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CHAPTER XVIII.

THE RESUME FROM DECEMBER, 1860.

HAVING thus traced our friend's earlier struggles-his career from the cradle to London-there is a natural tendency to run on even to his latest successes; but that cannot be done at present, at least, in detail. To give a fair outline of his Life and Work since 1860, would require another volume as large as this one. Therefore, all that can be added here is a brief resumé from that date to the present. But even this will show that the child is father to the man-that the work of preparation in Scotland has not been lost. Still he can say as he has often said

"The Lord that built the earth and sky is my perpetual aid."

This may be seen to some extent in his volume entitled "Mission Life in London ;"* but as only a few copies of that work remain, we shall avail ourselves of a brief narrative drawn up by a friend. This, we understand, is selected from various sources, such as the sketch which appeared in the "Northern Light," and a later sketch which appeared after the railway collision in which he was so severely injured. These brief notes are classified according to their date, and the first series refer to

* Hodder and Stoughton, London.

HIS FIRST TWO YEARS IN LONDON.

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HIS FIRST TWO YEARS IN LONDON.

In the volume just named, Mr Hillocks says-" The Rev. J. H. Wilson received me kindly on my arrival at his office, then in Bloomfield-street, E.C. But he very properly thought I was too weak to preach on the morrow, so I rested on the Sunday. It turned out, however, in the course of the week, that I was once more to realise the meaning of the sentence"There is much between the cup and the lip;" but in this case the cause sprung from a slight mistake, but no blame anywhere. Mr Wilson's letter, containing the invitation, was sent through his Edinburgh friend, who, on reading it, and seeing the words this week, wrote to London to say he feared I could not be there so early as to be able to preach on the Sunday. This letter of invitation came to me, and not knowing that any letter had been sent in reply, I wrote to say I might be expected in time. But before my note arrived Mr Wilson had written for another preacher, to prevent any disappointment. The result was, the people liked the man and he remained with them.

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I need not say this was a disappointment to me, to my family and friends. Mr Wilson assured me that there might be another opening ere long; but here I was in London, and almost without a penny. Something must be done immediately, so I became 'a man of business' once more-having made a temporary engagement with Mr Tweedie, the publisher, who was then in the act of bringing out the Second Edition of 'Life Story.'

"This was a first-rate school, and I learned much. I was an odd man, but not in an odd place-in almost every place and at everything-now supplying the world with temperance literature, now assisting on the A B C Railway Guide, now correcting proof paragraphs-news and other correspondence sent to the Temperance Record; now writing reviews and articles for it. Then came the evening lectures, all gratis. I was sought

for everywhere for the temperance and other meetings-from Surrey Chapel in the South, to the Cabinet Theatre in the North-from the West to the East.

"I say from the West, for soon after I arrived in London I was introduced to the authoress of 'Ragged Homes and How to Mend Them,' who was at that time doing good work in the Potteries. There, in connection with this work, I met the Rev. Henry Varley for the first time. There, too, I met my countryman, the Rev. Dr Tait, now the Archbishop of Canterbury. It was at one of these meetings, chiefly composed of the gipsies, that I stole a march on the bishop. We were both to address the meeting-he first, of course. The address was very good, but the people seemed to listen because the speaker was a bishop. I happened to be a little more successful, for the audience applauded frequently. Is he a missionary among the gipsies?' asked Dr Tait. The secret was this: After taking a cup of tea hastily at the platform table, I went down among the people; talked with one and another, especially among the younger portion of them. I told them some things about Scotland, and they told me much about the Potteries, their life and ways of living. I caught their words and some of their phrases. This, with the newly-acquired knowledge, enabled me to make several points, I hope for good.

"I was not long in London when I felt it was my duty to know more of the English people before undertaking the responsibilities of a pastorate. This I told the friends who were the means of my coming to the metropolis, suggesting, too, that I would rather be an evangelist for a time. So I continued the clerk, the sub, the reviewer, the lecturer, occasionally supplying vacant pulpits, until Mr Wilson received a letter containing this question-Could not Mr Hillocks' services be retained for North London?' My friends agreed, and I was willing. The 'services' were clustered under two heads-that of the missionary and the lecturer."

HIS NEW SPHERE AND ACTION.

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HIS NEW SPHERE AND ACTION.

These faculties did not manifest themselves so fully nor so powerfully in his Islington sphere as they afterwards did in his next field of labour, in St Pancras, where he commenced that course of heroic self-denying efforts which endeared him to the poor.

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"There were," he says, some ladies and gentlemen connected with my work at Islington for whom I have ever retained feelings of respect and gratitude. Their help and encouragement in the work were cheering and valuable, but the happy results of all this were greatly marred by the narrow views and sectarian spirit of others. Among the Christian workers of St Pancras, or rather among those who invited me there, there was less of the unfavourable element. 'Do what you can, in the best way you can,' are words which convey the spirit of the agreement upon which I entered this wide field of labour."

He went there as an Evangelist under the auspices of the London Congregational Association, and the junction of the Hampstead and Tottenham Court Roads, Euston Road, was regarded as the centre of action—the circumference being left very much to circumstances and his judgment. Near to this is Tolmer's Square Congregational Church, with the learned pastor of which Mr Hillocks was closely and happily associated. Though now separated by the Tweed, Mr Hillocks speaks of "this beloved friend in the best of bonds" "a Christian in the highest style of man," as "hearty and genial, liberal and loving." Each attended to his own department of Christian duty, and each helped the other.

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But apart from such, his fellow-workers in this rather wide vineyard, Mr Hillocks found much that was neither pleasant to see nor to hear. Of the physical aspect, he says:-"At first sight-when passing through the leading thoroughfares of this expansive district-the general aspect seemed somewhat

favourable; but a glance at the smaller streets, courts, and places soon led to the conviction that things were not what they seemed. There were numerous parts densely peopled, and generally they were as dirty as they were narrow, in many cases very filthy."

Of the "moral waste," he adds:-"There was a greater variety in the population of St Pancras than in Islington; and, alas, the spectacles of guilt and misery were even more visible and hideous in the former than the latter-the brand of the devil standing out in bolder relief. But God enabled me to do good here, too, among those who had been besmeared in the filthy mires of the moral marshes, not a few having blindly plunged into deep wretchedness, while others were rushing impetuously to sad destruction."

To raise such, by divine help, "to God and usefulness," he set to work most heartily, and, as we see, very successfully. In the report of the London Congregational Association, February 25, 1864, we read:-"The mission under Mr Hillocks in the north-western district has been abundantly blessed. He has opened for himself and his Gospel message a door into many hearts. We find he is doing much, under God, to link the poor to the new sanctuary, and we feel it would be a calamity to lose his services."

To tell how, and by what means, God enabled him to open the door to the people's heart would occupy a large portion of a volume; but the following sentence may give an indication. He says:-"In addition to visiting the people at their homes, indoor and outdoor services, popular lectures, and many kindred efforts often speaking sixteen times a week to large audiences-I had to go to plead at the police courts, attend the sick at the hospitals, and help the poor at the workhouses."

In the course of time, and step by step, his organising abilities came out to advantage, in the formation of the

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