There is a picture in the Doré gallery, which perhaps some of you have seen. It is called "Christ leaving the Prætorium," or Judgment Hall of Pilate. He has just been condemned to death. Round about Him are the scoffers and the mockers; all the worst in human nature seems to be holding high carnival over the defenceless Saviour. They are exulting over His fate, and gloating at the prospect of His crucifixion. And He looks so sad, yet so calm; going quietly, but resolutely, to His awful and humiliating death; looking upon His murderers not with hatred or anger, but with sorrow and pity. He knows what it all means; He knows He is about to redeem a guilty world, and make peace between God and man by the blood of His cross. And so he bears it all and despises the shame, not for His own sake, but for our; that He might pay our debt, and bear our punishment, and die, "the just for the unjust, to bring us to God." It seems as if over this great picture should be written the words, 66 'For MAN's sake."

But in the same gallery there is another picture. This time the scene is in Rome; the Coliseum is painted as it looked one night after a number of Christian men and women, and boys and girls, had been thrown to the lions; and while the bloodthirsty Emperor who had ordered the massacre, and the degraded populace who had applauded it, had gone home to their revelry or their rest, the stars, as if they had been angels' eyes, were looking down on the martyred heroes of the cross, while the moon was shining gently over the awful scene, showing in mangled forms and in bodies torn limb from limb what a mighty force in the human spirit the love of Jesus is, and what a poor weak man can be nerved to do and suffer for Him. One would like to write over that picture, "For CHRIST's sake."

We may never be called on to give up life for Him in this way. But to bear persecution, and the sneers of the godless, and the affected pity of the worldly wise; to deny ourselves some kinds of pleasure, and many habits of selfindulgence; to sacrifice our leisure and our comfort, and sometimes even our health, in the service of and out of affection for King Jesus:-this we can do, and ought to do, and must do, and do it bravely and cheerily and constantly, if we would live up to the meaning of this grand motto, "For Christ's sake." And if we thus live, when the end of life's journey shall come, our Master will not forget His servants; and we shall find that just as on the earth our sins were forgiven, and our petitions accepted, and our deliverances effected for Christ's sake, so in the bright glad life of the better country we shall have all its blessings granted to us through Him; the place we inhabit will be the one He has prepared: it will be His throne on which we shall sit down; it will be His song we shall sing; heaven's joy and the exceeding weight of glory will be given to us, not through our own merit, but through His; we shall rejoice and be glad in it for ever and ever, for the sake of Christ, and for His sake alone.

S. D. RICKARDS.

SUMMER.

THE meaning of the summer joy,
The secret of the summer light,
Lie further than the fruit, the flower,
The morning dew, the sunbeam bright.

The river and the field reveal

Far other streams, another sward, The floral odours seem to breathe From other gardens of the Lord.

The air is full of music now,

The music of the bird and bee, With sweet mysterious undertones That speak a summer land to me. Ripley.

My spirit leaps these circling bounds:
The beauty of the all I see

Is but the dawn, the vestibule
Of glories, and the all to be.

I rend the azure veil in thought,
My faith in strong unmeasured flight
All pictured loveliness forsakes,

All splendours with a borrowed light,
To bathe my being in a bliss

And bounteous beauty of the prime,
The endless summer of its God
Beyond all vision, change, and time.
E. HALL JACKSON.

HOW TO MANAGE CHURCH BUSINESS.

VII.-The Dangers of the Business Council.

EVERY church officer of lengthened experience knows full well that few questions are more difficult of practical and faultless settlement than, what shall, and what shall not form part of the business to be transacted at the regular church meetings. To discuss every petty and trifling detail, down to the quality and price of a yard of window leather, is an unbearable weariness, and a fearful risk to the peace, brightness, and attractiveness of the assemblies for business generally; and yet, on the other hand, largely to absorb the work of the church into the Business Council and settle it out of sight of the people, endangers the educational power of the community, minimises the interest of the people in the work of the church, and shrivels up their sympathy with Christianity as an organised institution. The captain and officers of the church ship are always on their trial when steering their vessel through the narrow and rock-filled straits of the Scylla of doing too much and the Charybdis of doing too little. Intelligent and observant travellers, journeying along the shores of these straits, have noted with dismay and sorrow the vast accumulations of church debris strewn on either side as memorials of the misjudgment and unskilfulness of men; but they have failed to report on which side these witnesses have been the most numerous.

Even individuals, the most jealous of the church's power, will admit that everything cannot be done in church meeting. Something must be left to heads of departments, and left in good faith, and without any irritating and weakening suspicion. Officers are not chosen to their posts simply that they may be bound with red tape from church meeting to church meeting, and loosed from their bonds for the brief interval between "the reading of the minutes" and the delivery of "the benediction." The monstrous over-government exercised by all over each in some churches is the shame of our free-church life, and the cause of much inefficiency and failure. I do not profess to know much about it; but I feel certain that the committee of seven chosen by the first church for the special work of looking after the widows, did not settle the respective claims of the widows Naomi and Ophrah, Ruth and Mary, in the presence of the five thousand; nor even read out every item of their cash statement. Officers should be allowed, must be allowed, a large and wise freedom in dealing with details; and if they have any worthiness for their post, they will take care that they do not act as blinkers to keep business out of sight, but as spectacles, to enable the church the better to see it.

Of course I have no sympathy with the system that finds practical embodiment in some districts, where the minister is preacher and pastor, deacon and elder, superintendent of school, secretary of church, president of everything and out of nothing, "head cook and bottle washer" in all departments. If such a combination of "trades" is inevitable, then he is a brave and worthy man, who as a temporary expedient, and until he has developed deacons and elders and the like, will fearlessly undertake such a variety of work. I have heard or read that Beecher's first ministry was of that universal character, and even comprised the exalted duties of match-striking and candle-lighting. But if such a monopoly is not absolutely necessary, then the man is a concentrated simpleton and sinner for his pains, and the greater simpleton and sinner because of the transparent gratuitousness of his folly and wrong. He is killing himself and the church at the same blow; carrying responsibilities which ought to be distributed over a hundred shoulders; losing fine chances of evoking the powers of the young and eager spirits near him; and barring out of the kingdom of usefulness with his egregious conceit dozens of willing minds and hearts. The minister who does work that can be half as well done by any of the members of the church deserves a short life and an incapable church, and is sure to get them.

I know a church of several hundred members who are all dolts as to church business, and wholly unfit to manage the affairs of a Christian society; not

HOW TO MANAGE CHURCH BUSINESS.

305 because there are not many shrewd and clever men amongst them, but solely because the minister has for many years done all the church business himself, even kept the minutes of meetings, written every letter, and rarely or never consulted either of his two aged deacons or the church about anything. Such proceedings might be allowed to a vicar and his two church-wardens, but on no account should they have place in a church where all the members are free and equal.

Church business should always be done by the church in meeting assembled where the opposite course would

(1.) Weaken confidence in the executive; or

(2.) Dry up the interest of the church members in the prosperity and proceedings of the church; or

(3.) Miss an opportunity of feeding and developing the spiritual life and energy of the whole community.

In other cases it will be better left to the judgment and decision of a Business Council, wisely elected, representative, and sufficiently large to inspire trust in its decisions.

These principles will exclude the mere dry details of business, the perishable trifles of the hour. "The world," says Goethe, "is more willing to endure the Incongruous, than to be patient under the Insignificant." The "Insignificant" has been the death of thousands of church meetings. "What's the use of wasting our time in debates about hearth-stones, soap-brushes, and the like?" is the question which has decided not a few to prefer to stay at home, or seek an evening's stroll, rather than go to a church meeting. And who will blame them? Officers must be trusted to settle all such matters of machinery in their own council, and so save the church's time, increase the efficiency of the working staff, and secure the easy and satisfactory progress of the whole society.

Questions of personal discipline should be discussed and settled in the Business Council, and, as far as possible, kept out of church meeting. Of course the excluding vote must always come from the church; but all preliminary inquiries should be conducted, as far as possible, by a few discreet, judicious, and sympathetic men in special session, so that public scandal may be avoided, and the case may not be prejudged on partial or incomplete reports. The feeling of a meeting often runs away with its judgment and good sense on matters affecting personal character. Even our Parliament gets wild and reckless about personalities, and drivels into insupportable nonsense. Church officers will do well to take up all such business as their own; and the church will be wise in following their advice implicitly-it being understood always that individuals not perfectly satisfied with what is advised may inquire of the officers, and have full liberty to re-open the case in their Council; and if any such inquirer deem it best, which is exceedingly improbable, he may re-open the subject in church meeting. A saying of General Fairfax should not be forgotten either by the church or its officers-"I believe no man wishes with more earnestness than I do that all men of learning and knowledge were men of kindness and sweetness; and that such as can out-do others would out-love them too; especially while self be-whispers us that it stands us all in need to be forgiven as well as to forgive."

For this disciplinary work it may be well, in large communities, to adopt the practise current in some churches of appointing "Elders," or brethren chosen for their spiritual sympathy and tact and goodness, to act as a committee in assisting the pastor in visitation of the sick, keeping the church lists, reclaiming the wandering, restoring the erring, and reproving the wrong-doer, and in shepherding the flock generally. There is much to be said for such a method. It secures the best men for this difficult and important work. Many men are apt at business and finance who are not adapted to visit a wayward youth, or restore one who has been overtaken in a fault. The work, moreover, is likely to be better done, since it forms a special vocation for chosen hands, and is not driven into a programme already over-crowded.

With fragmentary details kept out of church meeting, and disciplinary.cases

well disposed of by a council of elders, the arrangements of the Business Council for church meeting ought to be luminous, safe, and efficient.

P.S.—The letter you gave me concerning my fourth paper, dear Mr. Editor, I have read and re-read, and whilst appreciating most warmly its spirit, and recognising its commendations with humility, I cannot avoid thinking that if my critic will accept my definition of "grumbling" as free and frank criticism, "which is not always pleasant," he will see that we really mean the same thing, and that it is not necessary for me to reply to his points seriatim, as at first I had intended.

ECHOES OF THE ASSOCIATION.

NEARLY all of them are as sweet as they are far-resounding. There is very little complaint to chronicle; and if we had space could find room for much praise. Several friends have written letters concerning our assemblies, partly critical, and partly eulogistic; and since they say they are echoing the thoughts of many minds, we find room for their words. "A Junior" brings forward an evil oft decried by the seniors. He says he "was struck with the haste the business is gone through," and animadverts upon the sad results of such hurry. No doubt "A Junior" has some reason to complain, though we think there was as little hurry at Derby as at any Association we have ever been at. The work on Thursday evening after tea was taken at express rate, and several carriages that ought to have been taken up couldn't get hitched on, and so had to remain for another year. It would certainly have been better, instead of working till HALF-PAST TEN O'CLOCK, to have ceased at half-past eight, and taken a portion of Friday morning for the remainder of the business. This is in our judgment the only remedy, and we shall not do our work so well and so thoroughly as we ought until we consecrate Friday morning for Association business, and cease to give heed to any Chairman or Secretary, who says the programme is very short, and if you are ONLY QUICK, you can soon get it through. We do not want to be quick. We need to take our time. And since an eager and impetuous "Junior" endorses the verdict of 'the grave and reverend" seniors, surely we shall forthwith rule out all hurry from our business sessions.

66

But "A Junior" suggests a different and a much more dangerous remedy. He would shorten the sermon. Would he, indeed? Could audacity further go? Why shouldn't a man have an opportunity once in a twelve-month of showing that he can preach; and preach even for an hour and a half on a hot June day, in a full chapel, to an audience perspiring as if in a Turkish bath? Limit the sermon to one hour," says A Junior." We admit that would be a reasonable thing, and having had our turn, would like to authorise A Junior" to buy a railway bell, and ring it with all his might and main as soon as the sixty minutes were up. But think of the gravity of the task! Garibaldi may turn the course of the Tiber; but who dare undertake to limit an Association Sermon "to one hour?" Even "A Junior" will not venture to make the profane suggestion over his own name.

66

But this is only a means to an end. It is further suggested that the Communion Service should follow the sermon, and all be over by 1.30; and then the afternoon, from three to five, be devoted to business. We record the suggestion, but it seems to us that we should then only be putting the "hurry" into the devotional services that we had taken out of the business sessions.

Other correspondents complain that the Lord's Supper Service was much marred by the confusion and disturbance consequent upon the late arrival of communicants and our brother S. C. Colman, of Peterborough, writes, “whilst the evil is fresh in the mind, in the hope that some steps will be taken at any future Association to get ample time for dinner or other engagements, and to assemble by the hour fixed for the Communion Service to begin." Leicester kindly take heed and "make a note ?"

Will

One writer asserts that he failed to profit by the first half of the Wednesday afternoon service, from the cause referred to above; and then, with a pertinacity that looks like a degenerate conspiracy against the Wednesday morning sermon, asserts that "the only remedy is the shortening" of that important procedure. We shall have to buy a "bell." JOHN CLIFFORD.

OUR POLITICAL CROW'S NEST.

THE CLOUD IN THE EAST.-The outlook Eastward is by no means clear. The news from the seat of war is contradictory as to what has actually occurred, and uncertain as to the issue; but quite sufficient to show that the horrors attending the state of intestine warfare are of an awful character and extent. Nor are we tranquilised by the attitude of our Government.

We trust Lord Derby as much as we trust diplomatists generally, and that is not far; but the war-party is strong in the Government and in the country. We must not admit the false logic that Christians should fight for Christians. The sword is not a Christian weapon. The kingdom of heaven never has been, and never will be, permanently promoted by gunpowder. Still more urgent should we be in resisting the clamour for war based on the idea that England must support the Ottoman Empire. Let our voice be for righteousness, justice, freedom, and peace. Our chief danger is that of adopting a policy of short-sighted selfishness.

THE EDUCATION BILL.-The Amendment moved by Mr. Henry Richard was lost as we expected it would be. Even our Liberal leaders failed us. How was it likely, therefore, that men bent on the maintenance of the Anglican denomination, and wresting all liberty and right from Nonconformists to the full extent of their power, should consider our case. In their judgment, our wrongs are all imaginary, and our sufferings all due to over-sensitiveness, or over-weening conceit, or an unjustifiable "jealousy," or to all combined. Why all this fuss about religious liberty? We want to educate your children, and we are determined to do it! and even the Marquis of Hartington says, "Certainly it is better to sacrifice religious liberty than the education of your children." That is the policy of the liberal party! To such "vile uses" do we come. But it will not rain Tories for ever; and the poor Nonconformist, robbed of his religious liberty, will be wanted again. We can bide our time. Justice is eternal. We are more sure of winning to-morrow than we are that we are losing to day.

PARLIAMENT AND INTEMPERANCE. The Archbishop of Canterbury has obtained a unanimous decision of the House of Lords for the appointment of a select committee to inquire into the prevalence of habits of intemperance, and into the manner in which those habits have been affected by recent legislation and other causes. Ten thousand clergy have petitioned the Episcopal bench on this grave

subject. Still they cry for light! Already two reports full of facts exist, one drawn up by the province of Canterbury in 1869, and the other by the province of York in 1874. Facts accumulate every day; but Parliament cannot make up its mind how to grapple with the tremendous evil. Well! inquiry is better than stagnation: but we confess that we are getting a little weary of resolutions, propositions, papers, and inquiries, and would like to see something done. Something was done last Wednesday (July 12th) when the second reading of the Sunday Closing Bill for IRELAND was carried. Mr. Gladstone sustained the measure, and the government supported it. Considering that this comes from a Parliament inspired by beer, we will endeavour to be grateful.

PERE HYACINTHE ON ENGLISH LAW AND MORALITY.-We rejoice exceedingly that the movement hitherto identified with the name, and embodied in the skill, zeal, and devotion of Mrs. Butler, has received the powerful support of the great French orator. Père Hyacinthe is a witness of great weight to the incalculable perils inseparable from dealing with vice as a necessity, and clothing it with a garb of national decency. He knows how it debauches the national conscience and saps the national strength; and therefore his words in St. James's Hall, luminous with truth and full of warning, ought to quicken the torpid moral enthusiasm of our countrymen, and inspire their zeal for the immediate and unconditional repeal of statutes which give state-regulation to vice in our military and naval stations, legalise impurity, degrade woman, and are fundamentally and incurably unjust. First of all he assures us that it is a sophism of the worst sort to argue that there are two moral laws, one for man and the other for woman; and next he shows that governments are bound by the same laws of justice and morality as individuals. Thus he goes at once to those abiding distinctions of right and wrong; and condemns both the verdict of "society," which excuses the man for wrongs inflicted on the woman; and also the law, which stamps with its approbation the folly and iniquity of society. The strong threads of the evil parasite transplanted from the continent are seen fastening themselves on the tree of our English life. Père Hyacinthe, who has seen the growth of a nation stopped by it, warns us, in the name of justice and of God, of the danger we incur and the wrong we do, so long as we fail to strike a destructive blow.