obably taken her case to God, and found Him faithful, for she had
said, before going away, `I know that God is the Father of the
fatherless, and the husband of the widow.'

"Again, another poor woman came. Her husband had fallen sick. Till
within a few days her children had been at a school and paid for, but
now the bread-winner was ill--might never recover--and had gone to the
hospital. These children were at once admitted, and in each case
investigation was made to test the veracity of the applicants.

"Of course," continued the missionary, "I have spoken chiefly about the
agencies with which I happen to have come personally in contact, but it
must not be supposed that therefore I ignore or am indifferent to the
other grand centres of influence which are elsewhere at work in London;
such as, for instance, the various agencies set agoing and superintended
by Dr Barnardo, whose _Home for Working and Destitute Boys_, in Stepney
Causeway, is a shelter from which thousands of rescued little ones go
forth to labour as honest and useful members of society, instead of
dying miserably in the slums of London, or growing up to recruit the
ranks of our criminal classes. These agencies, besides rescuing
destitute and neglected children, include _Homes for destitute girls_
and for _little boys_ in Ilford and Jersey, an _Infirmary for sick
children of the destitute classes_ in Stepney, _Orphan Homes, Ragged and
Day schools, Free dinner-table to destitute children, Mission Halls,
Coffee Palaces_, and, in short, a grand net-work of beneficent
agencies--Evangelistic, Temperance, and Medical--for the conduct of
which is required not far short of One Hundred Pounds a day!"

Even Sir Richard Brandon, with all his supposed financial capacities,
seemed struck with the magnitude of this sum.

"And where does Dr Barnardo obtain so large an amount?" he asked.

"From the voluntary gifts of those who sympathise with and consider the
poor," replied Seaward.

"Then," he added, "there is that noble work carried on by Miss Rye of
the _Emigration Home for Destitute Little Girls_, at the Avenue House,
Peckham, from which a stream of destitute little ones continually flows
to Canada, where they are much wanted, and who, if allowed to remain
here, would almost certainly be _lost_. Strong testimony to the value
of this work has been given by the Bishops of Toronto and Niagara, and
other competent judges. Let me mention a case of one of Miss Ry