us, and gave himself for us; he bought them with his blood; he "endured the cross, despising the shame," that he might make them ours; and now he freely offers them to you, to me, to every man, begging and entreating of us all to accept these proofs of his friendship, these irrefutable evidences of his love. Let us take these blessings, then-pardon, righteousness, salvation, eternal life, heaven, all secured for us, all offered to us by him; and whatever else we really need, not whatever else we wish, but whatever else we want, whatever will be conducive to our true welfare, we may, I think, with reason believe He who loved us unto death will not be unwilling, will not be slow to provide; whatever moral principle we need to bring to bear against temptation, whatever strength of purpose we need to engage in duty, whatever fortitude of soul we need to encounter trouble; I most earnestly believe he will give us all these things. And thus it appears to me that though the friendships of the world are often so unwise, often so mischievous, often so inconstant, often so disappointing, there is, above the world, One in whom, and whom alone, this proverb finds its verification; Jesus Christ, for every man "a friend in need," and, therefore a "friend indeed."

LECTURE X.

FIVE SHILLINGS AND COSTS.

But let us

"FIVE SHILLINGS AND COSTS"-such is the sentence pronounced every year by the magistrates of Liverpool upon some thousands of persons, taken into custody by the police for being "drunk and disorderly." The five shillings speak for themselves, but what are the costs? "The costs!" "Oh," says some poor fellow who has a vivid remembrance of his own experience, "the costs are 4s. 6d." "Is that all?" "Yes, that's all." Well, we shall see. I do not think it is all; I do not think it is more than a very small fraction of the costs. first look at the mere money cost-5s., plus 4s. 6d.,= 9s. 6d. altogether. Not very much, you say, to pay for a jolly good spree; yet it is this much; it is to a working man the price of nearly half a week's hard work, and that is too much to lose in these times, or in any times. It would pay a fortnight's rent for a working man; or it would, at a pinch, keep him and his family in bread for a week; or it would send little Tom and little Mary to a decent school for a quarter of a year; or it would enable a man to go to the Saturday evening concerts from Michaelmas to Whitsuntide; or it would

purchase two or three good and instructive books. Only 9s. 6d., my friends! 9s. 6d. is not a sum to be lightly thrown away. Just consider to how many useful purposes it may be applied; what comfort, advantage, real enjoyment, it can secure, if well expended; and you will feel that it is no trifling matter that it is at all events too much for a working man to lose. But the 9s. 6d. is not all; it costs something to get drunk, and then there is at least a day lost in appearing before the magistrate. Some it is true, can get into the "drunk and disorderly" state upon a very small sum, their heads being naturally light and weak; but if we strike an average, taking into account the fact that very often, if not generally, several days are lost, then the price of the drink, and the price of the lost time, added to the "five shillings and costs," will probably amount to twenty shillings at the very least. In fact, I believe this to be far below the real average figure. very

"Five shillings and costs," then, really means £1; it often means, it generally means, a great deal more. When we take the aggregate of the cases dealt with by the magistrates, the "five shillings and costs" amount to an immense sum. During the year which ended with September last, the magistrates of this borough fined upwards of five thousand persons. Whether it was in every case a matter of exactly 9s. 6d. or not, I set the whole down at certainly not one farthing less than £5,000, taking into account the money spent in drink, and the lost time. But besides these five thousand, there were upwards of one thousand of the "drunk and disorderly" who were sent to gaol for various periods not exceeding

three months. I shall average the imprisonment as low as three weeks; the wages of each, or the amount which each would earn, at £1 per week; so that the cost of the imprisonment-the cost to the prisoners themselves, to say nothing of the cost to the country in furnishing them with lodgings-was £3000, which we must add to the £5000, lost by the unimprisoned disorderlies, and then we have a total of at least £8,000. Now, although £1 a week is but little, still it is possible for a man and his wife and several children to live upon it; and when it is economically spent, six persons at least may keep their heads above water, and live, not luxuriously, certainly, but not in extreme necessity either. So this sum of £8,000 would maintain nearly fifty thousand people for a week, and certainly would provide ten thousand persons with every necessary of life for an entire month. A month's subsistence for ten thousand people has been lost; and here we are, with the prospect of a hard and gloomy winter before us. It seems to be the universal impression that bad times for the working people are at hand. "Five shillings and costs!" it means 9s. 6d. ; yes, and it means a month's subsistence for ten thousand people. If the "five shillings and costs" had been saved, I believe that we could stand the hard times that are coming. At all events, ten thousand persons would be able to stand them for a month.

But the "five shillings and costs," most righteously exacted at the police court, represent only a small fraction of the real money-cost of intemperance. Some six thousand and odd were convicted; but more than eleven thousand were apprehended during the year

ending with September. I rejoice much to find that this shows a very considerable decrease as compared with previous years. I do believe that we are improving; that free libraries, and cheap concerts, and lectures for the people, and working men's associations, headed by so many Christian ministers, are beginning to tell their influence is already felt. Fourteen hundred apprehensions fewer this year than last, and the decrease nearly, if not entirely, in the "drunk and disorderly" cases-a diminution of about ten per cent., as far as I can gather. Now this is something; and when referring to the probable causes of this most favorable change, I ought to have adverted to those fountains which I believe one of our benevolent and public-spirited townsmen has placed in the streets. These fountains are certainly invaluable instruments of reformation, and one of the greatest boons ever bestowed upon the working public; and I hope there is no profanity in applying, in this case, those well-known words which assure the benevolent man that such an act is not unnoticed by God, but that the gift of even a “cup of cold water shall in no wise lose its reward." There is happily a decrease, and a considerable decrease, in the number of apprehensions, and meanwhile the population is increasing. I earnestly wish that, year after year, we may rejoice over similar reports, until this disgraceful, and pauperising, and most demoralising crime shall be exterminated. It is evident that a very decided success has crowned the efforts of philanthropic men in this town

-a success which I am sure they themselves will feel to be an ample recompense for all their toil. Let them thank God, take courage, and go forward in their noble