“What is that?” she inquired.  “Is not conversion God’s work?”

“Yes,” I answered, “indeed it is; but so is the harvest yonder in the corn-fields:  it is all God’s work, but men have to plough the ground and sow the seed.”

“Oh, is that what you call revival work?  I have read of it; and, to tell the truth, I have come all the way from London to see it.”

She evidently had an idea that revivals were something like thunder-storms, which come of themselves, no one knows how or why; or something that is vented, like an occasional eruption of Mount Vesuvius.

I said, “Revivals—­that is, the refreshening of believers and the awakening of sinners—­ought to take place wherever the Gospel is preached in faith and power.”

She could not understand it, and said, “It is not so in churches, is it?”

“Yes,” I replied, “in churches as well as in cottages, halls and chapels too.”

“I am sure Mr. ——­ in London preaches a full Gospel, but I have never heard of a revival there; indeed, I feel convinced they would not allow it.”

“Is he converted?” I asked.

She smiled at the question, and said, “I suppose he is.”

“I mean, does he preach about the forgiveness of sins? and, more than this, does he expect people to have forgiveness?”

She said she could not understand my Cornish way of talking—­“They do not speak like that in London.”

“Your sins are pardoned,” I said, by way of explanation, in order to get her to comprehend my meaning from her own experience.  “Your sins are pardoned.”  She got very confused.  “You know,” I continued, “that it is a happy day when Jesus takes our sins away.”  This only made matters worse.  She became greatly embarrassed.  While we spoke of London and Gospel preaching she was free enough; but the moment I made a personal application of the subject, she was altogether bewildered.

At last, with a kind of forced effort, she said, “I have been a child of God for eleven years.”

“Thank God!” I said, much relieved; “that is what I mean.  You have been converted and pardoned for eleven years.  It is all right, then.  I did not intend to perplex you, and am sorry I did not convey ray meaning in a better manner.”

But I could not smooth down her ruffled feathers so easily, and was glad when the five minutes’ bell began ringing to summon us to church.  We got ready, and went.  It happened to be a children’s service, and our subject that afternoon was Joseph’s reconciliation with his brethren.  Three questions, among others, were asked and dwelt upon.

First, “Was Joseph reconciled with his brethren while they were self-convicted before him, and condemned themselves as verily guilty concerning their brother?”—­“No.”

Second, “Was he reconciled when he feasted with them, and made merry?”—­“No.”

Third, “When, then, was he reconciled?”—­“When they surrendered themselves, and all the eleven were prostrate at his feet, like the eleven sheaves which bowed to Joseph’s sheaf in the harvest field; then he made himself known to them, and forgave them.  It is not when a soul is under condemnation, nor yet when it is happy, that it is saved; but when it is actually, once for all, surrendered to Christ for salvation, then it is He makes himself known to them, even as Joseph did to his brethren.”