; they conducted 3764 out-of-door services;
they induced 1296 persons to partake of the Lord's Supper, 242
backsliders to return, 608 families to begin family prayer, 863 drunkards
to abstain, 141 shopkeepers to close their shops on the Sabbath, and 8297
children to attend ragged and Sunday schools.

In London there are 300 Bible women always at work; then there is the
Christian community founded in the days of John Wesley; the members of it
visit workhouses and lodging-houses in the East of London and preach in
the open air. Last year the number of open-air services held by them
amounted to 542; the number of addresses delivered, 1626; and the number
of hearers, including indoors and out, 379,370. The Society also visits
lodging-houses and the Juvenile Refuge, and gives free tea meetings,
which, as we may imagine, are very well attended. During the past year
255,477 tracts had been distributed, and altogether it had held 8573
services.

The Open-air Mission needs also to be recorded. It is calculated that in
the summer our open-air preachers address every Sunday nearly half a
million of persons in the metropolis alone. It must also be remembered
that of late, by the closing of public-houses, the number of idle,
covetous, mischievous persons thrown on our streets is considerably
increased. On Sundays it is evident that the blockage of the streets is
greater than ever. In such places as Trafalgar Square, and the
steam-boat piers, and in all our back streets, there are thousands of
boys and men gambling and demoralizing one another. The Open-air Mission
catches some of them, and in the lowest neighbourhoods--where the most
depraved live--its agents generally receive a favourable hearing; one
exception is recorded, which occurred at the Royal Exchange. Preaching
last year commenced there in April, and went on with many striking
instances of success till May 9, when a band of secularists,
humanitarians, and infidels came to oppose,--one man reading the Koran,
while the agent of the City Mission was as usual about to commence his
service. On the next Sunday the opposition was still greater, being
reinforced by Roman Catholics and their priests. Under these
circumstances preaching was suspended, only to be reopened when the
excitement and the danger of a breach of the peace shall have passed
away. The Society aims at open-air preaching, special visitation,
domestic visitation, and conferences for mutual intercour