ESQUIMAUX TESTIMONY.

In reference to a Sunday he writes :

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"The work for the day, and the order of it, was before me at early morn with considerable clearness. We assembled with the Esquimaux and the Moravian brethren at nine at their morning gathering. My mind was brought under a deep feeling of religious exercise; nor was it at my own command that neither the Litany in a strange tongue, the hymns, or the organ, disturbed or distracted. I sat beside the brother who had kindly interpreted. When the usual time for dispersion had come, the Esquimaux congregation sat perfectly still. They were reminded that soon we expected to leave their country and to see them no more on earth—of the happy land where God's dear children dwell never to part, and that to be prepared for an entrance there should be the chief care of our lives.”

On one occasion when the members of the Mission families were gathered together, the Senior Missionary said: “We wish you to feel that we are very thankful for your visit, and for the ability by which you have been enabled to speak, not only to us but also to the Esquimaux. We shall never forget the time you have spent here. We feel that we are united together in the Lord.”

At another time, after Isaac Sharp had finished an address to about 280 Esquimaux, one of the number, a "helper" of the congregation, arose.

"From our very childhood," he said, "we have been taught what to do and what not to do. But we have been too much like foolish children in forgetting. We pray the Lord to help us. We thank Him that He has sent you to us, and though soon we shall see each other no more, we shall remember the words you have spoken. We hope you will get well home again, and that you will tell your friends that we send to them our greeting."

Then he turned to the congregation. "Speak you not the same?

he asked.

"Ahila, ahila-tai, mai-law-lee," was the hearty affirmative response of many voices both of men and women.

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"It was," says Isaac Sharp, a beauteous eventide for our last farewell of O-kak; and as we communed with our friends in the cabin of the Harmony, there was a precious feeling of near fellowship. A cordial acknowledgment was once more made by the brethren of the visit they had received: 'It has been a time of much encouragement to us, nor will your visit soon be forgotten either by ourselves or by the Esquimaux. They have already spoken together about it, and expressed their desire more closely to follow the Lord. Pray for us and on behalf of our people, and for our isolated mission work. Tell your friends of our desire to remember them, and to be by them remembered for good before the Lord.'

"We took our leave of them, and saw them no more. Early on the following morning the Harmony left the bay, and on the 10th (of September), narrowly escaping shipwreck on the rocks during a heavy gale, entered the Bay of Hebron, the most northerly station of Labrador."

Isaac Sharp was much interested in observing the "working out of daily mission life with its multitudinous and varied claims, among a people needing to be watched over in a prayerful spirit." He had a religious interview with a "helper brother" and three "helper sisters"natives who came in the dimness of twilight-with one of the Moravians for interpreter. "Their unrefined exterior, singular costume, and features of peculiar mould could. scarcely fail to strike the eye of a stranger. Preceded by a little pause of silence, they were addressed on the blessing of being in any way helpful in bringing souls to Jesus. Tears were shed, and they all appeared to listen seriously to the entreaty that they would seek for strength to walk watchfully and wisely before those who might be looking to them for example."

"I acknowledge all you have said," was the response of one of the helper brothers; "my heart has been warmed by the words you have spoken, as before the Lord, and I hope to have them in remembrance. We are very thankful for your visit."

WHAT GOD HAD WROUGHT.

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Again and again Isaac Sharp was told how no one had ever come to strengthen the hands of the labourers as he had done. He writes: "The language, Return unto thy rest, O my soul, for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee,' awakens the deep response, 'To God, only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ for ever, for that which He hath wrought."

CHAPTER VI.

"Lord, wilt Thou teach us our intense individuality in Thy sight.”—Isaac Sharp.

"Lives like Isaac Sharp's are an inspiration to those yet in the thick of the fight, or in the morning of life with all its possibilities open to them.”—William Thompson.

I

SAAC SHARP'S personal appearance will be easily

recalled by those who knew him. He was short in stature, but it was his bright and intelligent countenance that absorbed the observer's attention. Words, written in reference to another good man, well describe it, particularly when for awhile the strain of the service he so much loved was laid aside in congenial society: "His expressive features were illumined with the commingling of the joy, human and divine, his heart possessed." Not that we would imply that he ever seemed to feel his loyal service to his Lord a burdensome thing.

One of his oldest London friends, J. Bevan Braithwaite, says, "Time after time he would walk from Tranter's Hotel into my breakfast room with that beaming smile upon his face which was in itself a sermon, and which answered to that peace within him that passed all understanding. The testimony of his preaching was emphatically not to himself but to his Lord."

Another of his friends has remarked that he was "possessed of very considerable imaginative power in the best sense of the word." He had much playful humour, and young people enjoyed intercourse with him as much as their older friends did.

"A LAWFUL GLOW."

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We recall in recent years a tea table where the good minister and his host capped one amusing story with another, but, be it ever borne in mind, the kindliness of the man was more apparent than the humour. Never, in public or private, have we heard him speak unkindly of anyone. This kindliness was shown even in a few minutes' chat with the little child in Cornwall-whose father was to be his companion in religious service in the Isles of Scilly and afterwards in Norway-as he asked her the names of her dolls, leaving a pleasant memory which long years cannot wear out:

"Kind words, so short to speak,

But whose echo is endless."

His happy buoyant nature could generally see the silver lining of the darkest cloud. His universal courtesy was also a marked feature in his character. He was skilful in changing the current of conversation when he saw no advantage in expressing an adverse opinion, or had formed no decided view of his own on the topic. Everywhere, both at home and abroad, he avoided controversy.

As we read in the current number of The Friend, the following remarks in reference to the late Anna Maria Fox, we feel how truly they would, with the mere change of pronouns, apply also to Isaac Sharp, "The source and spring of this beautiful life was felt by all to be the love of God shed abroad in her heart by the Holy Ghost. Rejoicing herself in a simple faith in the truths of the Gospel, the catholicity of her spirit was remarkable; and though deeply attached to the principles of our Society, her large heart embraced humanity, and recognised what was of God in every creed and profession."

In his old age, away in a distant land, after an allusion to "glorious" weather, he goes on to say: "Surely it is well to get hold of every bit of anything that has a lawful glow upon it."