An African explorer, one of the first to venture into the Dark Continent, wrote "In all the dangers through which I passed in the long fever, and even in the criminal excesses to which I, a young man and far from home, was a half-consenting witness, one thread kept me from sinking and utter ruin. It was the knowledge that on the other side of the globe an old, grey-haired woman was praying for me. No man can go utterly to destruction as long as his mother keeps one hand on him and the other on God."

It is stated that John Wesley was first brought to the consideration of religious truth by the prayer of a poor servant for him. If this be true, that prayer was the lever which lifted not only one man's soul, but ultimately the whole Christian Church into life and activity.

In one of our sea-board cities is an

immense building which is lighted by electricity. At the touch of a knob in a closet, the countless lamps and huge chandeliers flash into radiance, and all the vast audience halls glow with light. A sick child, the daughter of the janitor, usually presses the anob with her little finger, and is made happy by knowing that she has given light to thousands of people. The poor woman in her closet, the invalid on his bed of pain, praying for God's blessing on others put their hands in faith on that power that controls the world. They do not see the result; they may even die without knowing the light that they may have caused to shine in dark places; but they have the sure promise that the Infinite wisdom and pity heeds their summons, and does not turn away from their pleadings.-Youths Companions.

SPURGEON ON THE NEW
BIRTH.

Some dare to tell us that faith in Christ and the new birth are only the development of good things that lay hidden in us by nature, but in this, like their father, they speak of their own. Sirs, if an heir of wrath is left to be developed he will become more and more fit for the place prepared for the devil and his angels. You may take the unregenerate man and educate him to the highest, but he remains, and must forever remain, dead in sin, unless a higher power shall come in to save him from himself. Grace brings into the heart an entirely foreign element. It does not improve and perpetuate; it kills and makes alive. There is no continuity between the state of nature and the state of grace; the one is darkness and the other is light, the one is death and the other is life. Grace, when it enters the soul, is like a fire-brand dropped into the sea, where it would certainly be quenched were it not of such a miraculous quality that it baffles the water floods and sets up its reign of fire and light even in the depths.

GEMS OF THOUGHT.

There are cases in which a man would be ashamed not to have been imposed upon. There is a confidence necessary to human intercourse, and without which men are more often injured by their own suspicions than they would be by the perfidy of others.-Burke.

Lawsuits generally originate with the obstinate and the ignorant, but they do not end with them; and that lawyer was right who left all his money and lunatics, saying that from such he to the support of an asylum for fools got it,and to such he would bequeath it. -Jeremy Bentham.

Woman's tongue is her weapon, her sword, which she never permits to rest or rust.-Mdme Necker.

Truth is as impossible to be soiled by an outward touch as the sunbeam. Milton.

Sometimes we may learn more from a man's errors than from his virtues.— Longfellow.

Languages are the keys of science.Bruyere.

Minds that have nothing to confer
Find little to perceive. -Byron.

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Fear is not a lasting teacher of duty. Cicero.

Kings are like stars they rise and set, they have

The worship of the world; but no repose. -Shelley.

Kind words produce their own image in men's souls, and a beautiful image it is. They sooth and quiet and comfort the hearer. They shame him his sour, out of morose, unkind feelings. We have not yet begun to use kind words in such abundance as they ought to be used.-Pascal.

OUR WELSH CHURCHES. BY REV. R. T. ROBERTS, M.A., RACINE, WIS.

The first idea suggested by the term Welsh Churcbes is, that they are the churches which have their services conducted in the Welsh language. In religious creed and church polity they do not differ materially from other churches. The Welsh language is the great distinctive characteristic of our Welsh churches.

Since this is so, it is very evident that our Welsh churches will increase or decrease in proportion as those who speak the Welsh language will increase or decrease in number. The natural query which follows this is, does the number of Welsh people increase or diminish in our country? I have not the means by which I can answer this question. My personal opinion is, that there are, in our country to-day, as many people who speak the Welsh language as there were twenty and thirty years since. Granting this to be true, there is another fact which is as true, namely, that there are localities in our country in which the Welsh speaking people are

not so numerous as they were fifteen years since.

There are two things which should be noticed with reference to these localities, (a). They are, as a rule, in the rural districts, and (b), they are among the earlier settlements which were settled by the Welsh. In these localities we find that our Welsh churches are becoming weaker in proportion to the decrease in the number of those who speak the Welsh language. This only confirms our former statement, that the Welsh language is the distinctive characteristic of our Welsh churches.

The reasons given for the decrease of Welsh-speaking people in these localities are: (a) Removals by death. (b) Removals to other localities. (c) Many of the children do not speak the Welsh language. These reasons show that the decrease of the Welsh

speaking people in these localities can not be controlled by any ecclesiastical authorities or race tenacity.

In view of this the natural question which follows is: How can we make our churches most useful? What is the chief end for which our Welsh

churches exist? As has been remarked, their distinctive characteristic is, that their services are conducted in the Welsh language. Must our churches be limited to the Welsh language? If so, our Welsh people who do not speak the Welsh language must look elsewhere for a church home. The inevitable result of this will be, that our Welsh churches will die wherever and whenever the Welsh language ceases to be spoken. Need this be so? Is it impossible for us to adapt our Welsh churches to meet these conditions? Is it impossible for us to take care of our young people simply because they do not speak the Welsh language? Is it impossible for us to continue divine services in the sanctuaries built for our forefathers simply because we will not have our services conducted in the English language?

In order to adapt our Welsh churches to the needs of our Welsh people, in many localities in this country, we must have our ministers qualified to conduct religious services in the English language; we must remember that there is no room in our country for clannishness, and we must have more of the genuine Christlike missionary spirit.

and devote most of their energy to this game. Athletics beget a healthy, vigorous race of men, but it is sadly open to abuse, and there are tendencies observable in its popularity which point to a national danger. Still it is remarkable how Welshmen have been elated by their victory over England. The match was played at Cardiff, before 20,000 spectators, on a ground which had been specially preserved from the effects of long frost by burning hundreds of fires to keep it in condition, and covering it with tons of straw. What is curious about these matches is that Wales is conceded to be in football a separate country, and that Monmouthshire is included therein-a concession not readily accorded by many Englishmen in political matters.

The land question in Wales has been, during the past month, the most important political topic. Mr. Thomas Ellis, M. P., has been addressing his constituents at Harlech on this point. He declared that advances in rent, revaluations of estates, notice to quit, politital evictions, and the game fetish had instilled a feeling of insecurity of tenure into the very being of the Welsh farmer, and had become ingrained into the traditions of the countryside. Under those conditions

FROM OUR LONDON CORRESPONDENT.

During the Christmas season, politics being at a low ebb, and personal animosities having been subdued by the influences of the festive season, Wales has distinguished herself in the athletic world, for her representatives have in an international match beaten, for the first time, a picked team of Englishmen. Football is an extremely popular sport, especially in South Wales. It is much to be feared that it is too popular and that our young men pay too much attention

land by any tenantry. This could only be done by the establishment of a Land Court, by organized agricultural instruction, and by a reform in the incidence of rates. A Land Court to fix fair rents and fair conditions of tenure and to assess compensation for improvements would be the starting point for a thorough land reform and for a better cultivation of the land.

It is understood that as a result of Welsh parliamentary influence the Gladstone government cannot resist appointing a special commission to enquire into the whole question of

the relations between landlord and tenant in Wales.

Prof. T. C. Edwards, of Bala, has been laid aside for some time by overwork and mental prostration.

Prof. Michael D. Jones, of Bangor Independent College, is slowly recovering from an illness which has compelled him to relinquish the pastorate of three churches, which he has held continuously since 1854. During his professional career 250 ministers have passed through his hands as students. Wales cannot, it is stated, claim now to be a sea of song. The inev itable and omniscient statistician has stepped in! He declares that whereas the percentage of children who learn music by notes is in London 93 per cent., in Lancashire 77 per cent., and in Yorkshire 72 per cent., in Wales it is only 57 per cent. This is a statement which must be received with great caution. Statisticians are remarkable for their ingenuity, and their conclusions are not always proof of facts. Still it must be admitted that with all our pretensions to musical proficiency, Welsh people do not take advantage of the full and scientific methods of musical education now available in the principality.

In South Wales there is much public uncertainty as to the position which the vast army of miners are going to take up as to the wages question. There appear to be two parties in their midst, one which clamors for an amalgamation with the miners of England, another for retaining the separate Welsh jurisdiction and organization. The sliding scale of wages which for some few years has been, on the whole, satisfactorily arranged and worked by the representatives of the colliers and the masters sitting as a committee, must be given up if Wales submerges into England. As it affects the material prosperity of Wales, the whole question is one

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which is watched with anxiety by thoughtful people. Talking of colliers, I saw the other day that one good wife. who lost her husband in the dreadful disaster at the Morfa colliery, some two years ago, still cherishes the hope that her husband will return. His body is still in the pit, never having been recovered. She, it is said, keeps the door open, a white cloth is on her table, and the open Bible on it.

The Liberal government are slowly remedying the abuses on the Magisiterial Bench in Wales. They have made several new magistrates in Wales, one of whom R. Roberts is a working man ac Carnarvon, a member of Dr. Aerber Evans' church.

Miss Olwen Rhys, daughter of Prof. John Rhys. of Oxford, has taken the gold medal for French, given by the French teachers in the United Kingdom. An elder sister, Miss Myfanwy Rhys, did the same some two years ago.

Prof. Rhys is therefore transmitting his great intellectual powers to future generations of Welsh people.

Wales is represented on the Royal Commission to enquire into the state of the poor law by Lord Aberdare and Mr. Humphrey's Owen. Great regret is expressed that Mr. Alfred Thomas, M. P., an earnest student of the topic, was not selected. It is, however, impossible to satisfy everyone.

The new year has come in with great hopes for the people of Wales. The old year was a dismal year. Great losses were incurred by thousands of thrifty Welshmen, who invested their moneys in a great Building Society, called the "Liberator Building Society," which has recently come to grief with terrible loss to poor and humble investors. In Parliament, Wales however, hopes to obtain much progress and several reforms, and it is the earnest determination of her rep