eagerly run after as ever. Any ill-feeling which he once provoked has entirely disappeared, and few strangers now pass through London without visiting his Tabernacle. Accordingly, when the Premier and his son, and at an earlier date Mr. Bright, paid him a visit, they were only following a custom which has grown very general amongst all classes in this country-Churchmen as well as Dissenters." "CHART AND COMPASS." Have you seen Chart and Compass Volume? Have you paid up for 1882? Have you obtained a new subscriber? Beloved helpers, it is only by the continuance of your sympathetic help that we shall be able to meet all the liabilities of 1882, and give to the Memorial Fund as we desire. Our God has been good to us. We thank Him for 1881, and trust Him for 1882. The Magazine was never more kindly spoken of. Dr. Clemance says of Chart and Compass, Volume, 1881:-"I like it much." John Macgregor, Esq. (Rob Roy), says :-Many thanks for the beautiful volume of true blue with the Kent' notices.' Mrs. Riches, the accomplished authoress, writes:— "Your little magazine, the A lady from Launceston writes:-"Enclosed is P.O.O. (2s. 6d.) for the Chart and Compass. Need I say I look forward with considerable pleasure to the time it is due, it being one of the most profitable and interesting of magazines!" Mrs. Cheesman, Mildmay Park, writes :-"I quite intend to continue taking Chart and Compass, it is a very nice interesting magazine, and shall more than ever feel it such." GENOA FLOATING BETHEL, CALEDONIA. HE was built at Sestri, near Genoa, according to designs, by Charles H. Jordan, Surveyor of the Liverpool Registry of Iron Vessels, under the superintendence of the Rev. Donald Miller. Built of iron, in rectangular form, with projections at bow and stern, which afford a little deck space, and which are connected by side walks, supported by brackets, and * We are indebted to T. Nelson & Sons, as also Messrs. Morgan & Scott, for the above block. Very sorry it gives the old and not the new Bethel.-ED. 56 GENOA FLOATING BETHEL, CALEDONIA. carrying a railing right round the vessel; another railing runs round the top deck or roof of building, giving a very elegant appearance. The vessel is furnished with strong cleets and bollards fore and aft, also winches for warping, sluice valves, pumps, davits, and other necessary appliances. A flagstaff at the bow for flying the "Bethel" Flag, and another at the stern for the Ensign. Across the front of the house are printed in large letters, “Seamen's Chapel and Reading Room," which will be seen by all captains coming for pratique to the Health Office, near which the · Bethel" is anchored. Four doors give access to the interior, one on each side, and one at each end of the vessel. Entering by the door at the stern one finds two commodious and comfortable rooms, with book-cases and other conveniences, the one for the English Missionary, the other for the Italian Colporteur. These rooms have doors entering into the hall, which is capable of seating some 150 men. A moveable partition at the other end of this hall divides it from the sailors' reading 100m, large enough to seat other fifty men, and by a very simple contrivance the partition can be thrown back against the sides of the ship, and so bring the two halls into one. Beyond the reading room are two other commodious rooms, one a sleeping cabin for the ship keeper, the other his workroom, with every convenience. The furniture and lining of the interior are of varnished pitch pine; the roof with its long sky light for ventilation, is supported by iron pillars; the windows have been so arranged as to prevent any downward draft when open. Eight elegant lamps give a handsome appearance to the hall, the principal beauty of which is its simplicity. To prevent the radiation of heat into the interior from the iron plates of the vessel, a one-and-a-quarter packing of asbestos has been placed between them and the wooden lining. The dimensions of the vessel are as follows:-Extreme length, 64 ft.; extreme breadth, 26 ft. 2 in.; depth moulded, 13 ft. The contract price was £1,800, which was contributed by the Sunday-school children of the Free Church of Scotland, a generous lady who has the spiritual welfare of sailors at heart, and a few other friends of the sailors' cause in Britain. She was safely launched on December 24th, and towed to her moorings in the harbour, to the delight of all interested in her glorious mission. As she passed the ships several dipped flags to her, as well they might. Many enquiries were made as to this strange looking, but beautiful craft. To-day every kind of vessel is built at fabulous costs, and for the most diabolical purposes ever conceived by the brain of man. Nations vote their millions for purposes of war, ought not churches to give their thousands to vessels of peace? It GENOA FLOATING BETHEL, CALEDONIA. 57 is, therefore, a rare treat to see such a craft as this sailors' "Bethel" proudly floating on the sea. Usually rotten old ships or condemned war vessels have been transformed into floating churches and chapels. Often they have been totally unfit, a daily anxiety, and expense, and dear at a gift. Naples and Genoa by building new vessels have set a glorious example, and inaugurated, we hope, a new era for mission work in harbours such as these. This last edition of a floating Bethel reflects credit on everyone who has had to do with her, and will serve as a model for future Bethels. On Sunday, January 1st, the dedication services were held on board. Mr. Miller gave up his morning service on shore so that all might join in the services afloat. A heavy rain, however, prevented some, and seemed to teach us that the work to be accomplished was no mere fine weather child's play entertainment, but contending with mighty elements, demanding energy, perseverance, and consecration. A collection, which was very kindly given to the memorial fund, no doubt suffered, but nevertheless was very encouraging. It was a pleasing sight to see the children present from the Sunday-school of the Waldensian Church, to formally give a large, beautiful Bible to the Bethel. This was done at the beginning of the service, with all the coolness, self-possession, and brightness for which Italian children are famed. That interesting chapter in the church's history, the trials and triumphs of the Waldensian Christians, we cannot now refer to. But Pastor Prochet, whose sweet little daughter took part, and whose son was the medium of presentation, might well be proud of his relationship with the historic past and the prophetic future. GENOA, 1st January, 1882. REV. DONALD MILLER,--The children of the Waldensian Sunday-school in Genoa, in token of their sympathy with, and gratitude to, the Free Church of Scotland, which has always taken a lively interest in the evangelisation of their country, present this Bible to be used in the public worship of God in the new Bethel, and pray God that the reading of it may be blessed to the salvation of many souls. In name of all the scholars:-Paolo Vicino, Earnesto Prochet, Manfredi Prochet, Cecelia Giorcelli, Maria Cerruti. Our meeting at Genoa affords a striking illustration of how the Lord prepares His servants, they being unconscious at the time of His purpose and their destiny. Twenty-one years ago last November there left for Genoa a mere sailor boy, with all the ambition, hope, and prospect of professional advancement crushed out of him by the sudden death of his father; not only so, but the dread mysteries of this earthly life with its bitter disappointments, blighted hopes, sad bereavements, with those deeper meanings of sin, suffer-. 58 GENOA FLOATING BETHEL, CALEDONIA. ing, separation of spirit and body, began to dawn upon him. When he entered Genoa, the volcanic upheaval in the political life of Italy, fitly symbolized by her burning mountains and past history, was in full blast. Just before he came to Genoa, a young Scotch merchant, full of high ambitions, with characteristic foresight, energy, and pluck, by which so many of his countrymen have worked their way to brilliant commercial positions, also entered the port. He left by steamer, carrying volunteers, and irregular impetuous patriots on their way, to join General Garibaldi in Sicily. In the night there was well nigh a mutiny between the sailors and these ungovernable troops. The young merchant with his English and Italian was the only medium of propitiation. By tact, courage, and good feeling he quelled the disturbance, which probably would have grown and ended in disaster and bloodshed. On arrival at Perlermo, Garibaldi immediately sent for him, and he received the confidence and countenance of that wonderful liberator of his country, the very embodiment of unselfish patriotism, General Garibaldi. The young merchant was among the most stirring scenes, and at once accomplished the object of his mission in supplying the army commissariat. Without going into the most interesting details of those eventful times of the young merchant by moving among the characters of that day, witnessing the overthrow of political, tyranical despotism, and the building up of that divided and distracted country, becoming conversant with its language, its social and moral life, he was graduating in this providential school for his future life-work. Without following him to his university and collegiate studies, or his spiritual experiences, suffice it to say, in the providence of God he ultimately entered upon his life-work in Italy. He soon took part in liberating Italy from another thraldom. He established a high-class religious school at Rome for young ladies, which has caused the old Pope (as the prophetic Bunyan saw him in his prison house) to bite his nails. With perseverance and energy he erected at Genoa, with monies obtained in the United Kingdom and the United States, a beautiful church and its appendages. With considerable success, with the father of Italian Presbyterianism, the Rev. Dr. Stuart, of Leghorn, he has helped an Evangelical and Evangelistic literature for Italy. He has founded also a Protestant hospital at Genoa, for which a gentleman recently sent for him and gave him twenty-five thousand francs. Last, but not least, was the founding of the Genoa Harbour Mission, which is scarcely second in importance to any on the Continent. This young merchant and the young sailor, after twenty-one |