"Such words, heard again and again with every variety of expression,
attests the sincerity of those who, in widely differing circumstances,
perhaps, have yet this common bond, that through this instrumentality,
they are rejoicing over a husband, a father, a son, 'which was dead, and
is alive--was lost, and is found.'

"Surely, such proof of the intrinsic worth of a work like this, is
beyond all expression--full of comfort and encouragement to persevere."

Again: "Through their instrumentality families long alienated and
separated have been happily brought together. This branch of the ladies'
work has been peculiarly blest; and their reward is rich in witnessing
not only homes made happier through their labors, but hearts so melted
by their personal kindness, and by the Gospel message which they carry,
that husbands and wives, convicted of the sinfulness of their neglect of
the great salvation, come forward to declare themselves soldiers of the
cross, and unite with the Christian church."


THE TESTIMONY OF INMATES.

As the value of this and similar institutions is best seen in what they
have done and are doing, we give two extracts from letters received from
men who have been reformed through the agency of the "Home" in
Philadelphia. In the first, the writer says:

"It has now been nearly two years since I left the Franklin Home. I had
been a drinking man ten years, and it got such a hold on me that I could
not resist taking it. I had tried a number of times to reform, and at