effective in those subordinate evils which exercise his faith, patience, and hope. The mighty spirit of good which prayer brings into his heart keeps effectually at bay the mighty spirit of evil which works continually in the world, and sometimes in the Church. No one can stand between him and the throne of grace. Nothing but his own unbelief can prevent the strength and consolation of God from finding their way into his soul; and while he continues in the exercise of prayer, no subtlety shall beguile him, for of none of the devices of Satan shall he be ignorant; no power shall master him, for greater is He that is for him than all they that are against him; no forbidden fascination shall allure him from truth, for his mind shall be constantly directed "into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for the Lord Jesus Christ;" while the varied discipline of life shall gradually prepare him for joys unspeakable in heaven.

CONCLUSION.

May I, therefore, my revered brethren, while thanking you for the part you have assigned to me in these services, and for the attention you have been kind enough to pay to my thoughts on this important subject, exhort you to 66 pray without ceasing;" to be mindful of the many bright examples of prayer recorded in God's word, and chiefly of the Son of God, who prayed oftener and more earnestly than any one else, in whose prayers on earth and in heaven you are assuredly included; of the splendid examples of the results of prayer, in the revival of piety in the Church, and the enlargement of religion in the world; of the powerful and happy effects of prayer in your own soul, in seasons of depression and of toil; of the necessity of prayer in the present day; of the forlorn state and character of those who restrain prayer before God; of the command of God that you should pray, and of his engagement to answer prayer— "Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, believing, ye shall receive"? Matlock Bath. T. M. NEWNES.

THE SOUL.

"What shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"

THE soul is immortal, immaterial, incorruptible,-destined either for eternal blessedness or endless woe; and yet,

with the inconceivable nature and value of the soul, how little interest, comparatively, is felt for its everlasting happiness! Were an angel of light to visit this lower world, and mix in professedly Christian society, and listen to the usual tone of conversation, what would be his surprise to hear so little spoken on that one subject which fills all heaven with wonder and delight! And yet it must be allowed that, even in Christian Churches, among members who have forsaken the world to follow Christ, very little interest, in proportion to the momentous question, is felt or manifested for the salvation of souls. And to what is this mainly to be attributed? Whence all this lukewarmness, apathy, and indifference? How can we account for this sluggish action, where we are naturally led to expect vigour, zeal, earnest and persevering labour? The answer to the question must be candid, open, decided. The cause lies in the low vitality of Christian Churches, the want of healthful piety, the stunted growth of religious principle, the amalgamation of the gold with the dross; the blending of things divine with things which perish; the world, in fact, where the golden candlestick ought to be. How great the contrast, when we are told that the angels in the presence of God rejoice over one sinner that repenteth. How vast the change in the upper and glorious world, where the angelic host, who never tasted redeeming love, nor were ransomed by the blood of the Lamb, rejoice over the conversion of fallen sinners! How deep must be their interest, how fixed their gaze on the spectacle of the weeping penitent, crying for mercy at the foot of the cross! how surpassing all our conception, the deep and thrilling song of praise, when new trophies of Divine grace are added to the glorious army of the Church militant. They have heard the song of the redeemed in heaven; they have seen them washed in the blood of the Lamb; they have witnessed their bright forms arrayed in the righteousness of Christ; they have caught the sounds of overwhelming love. Unto Him who hath washed us in his own blood, be glory, and power, and wisdom, and dominion for ever. They are eyewitnesses of their perfected redemption, their complete happiness, their fervent love. This wonderful and glorified state brings glory to God, exalts the blessed Saviour, and is the conception of his own pure mind beyond the comprehension of

the brightest seraph in his presence. And here is to be traced the source of the interest they feel for the salvation of sinners. Could we, for a short period, be translated to the third heaven, and witness the thrilling accents of redeeming love-could we gaze on the assembly of the spirits of just men made perfect could we see each eye fixed, each heart full with love, each countenance radiant with joy, each crown glittering in the reflected radiance of the Saviour's glory, bathed in the pure ocean of light-all singing one song, all melodious on one theme, all blended in one divine harmony, without one jarring note to interrupt the swelling chorus of the ransomed host,-what would be our astonishment to pass from the heavenly scene, to contemplate again the Church militant on earth! Alas, what divisions to witness! what contentions on things empty as the air! what time misspent on immaterial and unprofitable subjects! what bitterness where there ought to be charity! what disunion and discord! what importance attached to those things which God esteems light! what alienation in various sections of the Church! what want of pure, heartfelt interest in their separate and individual prosperity! what an answer to our Saviour's prayer, that all his followers might be one! The solemn truth appears in all its sober reality, that the Christian Church is torn and rent by endless divisions, and, what is still more sad to contemplate, the mildew of cold indifference is passing over the garden of the Lord, and, instead of the green and refreshing verdure, we observe the sickly hue, the blighted plants, the wasted form, the decay in the roots. The one idea and supreme object, next to personal religion, ought to be the salvation of others. The command is clear, decided, emphatic: "Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others."

Ministers of the Gospel are encou raged to this work, not merely by the public proclamation of the truth, but by private intercourse with their hearers. We find, in the 20th chapter of the Acts, the example of Paul setting forth his mode of ministration among his hearers, as the most effectual to accomplish the great end of his ministry. In the twentieth verse we read, "And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have showed you, and have taught you publicly, and from house to house, testifying, both to the Jews and

also to the Greeks, repentance towards God, and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ." And, in the thirty-first verse, "Therefore watch, and remember that, by the space of three years, I ceased not to warn every one, night and day, with tears." Here was the secret of the Apostle's success in the work of conversion, seeking by every means to win souls to Christ, by private, continued, and persevering labours. Here is presented an illustration of the powerful ministration of the truth, not in word only, but in deed and in truth, commending it to every man's conscience in the sight of God. We perceive the great Apostle of the Gentiles, sowing in tears, exhorting to repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, warning them of their danger, not merely in public, but separately, individually, personally, face to face, as if resolved that no opportunity should be allowed to escape, without preaching Christ, and Him crucified, to dying, helpless sinners, that they might escape the wrath to come. If an apostle, endowed as he was with qualifications of the highest order, so travailed in birth for the salvation of souls, and ceased not daily to enforce, by precept and example, his divine message; how instructive is such a course to all who preach the Gospel to follow him, and, by personal intercourse with their flocks, to strengthen and sustain the public ministration of the truth. The servant of the Lord, at such a season, when alone in the presence of the unconverted, while agonizing in spirit over the condition of the ungodly, can preach heart to heart, beseeching every one, with the message of mercy, to flee from the wrath to comepleading, for Christ's sake, the escape to the city of refuge from the destroying angel. How much real good has been effected by household preaching, private ministration, the secret, but powerful, appeals to the conscience, when even the most urgent and faithful exhibitions of Divine truth from the pulpit have failed to accomplish the object so earnestly expected! Wherever primitive Christianity and her practices are thus enforced, we shall not fail to perceive a progressive growth of healthful piety, a vigorous action in the Church, and zeal in full operation, like the leaven, spreading from the centre to the circumference, diffusing a heavenly influence on every side. Church members, from their position, are expected to come to the help of the Lord, and to seek, with all earn

suggestions through the press on this head will perhaps be regarded as quite superfluous. Nevertheless, it is possible that some who wish for a change, but hardly know how to bring it about, may be thankful for a few hints.

It is not necessary, then, for the accomplishment of the object, that the minister should be superannuated, nor a poor preacher, nor an unfaithful pastor, nor remiss in any of his sacred duties. It is not necessary that the majority of the parish should wish to throw him off, or that he should even be unpopular with more than a very few of his congregation. Let but two or three influential men settle it in their minds that he must and shall go, and there are ways enough to get rid of him.

Let them first feel their way cautiously to ascertain whether any, and if any what amount of, incipient dissatisfaction may be secretly lurking in the minds of those who are ostensibly his friends, and not prepared to take sides against him. Let them, where it will be safe, throw out hints and innuendos calculated to excite injurious suspicions and to prepare the way for open hostility. If the minister is comparatively young, and if, under his devoted labours, the congregation has been greatly increased and strengthened in a few years, and they want a more popular preacher, let them say, "He is a very good man, and did well enough when we were weak and few, but we must now have a man of more experience and talent;" let them tell him so plainly, or intimate as much; and though to favour them when they were poor, he may have got along as he could upon the smallest salary, and now has a dependent family upon his hands, he will probably ask for a dismission, and go out he knows not whither.

If the minister is much past middle age, however faithful and useful he may have been, or however able he may still be, to discharge all the duties of a preacher and pastor, let those who want a change (it is not much matter how few) say that "he is growing dull, and does not interest the young people," or that he preaches old sermons, and to make sure of that, let them put down his texts, while they do not remember, nor care to remember anything else. Or let them say he does not visit his people, or for want of any plausible definite charge, let them say that "his usefulness is at an end," and by repeating it everywhere they will probably, in time, persuade

many to believe it, without any other evidence, and thus shove him off.

If he is very reluctant to go, and there is no other way to coerce him, and the congregation is weak, let them sign off, or withdraw their support, and in this way frighten those who wish to retain him into acquiescence with their wishes. This, in feeble parishes, will ordinarily succeed, when other measures fail.

If the minister is neither too young nor too old to keep his place; if he is acknowledged on all hands to be an able preacher, and the great body of the people cling to him, and he cannot be "starved out," let not the few who have set their hearts upon ousting him despair of ultimately carrying their point. Let them aim at his moral and ministerial character-not by any direct attack at first, but by crafty insinuations-by taking up flying stories and repeating them-by prying into all his dealings, and trying to make him out dishonest in some money transaction-by taking down his words in different conversations, for the purpose of convicting him, when the convenient time comes, of contradictions and falsehood. It may require considerable patience and some trouble to bring the matter to a crisis, and when they have done they may not be able to prove anything deserving of censure; but it is not much matter. The great thing is, to keep up an agitation, which, in nine cases out of ten, will sooner or later accomplish the object.. And where no criminal charges are brought against the pastor, by a disaffected minority, however small, abundant experience proves that it is a much less difficult matter than one would suppose to worry out the majority of the church and parish, or the minister, or both. It requires nothing more than a settled purpose to accomplish the object, whether right or wrong, and persever ance to the end. Let the agitators give the friends of the pastor no peace, and those who wish to retain him will, one after another, become wearied out and say, "It is of no use to resist any longer. We shall never have any quiet while he stays." And thus, at last, the majority will give it up and let him go. Or, if they hold on, the minister will find his situation so uncomfortable that he will ask for a dismission, and the end will be gained.

The foregoing are some of the ways to get rid of a minister. If, in some cases, none of them should succeed, it may

safely be left with those whom it may concern, to contrive other ways equally successful. But whether it be right and just for a few disaffected individuals to agitate parishes that would else be satisfied, and constrain the pastors to vacate their pulpits, is a question which they must meet another day, and at a bar where ministers and people must all stand together and be judged. Undoubtedly there may be good reasons, in some cases, for wishing for a change, and taking measures to bring it about in an open, honourable, and equitable way. But where a minister is doing good (though perchance not the ablest man in the country), and the great body of the people are satisfied with him, two or three disaffected members ought to pause a good while, and pray a great deal, before they disturb the peace of the church and congregation by demanding a change. They cannot oust a pious and faithful pastor by such a course, without being held to answer for it another day. And let them remember, that driving one servant of Christ out of the vineyard is no way to induce him speedily to send them another. It is not uncommon for parishes thus vacated to remain unsettled for a long time, nor for them to get a poorer, instead of a better, minister when the vacancy is supplied. As "where two or three are met together in the name of Christ," he is with them to bless them, so in the heavenwide case, where two or three are banded together to shove off a faithful pastor, they will probably at last succeed, but not with His approbation, who "holdeth the stars in his right hand," and whose prerogative it is to "send forth labourers into his vineyard."

"I CAN FORGIVE, BUT I CAN NEVER FORGET."

BY REV. DR. HUMPHREY.

YES, you can forgive, but do you, even as you hope to be forgiven? We are afraid, from the tone and manner in which many persons "lay the flattering unction to their souls," that they deceive themselves in this matter. They really think they exercise a true spirit of forgiveness, but when their resentment is kindled up, by the bare mention of the names of those who have injured them, you have unmistakeable evidence, in the flash of the eye and the flush of the cheek, that something besides memory is left behind.

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Most certainly there is such a thing as a forgiving temper. It has been exercised by thousands towards enemies, who have despitefully used and persecuted them." It is true, too, that an injury may be forgiven, when it is impossible ever to forget it. The faculty of memory is not subject to our control, as our resentful feelings are. We cannot always erase the distressing record, if we would. Indeed, the more we try to forget, the more vivid and lasting we make the remembrance. There are those, unquestionably, who can say truly, that they heartily forgive, but who can never forget. Who they are God knoweth, and it is recorded in the book of his remembrance.

But let us never forget, that "the heart is deceitful above all things, as well as desperately wicked." We are naturally prone to flatter ourselves, that our feelings and motives are right, when the Searcher of hearts sees that they are wrong. The truth is, it is a hard matter really to forgive an enemy-one of the hardest things in the world. We may

see that we ought to forgive him, whatever harm he has done us, or meant to do. We may be convinced that we must forgive him, or we cannot be forgiven by our Father who is in heaven. We may try hard to do it, as a matter of duty-of necessity; and may persuade ourselves that we have succeeded, while the spirit of resentment, if not revenge, still lurks in our bosoms, ready to show itself in words, or looks, or actions, to others, however we may conceal it from ourselves.

This being the danger, we ought to watch our emotions with a holy jealousy; and each of us to pray with the Psalmist, "Search me, O God, and try me, try my heart and reins, and see if there is any wicked way in me." When any one has tried to injure us in our reputation, or outward estate, let us first have undoubted evidence of the fact, and when that is forced upon us, we may seek restitution and proper acknowledgments. If we succeed, well; but if we fail, what then? Why, we must forgive him. We cannot pardon him. We have a right to feel the injury keenly. We have a right, where the facts justify it, to say that he has done us a great wrong; but we must forgive him the wrong, whether he repents it or not. "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore, if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink."