About two months later, under date of November 18th, 1857, the following was penned:—
"Many think I am very poor. This certainly is true enough in one sense; but, thank God, it is 'poor and making many rich; having nothing, yet possessing all things.' And 'my God will supply all my need:' to Him be all the glory. I would not be otherwise than as I am, dependent myself on the Lord, and used as a means of helping others. The mail arrived on the 4th, Saturday. That morning, as usual, we supplied a breakfast to the destitute who came for it. There were seventy in number; sometimes they do not reach forty, at others they exceed eighty. They come every day, Lord's day excepted; as then we cannot get through our other duties, and attend to them too. Well; we paid all expenses, and provided for ourselves for the morrow; after which we (Mr. Jones and myself) had not a dollar left. We knew not how the Lord would provide for Monday; but over our mantel-piece are two rolls in the Chinese character, 'Ebenezer' (Hitherto hath the Lord helped us), and 'Jehovah Jireh' (The Lord will provide); and He gave us not to doubt for a moment. The mail came in a week sooner than was expected, and Mr. Jones received a bill for 214 dols. We thanked God and took courage, went to a merchant's, and though there is usually some days' delay ere we get the money, this time he said, 'Send down on Monday.' We sent, and though he had not been able to buy all the dollars, he sent seventy on account, so all was well.
Oh! it is sweet thus to live directly dependent on the Lord, who never fails us. On Monday the poor had their breakfast as usual, for we had not told them not to come, being assured that it was the Lord's work, and 'Jehovah Jireh.' We could not help our eyes filling with tears of gratitude, when we saw not only ourselves supplied, but the widows and orphans, the blind and the lame, the friendless and the destitute, together provided for, by the bounty of Him who feeds the ravens. 'O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together.' 'O taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man that trusteth Him. O fear the Lord, ye His saints; for there is no want to them that fear Him. The young lions do lack and suffer hunger; but they that seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing.' (And if not good, why want anything?) 'None of them that trust in Him shall be desolate.'"
When the pecuniary supplies mentioned in the above extract were exhausted, and only one solitary cash (the twentieth part of a penny) now remained in the possession of the writer and his colleague, Mr. Jones, God again manifested His providential care. There remained on the 6th of January, 1858, sufficient food in the house to furnish a scanty breakfast. That partaken of, having neither food for the rest of the day, nor money to purchase it, we could only cry, "Give us this day our daily bread."
After prayer and deliberation, we thought that perhaps we ought to attempt to dispose of something we possessed, in order to supply our immediate need. But on looking round we saw nothing that we could well spare, and little that the Chinese would purchase for ready money. Credit to any extent we might have had, could we have conscientiously availed ourselves of it; but this we felt to be unscriptural in itself, as well as inconsistent with the position we were in,—namely, that of serving God, and subsisting on what He Himself had given us, or might from time to time supply. We had indeed one article which we knew the Chinese would readily purchase,—an iron stove;
