ing the others; but on the contrary, each cherishing and helping each where opportunity offers, as brother workers in the same blessed cause. With regard to the future position and prospects of our society, we shall act most wisely if we leave these in the hands of Him who will not fail us in our work of love, if we have an eye to His glory, and labour on in a dependence upon His guidance and help. Duty is ours. Events belong to Him. Let us then go on prudently, zealously, trustfully, at the same time in a spirit of loving forbearance towards those who cannot or do not agree with us in our temperance views. Let us concentrate our efforts on the distinctive work of our society. The more strictly we direct our own attention, and the more earnestly we direct the attention of our agents to the work of organizing and assisting Bands of Hope, the more efficiently shall we be carrying out our mission; the more certainly shall we secure the confidence of our temperance brethren, and the deeper and surer shall we be laying the foundations of our society. This, however, is a work in which both we and our agents have had little experience, and we may be well excused if our first efforts have been marked with much imperfection: but I have such faith in the public, that if they see that we are honestly endeavouring to do our best, they will extend to us a large measure of indulgence. The great thing in order to accomplish our object will be to keep our eye steadily upon our special work, and to request our friends to favour us with any information and advice which they may think useful.

Let it be our great aim to raise our Bands of Hope to a good position with the public outside. As far as can be done without injury to principle, we should also strive to popularise and elevate the movement both with the parents and friends of the children, and with the public at large, but more especially with the children themselves. This is a very important point, and requires careful and delicate attention. If our Bands of Hope lose their prestige with the public, it is to be feared that the movement would prove a comparative failure, or at all events, would not yield the abundant harvest of which it now gives so cheering a prospect. By thus persevering in our labour of love, with a view to promote the welfare and happiness of the rising generation, and in a dependence upon God's blessing, we may hope that our labour will not be in vain, but that it will be honoured by God, and that in due time we shall be permitted to reap an abundant harvest in the affection and exemplary conduct of those whom we are seeking to guard against the besetting snares of the drinking system, and to train up in the paths which will lead to respectability and comfort in life, and, by divine help, to peace in death, and to inconceivable happiness in eternity through Jesus Christ our Lord.

T. HOLME.

THE REFORMATION OF ST. GILES'S.

By ONE WHO KNOWS IT.

Probably no parish in the metropolis has had a more infamous reputation than St. Giles's-in-the-Fields. For more than a

century it has been the reproach of London; it has been regarded as the dirtiest, most dangerous, and most degraded locality in England. No opprobrious term has been thought too harsh to apply to it. "As bad as St. Giles's," is a proverbial expression, ready for the lips, whenever a pithy sentence is wanted to fling at some hateful place or people. It may be proved, however, that the parish of St. Giles does not now deserve its traditional reputation. We do not wish to paint it in roseate lines, and to affirm that its moral transformation is complete; but we believe that its intellectual, sanitary, and moral progress will be found to equal, and in some cases, to surpass that of more highly favoured metropolitan parishes. It is vastly more clean than it was; its interlacing thoroughfares and alleys are quite as safe as those of Lambeth, Somers. Town, Westminster, and Shoreditch. Drinking fountains asuage the thirst of its population; Day, Sunday, and Ragged Schools, Lending Libraries, Penny Banks, and Provident Funds, Mission Halls, Temperance Societies, and Bands of Hope, Baths and Washouses, Singing Classes, Weekly Lectures, Model Lodging Houses, Mothers' Meetings, and other elevating agencies are in. active operation, and rapidly moulding the daily life of the population, into higher and more beautiful forms. This change for the better must be ascribed to a variety of influences. The construction of New Oxford street, although fraught at first with much inconvenience and misery to many poor families, ultimately produced a beneficial effect, and dispersed hordes of thieves, beggars, impostors, and ruffians. Church lane remains in its primitive condition, and those who wish to know what Old St. Giles's was, may visit it, and will see at once what a wonderful improvement must have taken place in the parish. Church lane continues to breed filth, disease, and crime. Were the parochial authorities to do their duty, it would be rased to the ground, and its infamous houses entirely emptied of their present occupants. Few parishes in London are more favoured in the matter of ragged schools and refuges, than St. Giles's. A visit to the Irish Free School, in Charles street, Drury lane, the Irish Free School in George street, and the School and Refuges in Broad street, Little Denmark street, and Great Queen street, will convince any thoughtful person that the children of the poor and needy have troops of wise and kind friends, and are carefully instructed in everything which pertains to a virtuous life. The Seventeenth Annual Report of the St. Giles's and St. George's Bloomsbury, Refuges for

Homeless and Destitute Children, and Ragged and Industrial Schools, evinces the active operation of extraordinary efforts to benefit the poor of the parish.

During the last year, the average weekly number of inmates in the Boys' Refuge, 8, Great Queen street, has been 110. In addition to these taken from St. Giles's, and its neighbourhood, several were born in Scotland, nine in Ireland, two in France, one in Italy, one in Antigua, others in the provinces, and not a few in different parts of London; 179 boys, in the Refuge at one time were disposed of in the following manner:-1 entered the Royal Navy; 10 emigrated to South Africa; 9 emigrated to Canada; 2 emigrated to New Zealand; 6 entered the merchant service; 26 were sent to situations in London and the country; 12 were restored to parents and friends; 1 was sent to another institution; 8 left of their own accord; 1 was sent to the infirmary, and 102 remained in the Refuge. These boys are well fed, well clothed, and attend school, but they are also taught to work hard, and the institution is in some respects selfsupporting. During one year, the boys made 1289 pairs of new boots and shoes, and repaired 1369 pairs. They made 366 new articles of clothing and repaired 1776 articles. They also made 31,000 bundles of fire wood, which were sold for the benefit of the institution. Nothing can be more satisfactory than the fact that the profits of their work more than defrayed the outlay for materials, and the salaries of the superintendent, industrial teachers, and schoolmasters. 118 girls in the Refuges at Broad street and Acton were disposed of in the following manner-21 were sent to domestic service; 23 were restored to their friends, or left of their own accord; I emigrated to New Zealand; 1 went to Tasmania; 2 died; and 70 remained in the Refuges. The operations conducted at 19, Broad street, are most varied and useful. The large and handsome building was intended for a gin palace, but having been purchased by the committee, it is now the centre of the following operations :-A Girls' Day school and Night school, an Infant Day School, Sunday Night Schools for Boys, Girls' and Infants, a Mothers' Meeting, weekly Lectures to Working Men, Working Men's Benefit Club, Provident and Clothing Club, and a Penny Bank. The Lectures to Working Men are well attended, and are on interesting subjects, such as-the old Houses of ParliamentEducation and Crime-London, past and present-China-Literature of Labour-Sir Walter Scott-Beauties of Temperance Song-the Prisoners of the Tower-Pilgrim's Progress

Flowers-Civil War in America-the Poetry of Common Things-and an Hour with our Great Grandfathers. Such efforts to enlighteu working men must produce immense good.

For many years past, the baths and wash-houses in Endell street have been very highly appreciated by the population. In one week in winter, namely, that ending January 24th, there were no fewer than 711 washers; 408 who took swimming baths, and 2283 private bathers. A powerful agency for good has been found in the Bloomsbury Chapel Domestic Mission, which employs two missionaries, and has connected with it about 30 visitors of the poor. Its operations comprise religious services in the Bloomsbury Chapel Mission Hall, Moor street, Five Dials; open air preaching on the Seven Dials; Household Visitation, Domestic Prayer Meetings Lectures to Working Men, Sunday School, Evening School, two Mothers' Meetings, a lending Library, a Bible and Book Society, and a Penny Bank. For the temporal relief of the sick poor, the Rev. W. Brock's congregation have distributed, during the last year, 1760lbs of meat; 1105 loaves of bread; 24 tons of coals, and an abundant supply of soup, tea, sugar, medicine, and blankets. Similar gifts have proceeded from the congregation of the Rev. A. Thorold, the Rector of St. Giles's; the Rev. Mr. Dibdin, minister of West street Epispocal Chapel; and the Rev. S. Garratt, of Trinity Church, Little Queen street. From all the chapels and churches in the parish there are sent forth visitors to the poor, and numerous city missionaries and scripture readers have long laboured for the spiritual welfare of the populations.

Drunkenness is the chief bane of St. Giles's, and it is probable that a thousand pounds per week, or fifty-two thousand pounds per year, at least, are spent by the people in intoxicating drink. In the region known as Seven Dials, and its contiguous streets, there are four Day and Sunday schools, three places of worship, three newspaper shops, teu bakers' shops, and twenty-six places where intoxicating drinks are sold. The Temperance Societies, however, have not been idle, and have succeeded in inducing a considerable number of persons to abstain from inebriating liquors. Some of the most notorious drunkards have been reformed, and their homes are now clean, well furnished, and happy.

Should the moral improvement of St. Giles's go on for the next twenty-five years as it is doing at present, it will become a model parish, and no longer deserving of an infamous reputation. As it is, we believe that it would stand well in a com

parison with any other parish in the country inhabited by a dense population, and that it contains at this moment as considerable a proportion of honest, sober, hardworking men, virtuous wives, and happy children, as could be found in parishes with a higher fame.

PRIZE ESSAYS.

We would strongly urge the conductors of Bands of Hope to induce their young friends to write papers on appropriate topics. This is done with great advantage at Frome, and also in other towns, and, would, we have no doubt prove both useful and attractive when properly presented to members of our societies. We appeud the Frome list of essays for the present year :

Grade I. Open to the competition of members of the society of any age. Adjudicator: The Hon. and Rev. E. Talbot, Evercreech. Subject— "Home-its Endearments, its Influence, and its Blight." First paize, value £1, William John Harvey. Second Prize, value 15s., Ellis Chapman. Thnd Prize, value 10s., Frank Pickford.

Grade II. Open to the competition of members of the society not above the age of sixteen. Adjudicator: The Rev. T. G. Rooke, B.A. Subject-"The Habits that Contribute to the Health of the Body, the Maintenance of the Reputation, and the Usefulness of the Life." First Prize, value 15s., Frederick Holiday. Second Prize, value 10s., Elizabeth Palmer. Third Prize, value 5s., Arthur Gregory.

Grade III. Open to the competition of members of the society not above the age of twelve years. Adjudicator: the Rev. E. Edwards. Subject "Scripture Texts on the Evils of Drunkenness, and the Scripture Examples of Good Men who practised Total Abstinence." First Puze, value 7. 6d, Walter Sims. Second Prize, value 5s., Emily Gage. Thud Prize, value 2s. 6d., James Anderson.

LITERATURE.

The Sabbath School. By James I. HILLOCKS. W. Tweedie, Strand.We have great pleasure in recommending anything from the pen of Mr. Hillocks. He is a sensible writer, and a zealous friend of the working classes. This excellent volume has been presented to, and accepted by, the Queen. The correspondence will no doubt interest our readers. The following is a copy:

66

"TO HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN.

May it please your gracious Majesty to believe it is with the combination of a fear of being considered presuming and a feeling of gratitude, I forward with this, by post, a copy of my Sunday School from a Practical Point of View, just published.

"The Preface contains the reason why I have written the book, and I forward it to your Majesty, trusting it will be accepted as an humble effort from the pen that wrote Life Story, the Autobiography which your Majesty was graciously pleased to acknowledge, and which acknowledg