Gods Answers | Page 7

Well, indeed, can we understand that verse,
'The first shall be last, and the last first.'"
Scenes of a different character must now be described.
Sad and deeply humiliating as the sights and sounds of the East End of
London still are, none who now visit the vast region lying eastward of
St. Paul's can realise the sense of desolation that overpowered one's
spirit when beholding it at the time Mr. Radcliffe began his services in
1860-1861. At that time the condition of the millions who existed there
was ignored by those dwelling in more favoured regions. No railways
had been as yet constructed by which visitors could come from the
north and west. The space now occupied by the great railway stations in
Broad Street and Liverpool Street was then crowded with
unwholesome dwellings, well remembered for deaths in every house.
No centres of usefulness where Christian workers could meet for prayer

or counsel then existed. The Bedford Institute had not then been built,
and no Temperance Coffee-Palace had even been heard of.
The power of the Lord had been very present to wound and to heal in
the City of London Theatre and at other services held by Mr. Radcliffe,
and the young women who had been blessed were invited to meet for a
week-evening Bible-reading and prayer-meeting, and for this purpose
Lady Rowley rented a room in Wellclose Square. In this meeting, and
in Lady Rowley's mothers' meeting in Worship Street, Miss
Macpherson began the ministry of love which has extended so widely.
She afterwards visited the homes of the poor, and the toil and suffering
she witnessed, especially in those where matchbox-making was the
means of livelihood, lay heavy on her heart. With her feelings of pity
were always quickly followed by practical effort. In the midst of the
winter's distress, one of the most cheering gifts received was from her
praying band of coprolite diggers. After a watchnight service, they had
spent the first moments of the consecrated new year in making a
gathering from their hard-earned wages. Miss Macpherson had placed
the East of London foremost in the list of subjects to be remembered at
their prayer-union every Lord's Day. Little did the praying band think
that in fulfilling this petition, the Lord would take their beloved leader
from among them.
It was in 1865 that Miss Macpherson was guided of the Lord to leave
scenes endeared to her by many hallowed associations, and to
encounter the trials and seek the blessings of Christian work in the East
of London. Her first efforts were in answer to an invitation from the
Society of Friends to hold classes for young men, both on the Lord's
Day and on week evenings, at the Bedford Institute, a building lately
erected by that Society, and which stood out conspicuously as a
monument of Christian love. On the week evenings, instruction in
reading and writing was the inducement held out to attend. The first
fruits may be seen in G. C., once a violent opposer, afterwards a
valuable helper in Canada, and now a preacher of the Gospel in China.
The work at the Bedford attracted so much interest, that many helpers
were drawn to it from other parts. The Sunday Bible-classes became an
object of remarkable interest. Perhaps such an assemblage has seldom

been seen. Many tables were filled in one hall with men, in another
with women, many of whom were very aged, all with large-print Bibles
before them, and each table headed by some earnest teacher, all at the
close being gathered together for the final address.
Other Gospel meetings were also held at the Bedford, but Miss
Macpherson's labours could not be confined to this spot. In several little
rooms poor Christian women were gathered for prayer, and depots for
tracts were established, and Scripture texts placed in the windows, in
streets which were never so lighted before. But these and all other
efforts for the poor East End were interrupted in the autumn of 1866.
She felt the Lord called her to accompany her sister and brother-in-law,
Mr. Merry, with their young family across the Atlantic. Mr. Merry's
object was to settle his four sons in the Western States of America. The
voyage proved most perilous and stormy. On arrival in New York, Mr.
Merry's health entirely broke down, and the medical opinion given was
that nothing would restore him but return to his native land. In March
1867 they were welcomed back with exceeding joy. How mysterious
did this trial appear! Why were those who had sought the Lord's
counsel so earnestly, permitted to undertake a voyage apparently so
useless, and accompanied by so much anxiety and suffering? How little
could any one then conjecture that the Lord was thus training His
children for the