The “welcome home” which he received was a hearty one, and he commenced his work auspiciously. He was a ready speaker, and his sermons were short and practical. “There is always something to do you good, though,” said the brother who had prayed that he might come clothed; “and I find it helps you through the week to have something to think of.” Whether his sermons cost him much or little effort, no one knew; but there was one part of his work about which there was no doubt. Mr. Collinson told them at the outset that he would live and work for the young. “You begin too late,” he said to those who sought his aid for missions and refuges, and other efforts to save the adults. “There is no hope for England excepting in the salvation of her children.” “Well, there are the Sunday-schools,” was, of course, the answer, but this always brought a peculiar smile to the face of the young minister. He spent the whole of the afternoon of his first Sunday at Broad Street in the Sunday-school. The teachers were gratified, and they thanked him for his presence. “Oh, do not thank me,” he said; “the Sunday-school is, of course, a part of the church. This is, therefore, my school, and I intend to be present at it every morning and afternoon.” Now this was quite a new idea; and the teachers were not sure that they would like it. It had been a pet grievance with them that their old minister was never seen in the school, excepting on special occasions and by personal invitation. They were never tired of speaking about this at teachers’ meetings, when he was absent, and sometimes even in his presence. They often hinted, too, at the lack of sympathy manifested by the church, as if they were not themselves the church, or at least the most important part of it. They frequently declared that a minister’s place was in the Sunday-school, and that his duty in this respect was too often neglected. But all the same, when they were informed that the minister intended always to be at the school, most of the teachers felt embarrassed, not a few heads were shaken, and there were many muttered hopes that he would not interfere. But he did, and that very speedily. At first he offered to take any class from which the teacher was absent; and whenever he did so the children were very candid and unceremonious in their expression of the wish that their teacher would remain absent always. But the absentee was invariably visited the next day; and if he had not provided a substitute, or had only a trivial reason to give for his absence, that teacher was sure to have a bad quarter of an hour with the minister.