returned again after many days, may be inferred from the following extract from a letter which I lately received from the author of the "Sinner's Friend."

"Praying breath can never be spent in vain, for the Lord will answer his own word, which shall not return to him void; but

'He moves in a mysterious way,

His wonders to perform.'

Judge then, or imagine if you can, the pleasure I received a few days since by a letter from a minister at Worcester, to whom I had presented several copies of the Sinner's Friend' to distribute to the poor. This minister is now on a visit to Lord Barham at his seat within four miles of Maidstone, and he writes me as follows:

'As I cannot come over to Maidstone to see you, I think it proper to write a few lines, that you may anew bless the Lord for the favour shown to your lit tle book.

We have in Worcester an asylum for unhappy females who are willing to leave their wretched state of living, which house of mercy I generally attend every Tuesday, and sometimes on the Sabbath. When I received in the autumn of last year your kind present of the Sinner's Friend," I took some of them with me to the house, intending to give one to each inmate. I found however one of the poor women already possessed of the book, which had indeed been the means of sending her to ask admittance into that house of mercy. She had stopped a gentleman one night in the street, and he put into her hands the "Sinner's Friend." She read it-it much affected her-she sought the earthly refuge, and I do trust she is also seeking Jesus. Her conduct is very proper, and she hears with much attention, often with tears."

This, Mr. Editor, is one of the apparent results of that evening's distribution of tracts. Shall I be asking too much of you to give publicity to this, in order that those who are truly anxious concerning the spiritual welfare of an unfortunate and degraded class of beings may be incited to go and do likewise, not doubting that the blessing of the Lord will attend their efforts to bring sinners to a knowledge of himself?

B.

RECENT CASES.

M.-is the child of pious parents, but was left an orphan at the age of 12 years. On the death of her widowed mother she went to reside with her brother at C-; but, he being too poor to keep her, she was obliged to seek some mode of obtaining a livelihood. Having procured a few books, she endeavoured to get a living by selling them in the streets, and took up her abode in Westminster, where she met with a young woman (a fellow lodger) who persuaded and assisted her to commence that mode of life from which she was now so anxious to be rescued. On being questioned as to her reason for entering upon a course of sin, she replied that it was necessity alone that induced her, adding that from the hour when she first deviated from the paths of virtue she had been a stranger to peace of mind, that the holy precepts she had received in her youth had attended her through her guilty career, and it was only by resorting to drink that she could stifle for a time the voice of an accusing conscience. About three months since she attended a Temperance meeting, signed the pledge, and has not tasted intoxicating liquor of any kind since; neither could she any longer pursue her guilty way of life. Having however no suitable method of obtaining bread, she resorted to selling ballads in the streets. She was subsequently recommended to apply to the Mission, was received

and placed in the lodging-house, and being ill admission was afterwards obtained for her into the Lock Hospital.

A. B.-A young widow, of most interesting appearance, whose husband had been a respectable tradesman, but died in a decline after a protracted illness. Oppressed by grief and poverty, she unhappily yielded to the soul-ensnaring habit of endeavouring to drown her woes in the cup of intoxication. This however was not her daily practice, and in intervals of reflection, when reminiscences of past scenes of hallowed happiness were contrasted with present realities and future prospects, her soul was filled with the bitterest anguish. “A wounded spirit who can bear?" These contemplations led her to pause on the brink of a precipice which might have terminated in everlasting destruction. She felt that the "way of transgressors was hard," and longed for some friendly hand to aid in her resue. She applied to the agent of the London Female Mission, who, after repeated interviews with her, succeeded in providing a most suitable situation for her in the family of a minister. At this time her mind was torn with conflicting doubts and fears, without a ray of hope to mitigate the despair which threatened at times almost to subvert her reason. She" could not pray."-Oh! it was painful to gaze on her distracted but beautiful countenance, wearing as it did an air of fixed dejectedness. The kind sympathy of her truly benevolent employers, and the transition from a state of torpor to constant employment, had however a beneficial effect, and the tranquillizing influence on her mind was soon visible. May the change be a progressive one. May it grow with all the increase of God. As a tribute to the usefulness of the London Female Mission, it may be added that she has since often declared that but for its providential agency she thinks she should have destroyed herself.

THE FEMALES' ADVOCATE.

THE NUMEROUS DEMANDS MADE ON CHRISTIAN BENEVOLENCE.

THERE never was a period in which the demands made upon Christian benevolence were so numerous as at the present time. Societies of various kinds and embracing a great variety of objects, on a narrower or more extended scale, at home and abroad, are constantly urging their respective claims upon the Christian public. By many we know that this is regarded with pleasure, as one of the favourable signs of the times in which we live, because it indicates that the spirit of slumber is passing away, that there is an increasing movement, an awaking up to the importance of energetic effort for mitigating human wretchedness and seeking the conversion of the world. They contemplate the great system of benevolence which is brought into operation as destined, by the divine blessing, to introduce at no very distant period the glorious day of the church which the prophetic records of inspired writ invite us to anticipate. They are aware that this system cannot be sustained and carried forward without frequently putting to the test the spirit of liberality existing among the professed disciples of Christ, and giving offence to those who

make gold their confidence, and secretly worship Mammon, the demon of avarice; for as the moral machinery consists of many parts, none of which can safely be dispensed with, there must needs be a corresponding variety of applications on the part of those who conduct the operations, in order that the whole may be vigorously sustained. So far from looking at any part with jealousy or coolness, they therefore rejoice that there are so many different channels in which the stream of benevolence may be advantageously directed in order to fertilize the moral wilderness.

There is however one large class, and that by no means exclusively composed of non-professors, who find in the multitude of benevolent objects a convenient apology for rejecting every application. Bring before them any object of public utility, no matter how important, the plea is always at hand that there are so many claims upon them from different quarters that they cannot in that case render any assistance. Thus they contrive to resist every appeal, become confirmed in the habit of giving nothing, practically deny the declaration of the Son of God, that " it is more blessed to give than to receive," and pass onward to their account intent upon laying up treasures upon earth, instead of being rich towards God.

We mean not to assert that this is the case with all who on any occasion excuse themselves from contributing to a particular object on this plea. Indeed, if this were the fact, and known to be so, the plea would