REGISTERED FOR] No. 4.]

OVERGROWN PRESBYTERIES.

THE signal, Clear for action, when it is seen streaming from the mainmast of the admiral's ship, sends a thrill of eager activity through the fleet, and affords a kind of grim delight to the hearts of British seamen. Some such signal may now be seen, as it were, waving on the horizon of Providence, addressed to Presbytery and Presbyterians. It is a signal not so much of distress as of opportunity. The distressed and distracted condition of the greatest ecclesiastical organization in this kingdom especially admonishes us to cut away every impediment that may, in the course of ages, have clung to our own institute, and put it, as far as our efforts may avail, into the best working trim. If we can exhibit a scriptural, strong, sensible, workable, available rallying-point, those who feel themselves thrown helpless on the waters may rally to us, both for their own good and ours.

One thing at a time; and the thing to which we propose to direct the reader's attention at this time is the weakness which Presbytery has contracted in our day through the abnormal size of Presbyteries. It is one of a class of weaknesses which adhere to the principle of conservatism— a principle apparently planted deep in human nature as a centripetal force to counteract the increased centrifugal force of a fast age. While we enjoy the benefit of its main stream, it were well that we should endeavour to avoid its incidental drawbacks.

With the growth of great cities, and groups of towns in mining or manufacturing districts, some Presbyteries have grown, in the number of their separate congregations, to an extent which our forefathers certainly did not contemplate. The strain of increased weight has borne too heavily on some portions of our Presbyterian gearing, and the oppressed parts threaten to give way. It would be our wisdom to examine the defects, and repair them before they altogether break down.

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through. Men must make their choice; they must in large measure neglect either the work of the Presbytery or the work of the congregation. That of the congregation having a prior claim, the Presbytery is more or less left to shift for itself. Thus the business and responsibility of the Court fall into the hands of a few, who have more leisure or more aptitude for that species of work. This has an injurious effect on both classes. It does harm to the one class to have too much ecclesiastical business in hand, and harm to the other class to have too little. It would not be difficult to adduce examples on both sides-on the one side of brethren who might have turned out a shade sweeter in temper if their ecclesiastical business had been lighter; and on the other, of men who might have had fewer corners and crotchets if, through increased responsibility for the general management, they had more frequently been brought into contact, or even conflict, with their equals. It is obvious from the nature of the case—and an examination of facts would confirm the inference-that in Presbyteries of moderate size the quantity of business is smaller, and a larger proportion of the members put their hands to it.

The presence of the daily press in the larger Presbyteries is a matter of grave importance. There is great and obvious advantage in the publication of debates and intelligence; but even here some balancing evils are incident in the form of temptations to devote time and strength to matters public, and push the weighty and necessary matters of the ministerial work into a neglected corner. The present writer knows of a case in which a Presbytery, desiring earnestly to do its proper work, sent down inquiries to all its congregations requesting detailed information regarding the Lord's work; and when the information was obtained and analyzed, the member in charge, after attempting twice to get a hearing for his Report, was put off until everything was out of date, and the Report was never presented. Sheaves of overtures, all on important questions; and webs of speeches, all convincing and eloquent, occupied the room and

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(63 congregations...............126 3 professors

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I have not included the colleagues, although in some cases they swell the numbers considerably, because they are a variable quantity. These are formidable magnitudes. We might, indeed, in these days of improved construction, contrive to find an edifice capable of containing the whole; but as years are of the same length now, and human life, if its average does creep up, increases but slowly, where shall we find time to admit of all the members delivering their sentiments? In cases where several of the members have attained the honourable distinction of senior wrangler, the prospect of a termination would be faint indeed. In the course of a debate in one of our Presbyteries lately, according to the Reports, the exclamation, "Oh, Moderator, life is short!" escaped from an afflicted brother under the pressure.

But much more serious evils lie in the system. The quantity of business necessarily produced by an aggregate of fifty or sixty congregations is so great, that if a member take a conscientious, intelligent interest in all, he need not take anything else in hand. His duties as member of Presbytery will occupy him, and he will find no leisure to act as minister of a congregation. The consequence is that, in point of fact, very few keep the thread of Presbyterial business in their hands and follow it all

Presbytery.

Many parts of the Presbytery's work are huddled into a corner, to the great injury of the cause, and the great grief of the members, who are victims of a system which, though in its conception sound and safe, has practically become unworkable through overgrowth. One of the largest Presbyteries, we are informed, licensed lately a dozen students in one day, hearing on that day twenty discourses, in such fashion as twenty discourses can in one sitting be heard; while the number of members, varying perhaps at different periods of the sitting, was about four. The mischief of hurrying these solemn matters over in such a fashion is inexpressible, incalculable. The appearance of callousness which the haste generates eats like rust into the reverence which should be cherished to the utmost in the hearts of our pious youths.

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As to remedies, only two lines are possible: one to maintain the overgrown Presbyteries, and tell off various committees, intrusting a class of cases to each; the other to subdivide the Presbyteries. In our judgment, the latter is not only the better method, but the only one tolerable. do the work of a Presbytery by a Committee, is not Presbyterianism. It is to change our Constitution, and to change it for the worse. One halfdozen members would be charged with licensing of students, and another with education and Sabbath schools, and another with mission stations; whereas it is for the health of every man's own spiritual life and ministry, that he have his hand and his heart always in contact with every one of these departments.

The true cure is subdivision; and the cure cannot be applied a day too soon. We know of no reason either in principle or expediency against it. In America, both the chief sections of Presbyterians have several Presbyteries in each of the great cities. If we should follow their example, we should certainly in one respect improve upon it. Their division is not a geographical one. A number of congregations have agglomerated on some

rules of convenience, which we do not exactly understand, and constitute a Presbytery within the city. We should certainly consult the map in the process of dissection. Secular courts do not exhibit so intense a conservatism as the courts of our Free Church. In Glasgow, for example, the Circuit Court, when it could no longer overtake all its business by a biennial visit, made three visits in a year. When that proved insufficient, they obtained the use of two court-houses, sent a judge to each, and carried on two courts parallel and simultaneous. They sensibly accommodated themselves to changing circumstances. Our circumstances have changed as much; yet we toil and sweat on with our unwieldy Presbyteries, as if the geographical extent of their sphere had been included in the programme of creation, and the foundations of the earth might be endangered by any attempt to make a change.

As soon as a Presbytery reaches a certain number-say twenty-four charges-let it be divided into two; and let some of the largest be divided by some number-say fifteen-and as many separate courts set up.

Nor let any brother of surpassing eloquence dread the catastrophe of bursting for lack of vent, in case our suggestion should be carried into effect. We are not so foolish as to think that human nature can be dammed up on that side, nor so cruel as to make the attempt, even although we possessed the power. It is observed that when a volcano dries up on one part of the earth's surface, a new crater opens somewhere else. This is a wise provision to prevent the world from being blown into fragments. A parallel phenomenon would be exhibited in the ecclesiastical sphere, if the Presbyterial craters were closed for the public discussion of contested questions, and occupied with the direct spiritual and practical work of the constituent congregations. The Synod, which by the way seems like an old crater that has long been closed, would forthwith become active again. A double benefit would accrue. A pressure which is unhealthy would be taken off the Presbytery, and the circulation would be stimulated in the Synod, which has been pining away for want of exercise. Let questions involving general principles and of pressing public interest be relegated to the Synods, and, if necessary, let them meet somewhat more frequently. The Synod of Glasgow and Ayr contains 363 members, not counting colleagues. This great body, scattered over a surface a hundred miles in length, could not be expected to assemble at any time in full force, but it could be subdivided too; and even if it were left whole, the mischief of a partial attendance would be infinitesimal, as compared with the evil that springs from failure to attend the Presbytery. The fundamentals are cared for in Presbytery. It is like the family in a state. As long as it is healthy, other organizations cannot go far wrong.

This question bears so directly and influentially on certain aspects of the Barrier Act, that the sooner the Church considers it the better for herself. Whether that Act was in its institution intended, or is in its nature fitted to control directly the money contributed by the members of the Church, we shall not at present inquire. On that point, and now, we express no opinion. But of late, proposals have been made and frequently reiterated to send down through the Barrier Act whatever improvement the Assembly may sanction on the method of distributing the Sustentation Fund. It is well to look this proposal full in the face, and see what it means. It assumes, as a matter of course, that a majority of Presbyteries have the right and power to put an absolute veto on any rule which the Assembly may propose for the collection and distribution of the ministers' support. We do not open any question regarding the propriety and wisdom of this check, as it applies to matters of doctrine and Church government. We speak only of the demand to control by it the destination of the common funds. In the working of the Barrier Act, the Presbytery of Islay exerts precisely the same power as the Presbytery of Glasgow. These funds, be it remembered, had no existence when the Act was framed. They are modern. When all the congregations of the Church consent to cast their gatherings into a common purse, and propose to come to a resolution regarding the method of division, why should one congregation in Islay have the same power to influence that resolution as sixteen congregations in Glasgow? What evil have these sixteen done that they should be thus disfranchised? | Even if the Presbytery of Glasgow were divided into four, each congregation in Islay would have as much power as four in Glasgow. This startling anomaly throws an interesting side light on the error which has been allowed to creep in through the indefinite growth of individual Presbyteries. Subdivision would greatly diminish this inequality, and so strengthen the whole system; but the proposal to divide does not need this support. It stands on its own independent grounds. We plead for it on its own merits, and point out here an incidental benefit which would accrue. A.

LAY EVANGELISTIC LABOURERS. No. II.

IN taking action with the view of recognizing, encouraging, and employing lay evangelistic labourers, great care must be taken lest the Church rush from one extreme to another-lest, after having made too little of such agents, she all at once make too much, by raising comparatively uneducated men to the same platform with the regularly trained ministry. In some quarters an outery has of late years been raised against the lengthened curriculum of study enforced by the various Churches upon their candidates for the ministry. Most plausibly it has been argued, that the simplest statements of the gospel are, generally speaking, those which are most blessed by the Spirit of God for the conversion of sinners; that "it is not by might, nor by power, but by God's Spirit;" and that, therefore, this protracted training is altogether unnecessary-nay, is even in many cases prejudical, inasmuch as it leads men to trust to carnal rather than to spiritual weapons.

Now, it has often been said that there is no lie so great a lie as a perverted truth—and this is an illustration. It is a truth—a most important truth-which ought never to be lost sight of by the ministers of the Word, that the simplest, plainest, clearest, and most pointed statements of the gospel are those which, as a general rule, are most blessed for the conversion of sinners; and that in every case the preacher is wholly dependent for success on his labours upon the life-giving Spirit. It is, however, a gross perversion of that truth to argue that therefore the Church should dispense with the lengthened course of study now required of candidates for the ministry. Shallowness and simplicity are two very different things; and while the former is easily attained by any idler, the latter is the ripened fruit of much training, study, meditation, and prayer.

We repeat it, therefore, that no Church action ought to be taken in the way of encouraging lay evangelistic labourers, which would imply that in this age, when an educated ministry is so much needed, the Church is lowering her standard of ministerial training and attainment. The recog nition given to them, whatever it is, should bring out clearly the distinction between them and the regularly ordained ministry, and should be of a less complete character. It ought also to be granted on such terms that none but those who show special aptitude for this kind of work shall obtain it, and those only after some experience of their gifts and graces. It would be a great calamity if any novice who imagined that he had the requisite qualifications should, without any probation, receive the imprimatur of the Church. In such a case the most forward, the most indolent, and the least qualified, would often be the first aspirants to recognition.

*

But how are these aids to be attained? What kind of recognition should be given, and on what conditions? On these points many important and valuable suggestions were made at the conference of the General Assembly, and to these the Committee appointed will doubtless give due consideration. Without, however, anticipating the action of the Committee, we would respectfully suggest whether some valuable hints on this subject might not be gathered from the system of Methodism, which has done so much for the evangelization of the world. Whatever drawbacks there be in other respects, that system is admirably adapted for detecting and calling into operation the various gifts and graces to be found within the Church.

The general order is something like the following:-Whenever an individual professes to be converted, he becomes a member of one of the classes, under the superintendence of class-leaders, and is encouraged to engage occasionally in prayer in the presence of his companions. Should he give evidence of being well fitted to lead the devotions of the meeting, he is by the Board which has the local jurisdiction appointed a prayer leader. Having for a time approved himself as a prayer leader, he is next, after an examination on the doctrines of the Bible, appointed an exhorter --that is one who, in addition to his leading in prayer, also gives short addresses. Having undergone a satisfactory probation as an exhorter, he is next, after a suitable trial of his preaching powers, appointed a local preacher, with a commission to preach the gospel to outlying villages and in district-meetings of the circuit with which he is connected. In order to economize their mental resources, minimize the work of preparation, and maximize their efficiency, the local preachers of a circuit, instead of addressing week after week the same audience, exchange with each other, according to a pre-arranged plan, to such an extent that only a few new addresses are required in the course of a year. This is the more necessary,

* As also by some who have written on this subject, such as Mr Ferguson of Leven, and Captain M'Kenzie.

inasmuch as the local preachers, as well as the exhorters, prayer leaders, and class leaders, all continue at their secular occupation. They together constitute a vast unpaid agency, which has helped greatly, under God, to bring about the almost unprecedented successes which have attended the operations of Methodism in England, and especially in America. From the local preachers the ranks of the regular ministry are in large measure supplied, it being understood that a course of previous training, more or less complete, is necessary before the full ministerial status is attained.

Now, it must be obvious that such a system as this, in some of its features, contrasts favourably with the mode in which our Presbyterian Churches obtain their ministers. According to our modus operandi, young men of piety, and of seeming abilities for the ministerial office, are sent to schools and colleges to have the requisite training, before a single experiment has been made to discover whether they have any capacity whatever for interesting their fellow-men in the concerns of eternity; whether they be at all likely to prove able ministers of the gospel. And what is the result? Why, as one might have expected, a large number of those who have gone through this curriculum of study with ample credit to themselves, so far as literary, scientific, and theological attainments are concerned, and who on the ground of these obtain the license of the Church to preach the gospel, prove very unfit either to edify the body of Christ or to evangelize the world.

Now, while it is true that neither the Methodist nor any other system will altogether prevent men with no preaching power from becoming ministers, surely it contains some regulations which, with sundry improvements, might be well engrafted into our admirable Presbyterian system. At all events, whether or not it might help us to get the best preachers into our pulpits, it would at least enable us to supplement the efforts of the regularly ordained ministry by an agency which is greatly needed.

Let it be an instruction to ministers and sessions, who in this case take the place of the Methodist Board, to encourage as many as possible of the young men under their charge to take part in prayer-meetings, and if found qualified, to conduct district meetings at which short, stirring addresses are given. Such meetings scattered over any locality will, if properly conducted, become (as has been well proved during recent years) a means of great spiritual good both to those by whom they are conducted, and to those by whom they are attended. Into such meetings the home heathenism of any district will, in the first instance, be gathered much more readily than into the regular churches. Those attending them, however, will soon find their way also into churches, and so they will become important feeders to congregations. Should any of the young men engaged in such work show special aptitude for it, let them be selected by the minister for special instruction, not only in the doctrines of God's Word and of the Confession of Faith, but also on the best modes of doing evangelistic work. In country districts such instruction might have to be given by the minister himself; but in towns or large cities. there might be classes formed for that purpose under the charge of some of our divinity professors, or others set apart for such superintendencesuch classes as those which, under the management of Mr. M'Coll, have been for some time in successful operation in the hall of the Bridgegate Church, Glasgow.

After a course of such training, and after ample opportunities have been given of their qualifications by their labouring successfully in the districts connected with their own congregations, let them be presented by their minister to the Presbytery of the bounds, or to a Committee of their number; or, if thought better, to a Committee of the General Assembly, for an examination as to their fitness to be useful lay exhorters.

If they appear endowed with the gifts, graces, and attainments requisite for doing evangelistic work, and especially if they have been already approved by God as those who are wise in winning souls, let them have from the body examining a letter of authorization or recommendation, which, being produced, would certify to all ministers and members of the Church that, in the opinion of the examiners, they are worthy of confidence. Lest there be any abuse of this privilege, or lest any, after further trial, prove incompetent, let the certificates be in every case revocable at the pleasure of those who gave them, and only valid for a certain period, and requiring at its expiry to be renewed on application made. Such simple certificates of general evangelistic capabilities would secure the confidence of brethren throughout the country for those really deserving it, and would prove a great safeguard against the inroads of that class of selfimportant, self-constituted emissaries of evangelism, to which we called attention in our last number.

To ensure success, however, for a scheme so simple, it would be needful that there be united action throughout the whole Church; or, better still,

among the various evangelical Churches in the country (especially among those negotiating for Union), it being understood that no man would be taken by the hand, or formally welcomed into any locality where he was previously unknown, unless he could show some such credentials, or, at all events, give some satisfactory references by which the parties interested might convince themselves that he was a true man, and not an impostor. Of course, the first duty of the Church, in carrying out such a scheme, would be to put, without any previous training or examination, on the list of authorized lay evangelistic labourers such men as have been already approved as God-sent and God-qualified, and are so well known to the Universal Church as to need for their hearty welcome everywhere no letters of commendation.

THE HOURS OF PUBLIC WORSHIP.

H.

THE Closing Address of the Moderator of the Free Church General Assembly was peculiarly fresh and interesting. With his usual independence, Mr. Nixon succeeded in striking out a new path for himself. Among other things, he threw out a number of valuable practical suggestions well worthy of the consideration of the ministers of our Church. It does not in the least detract from Mr. Nixon's merit that some of the ideas so well expressed by him had previously occurred to others. On the contrary, this is rather a proof of the sagacity with which he has apprehended the real wants of the times, and indicated the way in which they may best be met. And suggestions that, coming from another quarter, might only have been pooh-poohed, will receive a respectful hearing when they come. from the Moderator's chair. It is, indeed, a fortunate circumstance that the proposals we refer to were made by one so conservative in his tendencies, with so strong a love for "the old ways," and so strong a persuasion, apparently, that "the former days were better than these." Otherwise, they might have been set down as revolutionary-the wanton innovations of a restless age.

We fully admit that a certain respect, not to say reverence, is due to the long-prevailing custom of the Church. When a certain way of going about the worship of God has become deeply rooted in the habits of a people, it has acquired a sort of prescription which it would be unwise needlessly to disturb. Hasty, sweeping changes, even in mere details, might unsettle the minds of men in regard to far more vital things. Thus, by removing an ungainly addition to the building, we might weaken the foundation. Still, while all this is true, the Church must not go on from age to age treading blindfold the old traditionary ways. She must keep her eyes open to mark the signs of the times, to watch prevailing tendencies, to profit by the lessons of experience. She must hold herself prepared from time to time to reconsider her arrangements, and adapt them to the everchanging condition of society around her.

We mean at present to confine our attention to a single point in the Moderator's late address-viz., the proposal of a change in the hours of public worship. No one, we presume, will maintain that this has been settled for us by divine authority-that because Peter's sermon on the day of Pentecost was preached at nine in the morning, and Paul's at Troas ran on to midnight, these are the only lawful hours for public worship. The question is plainly one of pure expediency. The hours at which the congregation is to meet for worship must depend upon the circumstances and habits of the people. Hence the variety that exists at the present moment. In most of our Scottish towns there is forenoon service at eleven, and afternoon service at two or a quarter past two. In rural districts the congregation meets at mid-day, either for one long diet of worship, or two short ones, with a brief interval between; while in some places there is forenoon and evening service, the latter attended almost exclusively by those in the more immediate neighbourhood of the church.

The alteration suggested by Mr. Nixon, and which in substance we approve of, is applicable only to the towns. But why, it may be asked, propose a change at all? Simply because it has been found as a matter of fact that the interval between the forenoon and afternoon service is too short. There has been observed, for some time past, a growing tendency on the part of our church-going people to be present only in the forenoon. This is of course more noticeable in those churches which are centrally situated, and which draw their hearers from some distance. And even those who have not yet yielded to this tendency complain of the hurry and haste which it requires to enable them to be in their places in the afternoon, the effect of which is too often visible in the drowsiness which overpowers them there. Surely we are bound to remove anything in our arrangements which has a tendency to thin our congregations, to incommode our people, and to defeat the very ends of worship.

On what principle the present hours were selected, we cannot tell. It may have been with the view of getting the service over, during the greater part of the year, in daylight, at a time when the means of lighting churches after dark were much more imperfect than they now are. And so long as the hearers lived in immediate proximity to the church they attended, this plan of a short mid-day interval may have been suitable enough. But the vast extension of our towns, and the break-up of the parochial system in 1843, have brought that state of matters to an end. What, then, would be the best arrangement for the present time? Mr. Nixon recommends that we should meet at half-past ten in the morning. With this suggestion we are sorry to be unable to concur. There are many to whom so early an hour would be extremely inconvenient. Domestic servants in many families would be practically excluded from the forenoon service. Mothers know well how difficult it often is to have their children ready by eleven. And territorial ministers will tell you how thin their attendance in the forenoon is even with the present hour. No; the extension of the interval must be in the other direction. Ought we then to have morning and evening service, as in England? This plan is open to serious objections. It breaks up the day so awkwardly that it is difficult to find a suitable opportunity either before the evening service or after it for that family instruction which has ever been one of the most precious features of our Scottish Sabbath. And it makes an equally serious inroad upon the time that should be spent in meditation and prayer, exercises peculiarly appropriate to the evening of the Lord's day, and as indispensable to Christian progress as the public service of the house of God.

But suppose that three o'clock were fixed upon as the afternoon hour. There would thus be an interval of two hours and a half. This would give all an opportunity for rest and quiet meditation, while those who chose might dine without unfitting themselves for the enjoyment of the afternoon service. The minister, too, would be recruited for his work, and would throw all the more life and vigour into his second sermon. All would be over at half-past four, so that there would be ample time in the evening for family and private exercises, for the Sabbath school, or for an occasional evening service, which might be held at seven o'clock.

We believe these or similar views are strongly entertained by many of the members of our various churches. And if ministers will not take the question up as a practical one in right good earnest, we fear that they will find the number of half-day hearers rapidly increasing, or that the plan of a morning and evening service may be forced upon them. Why should there not be a friendly conference of ministers and members of various denominations, to consider a matter such as this, which equally concerns them all? It is evident that if a change is to be made in any particular town, it must be made simultaneously by all the churches in the place. Obviously it would be in the highest degree inconvenient and unseemly to have the bells ringing and the congregations assembling at different hours. But let the matter be calmly and candidly considered, let some such change as we have indicated be tried for a few months by way of experiment in a single town, and we believe the verdict will be all but unanimous in its favour.

THE AMERICAN CHRISTIAN COMMISSION.

OUR readers have all heard of the United States Christian Commission, which, during the recent war, did so much to alleviate the miseries of the battle-field and the hospital, and to bring the truths and consolations of the gospel to the consciences and hearts of those who were fighting or dying. That great effort set before the American Churches the possibility of uniting in a large and noble work without ignoring their respective testimonies and organizations. It showed the possibility of an immense unpaid agency raising large sums of money for urgent Christian work, and of expending, with marvellous efficiency, both this free labour and these liberal contributions without deduction for collecting and official expenditure. Men and women of all classes went into the camp, simply as soldiers of Christ; and, in the hour of battle, went to the front to succour the wounded and the dying. What the military genius of the nation was able to accomplish without a large standing army, when the war broke out, to make war effective, the Christian genius of the nation accomplished as suddenly and effectively to make war as far as possible Christian. But just as the American army, when the war closed, was dispersed and absorbed in the occupations of a nation at peace, so the United States Christian Commission ended when its work was done.

But many of those engaged in this work felt that peace had its urgent demands on Christian enterprise as well as war, and that for these demands the Churches were not providing an adequate organization, and yet were

able to do it. They saw another army engaged in war; to many wellknown battle-fields various devoted detachments had been drawn-to city missions and mission churches, young men's associations, Sabbath schools, midnight missions, colportage and Bible work, reformatories, infirmaries, asylums, homes, work among the blind and the deaf, the ignorant, the inebriate, the imbecile, the criminal, the destitute. There was need of another great organization to come to the help of the brave army that were working in these trenches or falling in these battle-fields. Accordingly, in September 1865, at a convention composed of two hundred and eighty-seven gentlemen from nineteen states, the district of Columbia and the Canadas, representing twenty-two evangelical denominations, the American Christian Commission was formed. Mr. George H. Stuart, of Philadelphia, so distinguished in the other Commission, is president of this.

The great object of this agency is not directly to carry on this great moral war, but to bring help to those engaged in it; partly by inducing as many as possible, individuals and Churches, to join in it, and partly by collecting and publishing all the best methods that have anywhere been tested by experiment and proved by success.

The first object-the recruiting for the various departments of this service is mainly carried out by large conventions, at first embracing a county, and then a state. These conventions resemble in some respects our conferences, such as have been associated with Huntly, Perth, and other places in the North; and with Barnet and Mildmay Park in the South. Like our conferences, they are devotional, conversational, and evangelistic. They are continued for three days; well-known speakers and workers being drawn from great distances on almost every occasion. But, unlike our conferences, these conventions are largely representative assemblies. Many congregations, in an unofficial way, are represented by their pastors, elders, deacons, and principal workers. In this form there may sometimes be scores or hundreds of churches represented at one convention. So many drawn together solely from their love to Christ and His work, and drawn from various localities within a given area, having much of the same character and work, yet, looking at their work from different sides, and attempting it with a variety of methods, cannot fail to give warmth and weight to these conventions. Besides, they are always attended, not merely by those few men who have specially devoted themselves to evangelistic work, as is too much the case with our conferences, but also by the pastors and other workers most eminent in other departments of Church work. Various subjects bearing on the main work of all Churches are taken up at these meetings; the speaking is generally very brief and pointed; there is much prayer; verbal reports are given of the good work going on elsewhere; methods of successful work are briefly stated, and the minds of all are directed to the duty of aiming at the conversion of sinners and at the largest and widest use of Christian power.

These conventions have generally been followed up by smaller conventions in the towns and villages within the county or state-a hundred such meetings sometimes immediately following the first and central; a general canvass is undertaken to ascertain the state of the population with reference to means of grace; and all the Churches generally are stimulated to fresh effort on the careless around them. "We have found," writes one of the secretaries, "these mass Christian conventions of great value in all parts of our country, as they bring Christians of all evangelical denominations together, and enable them to learn from each others' experience how they reach the masses with gospel influences, and how they organize their congregations for work. In some conventions whole audiences have risen up in solemn consecration to personal Christian effort for the salvation of men. The influence of these meetings goes through an entire state, and Christians who have been inactive all their lives are stimulated to begin work-and these often make most successful workers. In Kansas lately we went from county to county after its state convention, spending a day in each place. We would find crowded houses waiting our arrival at nearly every point. Our plan was to go, usually by private conveyance, from one place to another between half-past ten and four o'clock, the distance varying from twenty to thirty-five miles. At four P.M. we held a children's meeting, at half-past six open-air service, and at half-past seven the convention. In the morning we had an union prayer-meeting at six, a children's meeting at eight, and a general meeting from nine to half-past ten, to see what more could be done in the city and country for the cause of Christ, especially by laymen. Our central idea is to get the Churches, by their private members, to make aggressive efforts on the population around.”

The second object of the Commission, and subsidiary to the first, is to procure information from all reliable sources on the best methods of carrying on Christian work. Thousands of reports have been already gathered

from the principal Christian Societies of the Old World, and arrangements have been made with correspondents in London, Paris, Amsterdam, and Leipsig, to have all such documents sent regularly, while efforts are being made to have similar documents from all Societies in America engaged in Christian work. The Library will thus be rich in information regarding such departments as these:

Almsgiving; Asylums; City, Parish, and Church Work; Education; Foreign Missions; Homes, Hospitals, and Dispensaries; Mutual Benefit and Benevolent Societies; Cheap Refreshment and Reading Rooms; Penal and Reformatory Institutions; Reclamation of the Fallen; Social and Sanitary Questions; Missions for Soldiers, Seamen, Freedmen, and Emigrants; Sunday Schools; Young Men's and Young Women's Associations; Ecclesiastical Reports; Woman's Work among the Poor, the Sick, the Young, &c.

These are only some of the heads under which much valuable labour is being now expended.

In connection with this department, brief occasional papers are issued, with specific plans as adopted by some successful Society or Church, in order to suggest to those beginning work in what direction their efforts may be laid out. One or two specimens of plans adopted by American Presbyterian Churches may interest our readers.

The following are a few facts regarding the Church in Brooklyn, of which the Rev. T. L. Cuyler is pastor :—

"This church had its first pastor in 1860. During seven years the membership has risen to 1078-'the largest church in our denomination.' It has 1300 children under Sabbath-school instruction. It sustains two separate free chapels, the central building with these auxiliaries giving accommodation to 3000 hearers. The church has a temperance society of 1000 members, having monthly meetings. The young men have a weekly social gathering for prayer and addresses in our largest private houses. This meeting is our training-school for young converts. Once a month 'a church sociable' is held at private houses under the auspices of the Ladies' Benevolent Society, which takes charge of making up boxes of clothing for missionaries, providing for poor families, and other kindred movements. The pastor makes it his custom to spend the afternoon of nearly every day in parochial visitation. He usually succeeds in getting to each house once in the year, besides seeing the sick and inquirers. During the revival of last year, the eighteen elders and deacons divided the congregation among them, and visited or wrote to as many of the people as they could reach. The weekly meetings are largely attended by gentlemen. More than a hundred and fifty male members have led in prayer in these devotional gatherings. The general prayer-meeting is conducted by the elders in rotation."

The Rev. Dr. Crosby of New York, among other facts, mentions :— 1. The Young People's Christian Association, which includes about two hundred of the younger members of the church. They have a devotional meeting in the chapel every Saturday evening, when the young men lead in turn. These meetings have been useful in training leaders for prayermeetings in the neighbourhood. A social meeting of the members is held at the pastor's house once a month. At this meeting new members are introduced. There is conversation and music. Committees of the Association seek out teachers for the Sunday school, look after young strangers coming to the church, find employment for the needy, and visit and help the poor. "This Association has been a great blessing to us-the very life-centre of our church."

2. The prayer-meetings are conducted by the pastor and elders in rotation. The leader prays, gives out a hymn, and reads the Bible lesson for the evening, and then throws the conduct of the meeting into the hands of the members; closing punctually with the hour. "I suppose," says Dr. "I suppose," says Dr. Crosby, we have one hundred members who can use their gifts in public."

In close connection with the aim of the Commission, although by an independent organization, a newspaper was commenced in April last, called "The Christian at Work." Of the first number 10,000 copies were issued, and of the second 25,000. Its object is "to urge every Church member to do something for Christ, for Christ's people, and for those who know not God." Almost every department of Christian work has here a place, both for a brief enunciation of principles and plans, and for illustrations of

success.

GOING THROUGH THE WORLD.

VERY early in the Bible, we have the story of a believer who made a great mistake. A valuable worldly "opening," as we would say, presented itself, which could be embraced without transgressing any moral rule. He

was strongly drawn by the prospect, could think of nothing else, omitted to ask counsel from One who was looking at the matter in a very different light. So he made his decision, and had reason ere long to rue it; and the history of Lot remains one of the most plainly admonitory narratives in the Scriptures.

There have been many Lots in the Church since then, and there is reason to fear that there will be many more. People must live; they must live in the world; they must have to do with its business, its connections, its recreations. In a great many cases there is no absolute right or wrong between which to choose, but only, as it may seem, a greater or less likelihood of comfort and success. So the temptation besets us all to take it for granted that in these things there is neither need nor room for any higher view. In these things we may resign ourselves to the unmixed influence of the views that are offered to our minds by the persons and things around us. So we are apt to think and act. But this is not our calling. In every step of worldly life it is our calling to keep up a steadfast regard to things that are not worldly, to a supreme and holy will, to a divine Redeemer, to an everlasting portion. And this regard. must govern and rule us. The mind must be fixed, and calmed, and directed by these objects; and the main question about every road we take on earth must be, how far it is likely to be for us a road to heaven. We grant that this will not settle everything. However fully a man may come under the influence of the views we speak of, he will still find difficulty in determining what is right in particular cases. Questions thus arising are not to be settled in a hurried, fanatical way, but soberly and scripturally. Yet, beyond all doubt, unless we are brought to a regard to things above that governs our minds, we are not ready to begin the discussion of the practical questions, far less to settle them aright. Every other course is folly, though it be a common folly. If, indeed, we do not mean to regard God's glory or our soul's health, then let us go with the world. But it is a sad folly to profess to seek God's glory and our soul's salvation, and then construct the life on the principle of seeking something else. And it is a sad folly, if indeed we have learned to prize the better things and to follow the true Guide, to turn away at a given point and throw down that which we have been building for eternity; and all for the value of some paltry advantage which we can hold in lease only for a few years at most.

But to avoid this folly, especially in those steps in life which may prove to be great and decisive ones, it is not enough to have occasional deep impressions. The great point is to seek watchfully and prayerfully to get into God's own view of all we deal with. Thus we shall look at things in their own place, as part of the landscape which he also is looking at as he stands by our side, caring for us. Those who would walk with God, should seek to see with God. Lot saw the plain of Jordan well watered everywhere. God saw the men of Sodom wicked before the Lord exceedingly. How well for Lot had he had eyes to mark what God was thus looking at! Well would it be for us too. Then the fond prepossessions which usurp the heart with a kind of passionate wilfulness would not be suffered to pervert and deceive it. They would be subdued and driven out. Now, this participation in God's view of things comes only by habitual communion with the risen Saviour in meditation and prayer. Unless we are diligent to ask for this and to maintain it, we shall not keep sight of spiritual things. If time is not devoted to thinking on the Saviour, on our need of him, and his fitness to meet all our wants, and our sure warrant to come to him; if pains are not given to separate ourselves from common cares and pleasures, in order to have the mind aright impressed with the worth and grace of Jesus Christ, how shall we maintain the Christian posture of the mind in dealing with worldly things? This will be our care if the love of Christ is driving out and mastering the habitual love of this world. For "if any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him."

It is worth noticing in this connection how important it is at all times, but especially as regards the greater steps of worldly life, to guard well the first thoughts about the practical line to be taken. The early currents of feeling about these things, which move in the mind before advised consideration, require to be controlled. Heedless acquiescence in the first impressions is apt to open the way for the world to come in with a rush and fill the heart; and when it has done so, it is not easily expelled again. This is a bad preparation for consideration and prayer. With a heart full of worldly eagerness and prepossession we may still go to prayer, as a point of duty; but unless we are mercifully delivered from the evil, we shall find ourselves in no condition to welcome any real answer to prayer.