Gods Answers | Page 4

measure in things;
and hence that world is angry, and in effect repudiates the need of so
much mercy, of so much abasement and urgency in a case like this. The
root and rise of this cry for mercy the natural man does not understand;
but that soul knows it right well, where the lightnings of Omniscient
Holiness have gleamed and the shadows of God's anger have fallen.
The cry was heard. Light arose on that troubled soul, the Saviour
appeared and drew the sinking one out of the waters. Even where there
is little to be changed outwardly, conversion is always followed by
remarkable effects; the light of the morning is like a new creation on
the cultivated field as well as on the barren moor. Our young convert
saw everything in a new light. She understood now, as she had not
before, why her mother, stealing precious hours from sleep, wearied her
fingers and weakened her eyes with the self-imposed task of providing
for the necessities of children not her own. If a ruling motive is one of
the greatest things in the secret of a human life, the grandest of all
forces on earth is the love of Christ. This she felt, and it was to her a
divine revelation. From the feeble starlight of natural sympathies she
had passed into the clear day of Christian affections, and she now knew
the secret joy and power of self-sacrifice. A hundred lessons and
practical illustrations given her by both her parents were suddenly
lighted up with a new meaning, and clothed with a beauty she had not
heretofore seen, and a power she had not hitherto felt. All she had
learned before of truth, and prudence, and kindness, she learned over
again, and learned with the quickness characteristic of the young
convert. Very soon her whole treasury of knowledge and feeling, of
experience and character, was laid with youthful jubilance on the altar

of the Lord. From that hour she began to work for Christ with an
intensity of enthusiasm that ever since has known no abatement.

GOD'S ANSWERS.

CHAPTER I.
1861-1869.
Prayer of Hon. and Rev. Baptist Noel--Residence in Cambridgeshire--
Visit to London in 1861, and first attendance at Barnet Conferences--
Visit of Rev. W. and Mrs. Pennefather--East of London, 1861--Left
Cambridgeshire, 1865--Work in Bedford Institute--1866: Voyage to
New York and return, 1867--First girl rescued--Matchbox
makers--First boy rescued--Revival Refuge open for boys and
girls--1868: Home of Industry secured--1869: Opened.
The winter of 1860-61 is a time to be had much in remembrance before
the Lord. It was then that the East of London, with all its sins and
sorrows, was laid as a heavy, burden on the heart of His faithful and
beloved servant Reginald Radcliffe.
Before the commencement of his labours, a few Christian friends met
for prayer at the invitation of the Hon. and Rev. Baptist Noel. The East
of London, and its "stunning-tide of human care and crime," was not
the only thought of that revered man of God. His faith looked forward
to greater things, and one well-remembered petition was, that blessing
through the work then to be begun in that deeply degraded and
neglected region, might not be stayed there, but might flow from thence
to far-off lands. One then present, the Dowager Lady Rowley, was not
long permitted to sow precious seed with her own hand, but was
instrumental in the fulfilment of this petition, as it was through her
leading that Miss Macpherson's voice was first heard in the East of
London.
At that time Miss Macpherson was residing in the neighbourhood of
Cambridge with her sister and brother-in-law, Mr. Merry, and, was

already a worker in the Lord's vineyard.
She thus writes of the year 1861:--
"It was a turning point in my life. I made a pilgrimage to London to
attend the preaching of Reginald Radcliffe in the City of London
Theatre, Shoreditch. There I met Dr. Elwin. On the following evening,
at the Young Men's Christian Association, Great Marlborough Street,
he introduced me to Lady Rowley, Mr. Morgan, and many other
Christian friends. Through them I was led to attend the next Barnet
Conference, where I learned what it was to wait for the coming of the
Lord."
With this bright and blessed hope she returned to work with a strength
and power before unknown. Many souls had already been awakened,
but the full tide of blessing had not yet come. In the villages around her
hundreds of labourers were employed in digging for coprolites, a fossil
which, when ground, is useful as manure. Among these men were
many of the wildest wanderers, and Miss Macpherson's heart was
deeply stirred for their spiritual welfare, and her time and strength were
given to reach them by every means