possible to say how far his indirect influence may extend. Who, iudeed, can calculate the continual product of even one good deed?

In reading through the annual statistical reports of the schools, we find many pages which would otherwise be of little interest, enlivened by anecdotes of a heart-stirring nature, connected with some of the contributions. No one who reads them can ever imagine that they are too weak or insignificant to cast their mite into the treasury of Christ. And we may learn humility when we see in the very humblest walks of life such true Christian faith and devotion as is never shown by the classes more favoured in a worldly point of view, that true self-sacrifice which is the only acceptable offering to the Most High. Before we proceed to show how gradually Mr. Müller enlarged the field of his labours, we propose to relate a few anecdotes taken from his reports, as it may not be uninteresting to a few of the many readers of this Magazine to know the kind of encouragement which has cheered him in his daily duties.

June 5th, 1844.-" This morning was sent me anonymously 1s. 7d. with the following note:- -The enclosed trifle is from one who was in hope that she would have been enabled to put by a little every week for the orphans; but for some time past she has been so tried with pecuniary difficulties (having seven children) that she has not felt at liberty to do so; but this having been put in a box when a little could be spared, with a determination that no distress of her own should ever induce her to take it out again, it is now, although so small a sum, sent to you, begging you will remember her in your prayers, that her heart may not be hardened, but that she may be able to say, Lord, thou knowest what is best for me: in all things Thy will be done.'

A young woman who had once lived as kitchen-maid in a family of distinction, had acted on the same principles as her fellow-servants, in selling kitchen-stuff for her own benefit, contrary to the agreement when she was hired, that she was to have no perquisites. Time, and thought, and the influence of better feelings, made her resolve to make restitution of the stolen money. She had the moral courage to confess her sin to the master in whose service she then was, and to consult with him as to the best means of conveying the money to the injured parties. The interest, with the principle, amounted, as nearly as she could calculate, to £5. The master called on her former employers, who were desirous that the sum should be given to some charity, and, with their consent, she sent it to the Orphan Asylum.

A sovereign was transmitted by a reformed man with a large family, who laid by for that

drunkard, a poor purpose, the money

which his master had allowed him for beer. A blind orphan sent him a silver watch. Another friend to the cause sold a pianoforte, and forwarded the proceeds of the sale. A third, who could not afford to give money, sent a gold watch, and bought one of inferior value; and three medical men offered to attend the three orphan-houses gratuitously.

From all parts of the world has he received contributions; from Rhode Island, Melbourne, Cape Town, Madras, Jamaica, and even Mount Lebanon. We note a present of twelve dollars from negroes in Demerara; eleven rupees from "a little friend in India;" and donations varying from one pound to a hundred from Nice, Jersey, Guernsey, and the East Indies. None of these were obtained by direct or indirect application; but his printed reports, and the oral reports of visitors, as to the practical workings of the school, have excited an interest beyond our own country.

From a coal-miner, of whose name he is ignorant, he received the following note, inclosing £5. :—

"My dear brother in Christ,-God has given me the will and the power (bless his holy name) to remit yon five pounds, for his cause in your hands, in Bristol. I have not time to say much. Please to remember me at a throne of grace, as I have to pass through great dangers in the thick coal mines."

Another of a different character says

"I was once a book collector, and turned my attention to our old English Bibles; and, among other editions, perfected, almost sheet by sheet, our first English Coverdale Bible, of 1535. It is a sad specimen of time, attention, and money misspent and missapplied; and as I look upon you as the receiver of cast-off idols, whether watch-chains, trinkets, or old Bibles, I have purposed for some time sending it to you. Do with the proceeds as you see fit.

I should be glad if a portion were converted into large printed Testaments for the aged; and should be thankful if that which has been cause of humbling to me, should be converted into the means, through your instrumentality, of raising others."

The Coverdale Bible of A.D. 1535 was sold for £60; £10 of which was spent for New Testaments, printed in large type for aged poor persons, and the remainder was given to the orphans.

A woman who earned her bread by the labour of her hands, brought him one morning, when the houses were in great need, the sum of £82. She had taken literally the command of our Saviour to "sell all that ye have, and give to the poor." This was the produce of her last earthly possession. She had drawn her money out of the bank and stocks (£250) and given it to Mr. Müller at different times, for the benefit of the orphans, the Bible, missionary, and school funds. Eleven years after she had deprived herself

of everything but what the proceeds of her daily labour would bring her, she was heard to express her satisfaction at having implicitly obeyed the command, "not to lay up treasures on earth."

This is not a solitary instance of devotion on the part of contributors from a humble rank of life to the funds of the Scriptural Knowledge Institution. But we will indulge in only a brief notice of circumstances connected with the second gift of £100 which he received. A. L., a young woman who earned from two shillings to five shillings per week, by working at her needle, had, some time before the orphan houses were established, received at the death of her grandmother the sum of £480. Her father, a man of dissipated habits, died in debt, and the other children, who had received the same amount of money as herself, wished to pay his creditors five shillings in the pound. She paid her share with them but could not feel happy while the remainder was unpaid; so she went round to the creditors and gave them the rest of the money which was due. By this she sacrificed £40. Her brother and sisters gave her mother £50 each. She doubled the gift; and soon after sent £100 to Mr. Müller for the orphan school. As the success of the experiment was very doubtful, he was afraid to take so large a sum from her, and had a long conversation with her, intreating her to consider well what she proposed to do. She said with great calmness that she would rather part with all she had than not have an orphan-house established. The Lord Jesus," she said, "has giwen his last drop of blood for me, and, should I not give him this hundred pounds ?" She sent from time to time donations in money, of small amount, to various charities with which he was connected, and she did much good in private; for the missionary in his visits found that she had given to one poor woman a bedstead, to another bedding, and to others clothes and food. She continued to work industriously for her maintenance, and to allow herself the bare necessaries of life until within a few weeks of her death. In her last illness her wants were few, and friends gladly supplied her with all she needed. In the midst of severe bodily sufferings, her cheerful heart made "melody unto the Lord," and her last words were ejaculations of thanksgiving to Him for the blessings she had received at His hands.

(To be continued.)

S. L.

It is God's goodness to men, to blast all things in the world to them, and to break their fairest hopes, that they may be constrained to look about to Himself; He beats them from all shores, that He may bring them to the Rock that is higher than they.—LEIGHTON.

LIFE OF MOSES:

ISRAEL IN THE DESERT.-PART IL

Ar length the morning rose. The sun which had gone down on the opposite side of the wide gulf before them, was now shining brightly upon the mountain tops behind, and on the sides of the tall cliffs that marked the spot where their encampment lay. As he rose

higher in the blue heavens, the mountains no longer cast their shadows across the shore, and he looked down in cloudless splendour over the wide blue expanse of the Red Sea, on the long line of shore that stretched away on either hand, and on the rocky headlands against which the white waves were dashing, foaming, and breaking into bright showers of spray. Far away before them the Egyptian mountains faded into their transparent forms, like the lightest and most airy cloud. These were soon indeed altogether lost in the full blaze of day, and with them was gone the last glimpse of that mighty Egypt which they were to see no more again for ever. And now the tents were struck-the cattle were collected -the order of march was formed, the cloudy pillar again moved forward on its mysterious way, and the voice seemed to be heard as on that last morning when they had stood on the Egyptian shoreSpeak unto the children of Israel that they go forward."

Forward they went;—and now their course again turned inland, and towards the south-east. They entered now upon a wide plain that opened upon the sea-shore. Mountains of a deep red colour closed it in on the north, and over the hills to the south rose the peaks of a yet distant giant of these rugged regions, which, if it had then a name, has now lost it, but is at the present day known as Mount Serbal. From this plain they again entered one of those strange valleys, like torrent beds, which form so striking a peculiarity of this remarkable peninsula. Mountains of fantastic form, and rich colouring,-red, white, purple, and black,—surrounded them on every side. All was bare, desolate, and solemn; and for some time the only signs of vegetation were the green "lassaf," or caper plant, hanging from the crevices in the rocks, or the dwarf palms that now and then formed a scanty group by the side of the rough track they were pursuing.

On-slowly on-they toiled, deeper and deeper into the mountains, farther and farther along these rough, bare, and seemingly endless valleys. Hot and weary, thirsty and footsore, they journeyed on; the great event of the day—that future which they most looked forward to, being where and when the signal should be given for their

evening encampment, and whether they should find water and shade there. But now food was becoming scarce among them; they felt the warnings of hunger, and they feared that as they went farther and farther into the Desert, famine aud starvation would come upon them, and they would perish miserably amid this wilderness of desolation. For as yet they had little faith in the ever-watchful care of Jehovah; and they sometimes almost forgot the passage of the Red Sea, or they were half inclined to believe that God had thus opened for them a way to their destruction. And now their hearts sank within them, as they saw no end of their wanderings, and no visible supply for their needs, and no shade, no food, and perhaps soon, no water. And they looked back to the flesh-pots of Egypt, when they sat amid plenty by the waters of that great river; and they forgot their bondage and their Taskmasters, and wished that they were again among the fields and water-courses of the land of Goshen, And they said, "would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord, in the land of Egypt, when we could eat bread to the full! But you, Moses, have brought us forth into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger." Thus they murmured against the pointings of Jehovah, and against the Great Leader whom He had appointed to lead them on by the way that He himself had marked out for their deliverance.

God heard the murmurings of the people, and He saw their fears. But He remembered that they were still as little children, who knew not their Father's way, and did not understand His discipline, and that they had not yet learned to trust, where they could neither see nor comprehend. And He was patient with them-very patient and long suffering, as He has ever been. Instead therefore of rebuking them angrily for their want of faith and obedience, He listened to their cry, and it rose before Him as a prayer, and not as a rebellious murmuring. He spoke to Moses, and told him what to say to the people. And behold! as Aaron yet spoke to them there, as they stood assembled round him, he pointed to the cloudy pillar that was to be seen at some distance to the eastward of the camp. The people turned their faces towards the Desert, and there, before them, stood the unfailing cloud, the guiding pillar of Jehovah; and the glory of God shone thereon like a glowing rainbow, in red, and purple, and emerald, and in such brightness that the eye could hardly look upon its splendour; and it seemed to say to all the assembled host of Israel-" Fear not: Jehovah is with you. Hope, trust, believe, obey. I am the Lord." Thus spoke the cloud of God in silent glory to the hearts of his people; and they bowed their heads in answering adoration, and murmured, "It is the Lord."