day of meeting is always the last Friday in the month, at three o'clock in the afternoon, and a friendly cup of tea at halfpast four, will afford opportunity for some conference with each other.

STATEMENT OF RECEIPTS AND EXPENDITURE OF PARKER-STREET HOME, FOR THE YEAR ENDING OCT. 15, 1875.

STATEMENT OF RECEIPTS AND EXPENDITURE OF DUDLEY-STREET HOME,

FOR THE YEAR ENDING OCT. 15, 1875.

Total £472 7 3

2259 14 0 1192 14 4707 13 6

4632 9 1 834 7 0 309 0 5 901 19 7 249 15 5 1012 7 11 1210 5 11 114 12 10

4632 9 1

THE BOOK AND ITS STORY CONTAINED IN

ITSELF.

THE TIMES BETWEEN THE FLOOD AND ABRAM.

We must still ask our readers to dwell upon the Times before our Bible was written-times of which Moses was not an eyewitness, but concerning which he must have received intelligence from God, who "made known" to him "His ways." The story of these times begins with the 8th chapter of Genesis and ends with the 5th verse of the 12th chapter.

352 and 75 make up

The patriarchal genealogy calculated from the 11th chapter* will show that ABRAM was born 352 years after the Deluge and two years after the death of Noah. He was called of God out of Haran when he was 75 years old. 427 years-a space of time almost equal to the 430 years which followed-from Abram's call to the deliverance of his children from their bondage in Egypt, by the hand of Moses. Paul tells us of the latter 430 years in his Epistle to the Galatians, ch. iii. 17.

"The law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot make the promise (to Abraham and his seed) of none effect."

The inspired comments on OLD Testament history to be found in passages from the Gospels and Epistles in the NEW Testament, must be always their surest explanation, being not the words of Matthew, or Luke, Peter, Paul, or John merely, but the utterance of the Holy Ghost himself, through those inspired men, on the subjects which we wish to understand.

But there are other narratives of these very early times, which fifty years ago were unknown to modern men, and had been buried away from their sight for 2,500 years. There were inscribed tablets and slabs hidden beneath mounds of sand in Assyria, and cylinders and stamped clay bricks in Babylon, and papyri and monuments in Egypt, some of which referred to the event of NOAH'S FLOOD, an event in which some speculations of science had in this age caused it to become "very old-fashioned to believe." If this heathen inscription had been read even fifteen years ago, it would scarcely have had the

* See p. 382 of our September number.

weight of its recent presentation in the midst of controversies on the accuracy of Scripture history. Although brought to England, however, with many others, this Deluge Tablet had remained silent in its dead arrow-headed language, God having reserved such unintended heathen evidence to His inspired Word for days of utmost need.

66

Fifty years ago," says Canon Tristram, himself a traveller in Bible lands, "there was scarcely known a contemporary illustration of any event of Old Testament history, excepting one disputed Egyptian inscription, and three or four incidental allusions by Herodotus. Now, there is scarcely an instance in which Jewish history touches that of neighbouring nations, which is not, in some degree, illustrated by the newly discovered records of Egypt, Assyria, Chaldæa, and Persia. Every foreign monarch or great prince, whether Assyrian, Chaldæan, or Persian, whose name occurs in the Bible, from the time of Solomon downwards, can, with only two exceptions, be identified either certainly or with great probability with some known character in profane history. From the early story of the Deluge to the latest incidents of the New Testament each has received some new illustration."

It does almost exceed belief that one should hear it said" that the records of Moses concerning the Flood were derived from the legends of Assyria. Let us, however, look at the legends. One such describes a panic-terror which seized mankind and all animals, at a time when some great calamity was impending over the world, probably the visible approach of the Deluge. Several lines at the beginning are broken and illegible, then it proceeds as follows:

"1. One man ran to another.

"2. The girl ascended to her topmost story.

"3. The man ran forth from the house of his friend.

"4. The son fled from the house of his father.

"5. The doves flew away from their dove-cote.

"6. The eagle soared up from his eyrie.

"7. The swallows flew from their nests.

"8. The oxen and the sheep fell prostrate on the earth.

"9. It was the great day. The Spirits of Evil were assembled."

The remainder of the record, with the exception of a few words, is broken off.

Then there is the celebrated TABLET before spoken of; its

* INCIDENTS IN BIBLE HISTORY. Chiselled on ancient monuments. Notes for Lectures. By H. B. Tristram, M.A., Canon of Durham.