rather to require ministers, or at least candidates, to apply to themselves the great principle of Elisha's thrilling question to Gehazi, “Is it a time to receive money, and to receive garments, and olive yards and vineyards, and sheep and oxen, and men servants and maid servants?" Whatever might be safely said upon this point, certain it is, that in the present state of religion, little hope can be justly entertained of an increase of suitable candidates for the ministry, until the minds of young men shall be less frequently directed to the temporal difficulties of the Christian pastor's office, and more constantly drawn to its high and holy duties, its constraining obligations, its peculiar and precious enjoyments and comforts, and its eternal rewards; and to such animating declarations as these of the great Author and source of the sacred ministry; "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you," and "My grace is sufficient for thee."

Thus it appears that behind the great want of candidates for the ministry, there is another which exhibits a more formidable deficiency in the present state of religion; namely, an extensive want, among members and ministers of the church, of true, scriptural views of the proper motives to the faithful preacher's work of love. The existence of such a deficiency in the present state of religion may be fitly shown by an illustration, which is peculiarly scriptural.

If the occurrence of war should speedily require the services of many young men, called by their country to strive and suffer amid the hardships, privations and perils of the camp, and the field of battle, those services would be promptly offered, at the first call; not on account of high pay, or present support insured to soldiers of this world, nor yet for the bounties or pensions possibly in reserve for them; but from the mere devotion of a spirit of patriotism, or from a desire for the glory of victory. And if we would speedily fill up the ranks of the Christian ministry with faithful and fit soldiers for its sacred warfare, we must place little reliance on the lowest and least worthy motives to its holy work; motives derived from considerations connected with temporal things. We must depend mainly upon the high inducements to that blessed work, which

are found in a deep sense of obligation to Jesus, the great Captain of salvation, in the love of souls, for which Christ died, and in the hope of a crown of rejoicing, made up of precious, priceless souls, in eternal bliss and heavenly triumph. Such means of multiplying labourers the Lord of the harvest will bless, and render effectual to great results, through the power of the Holy Ghost, giving increase to the word, that it "may have free course and be N. E. C. glorified."

THE PASTOR'S COURAGE RE

NEWED.

A pastor had preached for thirty years the glorious Gospel of the grace of God in Jesus Christ, without seeing any fruit of his labours. He became discouraged, and resolved not to preach any more. One Sabbath, after the morning service, he informed some friends of his resolution, saying, that this day he should decline entering the pulpit to perform the usual afternoon service. His friends begged him in vain to abandon his purpose, and not to disappoint the expectation of his numerous audience. He said that his mind was made up irrevocably.

At this moment some one knocked at the door. It was a pious and aged woman. She is introduced. "I come," said she to the pastor, "to beg you to preach on a certain text; I could not sleep quietly till I had come." "What is the text?" "I do not know where it is in the Scriptures, but these are the words: 'I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones; and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay," Jer. xx. 9. So extraordinary a request the pastor could not decline. He went obediently and performed his afternoon service, preaching from the text pointed out. He resumed with new zeal the duties of his ministry, and at last had the satisfaction, after having sown so long in tears, of reaping with joy.

A MINISTER'S STUDIES. LUTHER'S maxim was admirable, "Bene orasse est bene studuisse-He studies well who prays well." Prayer is the best kind of study; first in itself, and, second, because it guides and regulates all other study. No man can study aright, who does not study with prayer. "Not to read or study at all," says Quesnel, "is to tempt God; and to do nothing but study, is to forget the ministry; to study only to glory in one's knowledge, is a shameful vanity; to study in search of the means to flatter sinners, is a deplorable prevarication; but to store one's mind with the knowledge proper to the saints by study and by prayer, and to diffuse that knowledge in solid instructions and practical exhortations this is to be a prudent, zealous, and labo rious minister."

Add to this the remark of Bishop Wilkins as to the communication of one's studies to others. What is thorough and prayerful will be plain. "The greatest learning is to be seen in the greatest plainness. The more clearly we understand anything ourselves, the more easily can we expound it to others." Studies that are gained in prayer are most useful to ourselves, and most edifying to others. Studies gained in prayer, though concerned with the highest mysteries, are always simple and plain.

THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. SOME make the discharge of the Christian

ministry to consist in asserting the rights of the church, and the dignity of their function; others, in a strenuous opposition to the prevailing sectaries, and a zealous attachment to the established church government; a third sort, in examining the speculative points and mystical parts of religion; few, in the meantime, considering either in what the true dignity of the ministerial character consists; or the only end for which church government was at all established; or the practical influence, which can alone make speculative points worthy our attention; the reformation of the lives of men, and the promotion of their truest happiness here and hereafter.-Gilpin's Life.

"THE New Englander" for August appends to its article on the Puritan Ritual a note describing in a few words the office of ruling elder, as it existed formerly in the New England churches. Some of our readers will be thankful for the information which that note gives in a narrow compass:

He

"The ruling elder of the first New England churches has become an unfathomable mystery to our Presbyterian friends, and to all whose only idea of a ruling elder is derived from the system of consistories or church sessions. We observe strange blunders on this subject even in Congregational journals; and yet the subject is not intrinsically hard to be understood. A modern New England church has only one elder-the pastor. is to preside in all its assemblies for worship or for inquiry and discussion. He is to oversee, or superintend, all the interests of the church. He is to guide it in all its discipline. All official power and responsibility (save what pertains to the deacons as treasurers and almoners of the church) rests upon him-often to his great embarrassment. In an ancient New England church, fully organised, this trust was committed to a plurality of officers. There were three elders, three overseers or bishops, three presidents, instead of one. Of these three elders, two were preachers by office, teaching elders, coordinate in the ministry of the word and sacraments, distinguished from each other by the specific titles of pastor and teacher; the third being their colleague and equal in everything else, and bearing only the generic title of elder, or ruling elder. The power which he exercised was not taken from the brotherhood, and therefore it has not reverted to them since his disappearance from the 'elders' seat.' Whatever power there was in the eldership of yore remains to this day, but it is now concentrated in the hands of one solitary teaching elder. The pilgrims in Holland, and afterwards the New England brethren, took pains to show that their ruling elder was neither brother nor cousin to the elders in the Dutch Consistories and the

That

Scotch Kirk Sessions. In congregations of the Presbyterian order, the ruling elder is a dumb elder. In the Pilgrim churches and the ancient churches of New England, no man was chosen for an elder unless he was capable of teaching. Such was the office held by Brewster in conjunction with Robinson. Should that office be restored in any of our churches, the ruling elder would preside in the absence of the pastor, or in the vacancy of the pastoral office. church would never be without a president or head. The candidate for the ministry, the 'stated supply,' or the minister of some other church, preaching in its pulpit, would officiate under the presidency of the elder or ruler of the congregation. And the pastor, ordained by the laying on of that elder's hands, would have in him, from first to last, a colleague and official helper for all official work, the ministry of the word and sacraments excepted."

THE GLORY OF CONGREGATION. ALISM.

THE glory of Congregationalism is its simple Bible faith and simple Gospel order; and after this, a generous, unsectarian, and unselfish spirit. It never attaches an undue, still less a supreme importance to church polity or outward forms, valuable and important as they are admitted to be. Confessing that as the body without the spirit is dead, so church organisation and religious rites are impotent without the indwelling principle of life, Congregationalists have been more intent on diffusing the spirit of religion than in extending their name and organisation. Cheerfully, confidingly, unselfishly, have they co-operated with other denominations in every good work, much preferring to fill heaven with redeemed sinners, to filling their own churches with baptized hypocrites. May such continue to be their spirit everywhere, aiming at something higher and better than denominational extension and mere

party triumph, and becoming workers together with other Christians, and not workers together against them.

PRESBYTERY IN ENGLAND. PRESBYTERIANISM in England, from Mr. Monro's Report:

"The National Church of Scotland has three Presbyteries in England; that of London, containing five congregations; that of Liverpool and Manchester, containing three congregations; and that of the North of England, containing eight congregations.

Various considerable secessions have from time to time occurred in Scotland from the National Church, of bodies which, while holding Presbyterian sentiments, dissent from the particular mode in which they are developed by the Established Kirk, especially protesting against the mode in which church patronage is administered, and against the undue interference of the civil power. The principal of these seceding bodies are, the United Presbyterian Church, and the Free Church of Scotland, the former being an amalgamation (effected in 1847) of the Secession Church (which separated in 1732) with the Relief Synod (which seceded in 1752,) and the latter having been constituted in 1843.

"The United Presbyterian Church has five Presbyteries in England, containing 76 congregations, of which, however, 14 are locally in Scotland, leaving the number locally in England, 62.

"The Free Church of Scotland has no ramifications, under that name, in England; but various Presbyterian congregations, which accord in all respects with that community, and which, before the disruption in 1843, were in union with the Established Kirk,

compose a separate Presbyterian body, under the appellation of the Presbyterian Church in England, having, in this portion of Great Britain, seven Presbyteries and eighty-three congregations.

SYSTEMATIC BENEVOLENCE.

THE address of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, to the ministers, churches, and people under their care, on the subject of systematic benevolence, says:

"The total number of churches reported was 2,879.

"The whole number of churches reported as having contributed to the Board of Domestic Missions was 1,322, being 112 less than one half the whole number of churches.

"The number reported as having contributed to the Board of Foreign Missions was 1,063, being 371 less than half, and 104 over one third the total number of churches.

"To the Board of Education, 749 churches contributed, being 30 more than one fourth of the whole.

"And 440 churches made contributions to the Board of Publication, being 39 less than one-sixth of the whole number."

We are satisfied that our system for raising missionary funds does now reach our churches much more generally than is done among our Presbyterian brethren, judging by the above statistics; and if our plan was faithfully carried out according to its own provisions by the pastors and missionary committees, every church under our care would be brought to regular annual contributions. Is not the great result proposed sufficient inducement to fidelity in this respect? Let us all try.Missionary Advocate.

Or all the cheering signs observable among the Transatlantic Churches, by far the most cheering is the solicitude which is felt relative to the Colleges. Throughout the whole of that mighty domain, a day is periodically set apart for special supplication on behalf of those "Schools of the Prophets." With a view to awaken public attention to the incalculable importance of this subject, various modes have been resorted to, among which was the offer of a Prize Essay on Prayer for Colleges. This work has not yet, so far as we know, crossed the Atlantic; but we trust it will speedily make its appearance in our midst, and that it will come clothed with a power which may stir the hearts of very many. We learn

that certain gentlemen distinguished for their benevolence have subscribed a sum sufficient to place a copy of the Essay in the hands of every student now connected with Amherst College. A hundred copies have been ordered for Beloit College, a hundred for Illinois College, and numbers for other colleges and theological seminaries. It is very highly spoken of by the journals of the United States, which unite in affirming that it ought to be in the hands of every student in the country, whether in colleges or academies, and in the hands of pastors and praying men and women everywhere. We may just observe, for the benefit of those who purpose, like ourselves, to order it, that the adver

tised price is fifty cents. We shall now subjoin a few statistical facts:

PRAYER FOR COLLEGES.

The

THE Annual United Meeting for prayer on behalf of colleges, in Boston, was held in the Old South Church. Meetings had been held through the day by the churches, in their several places, although the weather was very unfavourable to a large attendance. preliminary services in the evening were conducted by the Rev. Drs. Blagden and Waterbury. Rev. Mr. Tarbox gave the opening address; in which, after speaking briefly of the greatness of the interest connected with the religious prosperity of our colleges, and the importance of setting apart a day distinctly to contemplate this interest, and to offer our prayers in its behalf, he communicated some statistics having a particular reference to this subject. There are in the New England colleges not far from 2,400 young men, besides those in the professional departments. Of these, nearly 800 are professors of religion, and about 400 are studying for the ministry. The churches are in a low state as regards the number of our young men now on their way to the ministry. In the theological schools in New England, there were, in the year 1840, 323 students; in the year 1852, there were 198 in the same schools; and the condition of things has not improved since. The denomination is not alone in respect to this deficiency. Within the enclosure of the Old School Presbyterian Church there is the same sad want. There has been no progress whatever within their bounds for the last ten years, in the work of ministerial education. The Baptist Church in that country is even in a worse condition as respects ministerial supply. There is, therefore, an urgent occasion for prayer that God would pour out his Spirit upon the colleges, and raise up young men who will be ready to do the work of the Lord in the earth.

Earnest and impressive addresses were made by Rev. Dr. Adams, and Rev. Dr. Lyman Beecher. Dr. Adams and Dr. Edward Beecher also led the assembly in their supplications for the gift of the Holy Spirit upon the colleges and theological seminaries, and other institutions of learning in our land.

SIR,-Having recently, at the request of the Committee of the Irish Evangelical Society, undertaken to visit several of their stations in the sister isle, with a view to ascertain the ex

isting state of things amongst the churches and congregations dependent, wholly or in part, on that institution, and to encourage our brethren who are labouring to disseminate the glo

rious Gospel of the grace of God in
that land of darkness and superstition;
and having been greatly interested in
what I saw and heard during my visit,
I venture to send you, for insertion in
our Magazine, some Notices of the state
of things which came under my ob-
servation, hoping that they may be
perused with interest by your numerous
readers, and be the means of awaken-
ing in our churches a more earnest
concern for the welfare of Ireland's
sons, and a holier sympathy with our
devoted pastors and evangelists, who
are doing the work of the Lord amidst
much discouragement, yet not without
manifest tokens of the Divine favour
and blessing. I delivered the sub-
stance of the following Notes to my
own congregation on a week-day even-
ing, after my return, appending to
them some reflections on the moral
condition of Ireland, and unfolding the
duty of English Congregationalists
towards the sister churches; and if
any of my brethren in the ministry
should think proper to use them in a
similar manner, it may be with some
advantage, especially in the way of
eliciting practical regard for the So-
ciety through the medium of the ap-
proaching October collections for Bri-
tish Missions.

I remain, yours faithfully,
GEORGE SMITH.

Poplar, September, 1855.

Leaving London early on Tuesday, the 17th July, I reached Holyhead in time to preach, as had been previously arranged, in the Independent chapel. It was well filled by an attentive congregation, most of whom, I was told, understood English. That many people in that town value an occasional English service is evident from the fact that a requisition followed me to Ireland, requesting me to preach again on my return. The breakwater and other government works now in course of erection in Holyhead are attracting many English persons to the neighbourhood, and there, as in other considerable towns in the principality, we

ought to make provision for Congregational worship and preaching. After the service, I went on board the steampacket, and found myself early the next morning in the capacious and beautiful harbour of Kingstown. It having been understood that I was at liberty, as far as opportunity offered, to visit any of our churches in Ireland, though unconnected with the Society, I preached in the evening of the day for my friend, Mr. J. D. Smith. His place of worship, which was erected only seven years since, is now too small for the congregation, and they are about to enlarge it. All the signs of spiritual prosperity gather around this people. They are earnest, united, and liberal; and God is greatly blessing the labours of their devoted pastor.

On Wednesday evening, I preached in Dr. Urwick's chapel, in York-street, Dublin. This edifice is large and elegant, and admirably situated. The congregation was considerable for a week-day. The people are evidently much attached to their minister, and he is happily surrounded with a number of gifted, influential deacons, who are the enlightened advocates of Congregational principles. The following day I spent in Dublin, and conversed with several friends respecting our denominational interests in that city, and offering to them suggestions for its advancement. They all highly value the sympathy of English Christians, and were thankful for the small measure of interest I was able to evince in their welfare.

Lord's day, the 22nd, I spent in Limerick, which is perhaps the most thoroughly Popish city in Ireland-the Sebastopol of Popery. Since the mission of the hundred" to Ireland two years since, and the outbreak of popular violence against the ministers who then visited this city, the spirit of bigotry has been rampant here. The Redemptorist fathers have made it the seat of a mission, and are very popular. They have a large temporary place of worship, which crowds of people visit from early dawn till the shades of evening lengthen out. The Independent chapel is situated in Bedford-row, and is a commodious and pleasing edifice. Attached to it is a Sunday-school of sixty children. They are rather su perior, and their teachers are intelligent and pious. I encouraged the in their work, and prayed with them.