ivy is apt to kill the trunk, and the cuckoo to clear the nest for its own use; that is to say, if we bring in any lower motive to reinforce a higher, it usually ends in the destruction of the higher. This is conspicuously the case in ecclesiastical finance.

The Freeman.

PROMISCUOUS WORSHIP.-Our public assemblies, even the most religious of them--our ordinary Sunday congregations for exampleare very far from being portions of the collected Church. On the contrary, a considerable proportion, varying in relative numbers and in shades of moral character, but always a considerable portion, and sometimes a very large one, of such congregations consists of persons destitute of religion, and in no real sense worshippers. They neither intend to worship, nor are they spiritually qualified for it. Whatever formal or apparent part they may take in either prayer or praise, they constitute in reference to the entire devotional part of the service a foreign and extraneous element, at once apart from it and incongruous with it. . . . Prayer in its true and only valuable meaning supposes reconciliation to God and faith in Christ, through whom alone we have access to God. But in public (promiscuous) prayer there is no guarantee for such a preparation; there is no reason to believe that it universally exists; there is a certainty, generally speaking, that it does not universally exist. We thus call upon those to pray whose hearts are far from God, and join with them in what is on their own part a mere form, a mockery, a sin. J. H. Hinton.

...

Pearls of Truth.

OUR DAILY BREAD.-There is no returning to a former meal or day's food, every craving and want must be relieved by a fresh supply from the master of the household. It is too common, I am afraid, with many to regale themselves with their past feelings and experiences as they are called, and they are too often taught to do so; but the practice is as preposterous, pernicious, and unprofitable as it would be for persons who are hungry to-day to attempt to allay their craving by recalling the idea of their yesterday's feasting. Dr A. Wilson.

HEAVEN ON EARTH.-If there is a position on earth that can be compared with heaven, it is when the disciples of Jesus are met on the first day of the week to observe his ordinances, the principal of which is the breaking of bread in commemoration of his death. James Ainslie.

THE CHRISTIAN PILGRIM.-Each true Christian is a right traveller, his life, his walk; Christ his way; heaven is his home. His walk painful, his way perfect, his home pleasing. I will not loiter lest I come short of home; I will not wander lest I come wide of home, but be content to travel hard and be sure I walk right; so shall my safe way find its end at home, and my painful walk make my home welcome. Warwick.

CAST THY BURDEN on the Lord.-No burden is too great or too little to be cast upon the Lord. A cheerful looking to Jesus, an assurance that he ever loveth and careth for us, will bear us through

many petty annoyances, which sometimes wear health and spirits much more than real and great grievances.

Graham.

LABOUR IN CHRIST'S CAUSE.-It is a beautiful part of the divine administration, in accordance with the analogy of God's other works, that our personal happiness as well as our moral improvement, is dependent in some degree on the efforts which we make to benefit others. Realise more and more your obligations to redeeming mercy, and the transcendant relation in which the love of Christ has placed you to created intelligence; and you will become conscious of the honour and dignity conferred upon you in being engaged in a work to which all the events of time are subservient, and the consummation of which will constitute the perfection of this world's glory and happiness. Wilson.

Correspondence.

THE WORDS CHURCH' AND 'CONGREGATION.'

AN esteemed correspondent wishes this subject introduced for ventilation. We therefore open it by remarking, that the English word Church, the German Kirche, the Scottish Kirk, and the Saxon Circ, are supposed to have sprung from the Greek, Kyriake-Lord's house. Be this as it may, we do not find the Saviour or apostles ever use this word. When they speak of the Christian people as a whole, or in separate gatherings, they uniformly employ the word ecclesia, a noun derived from the verb eccaleo, to summon or call out, so that it plainly denotes a people or assembly called out or summoned; and any English word which does not include this root idea, is certainly not a synonyme of the original. As the word Church does not contain this idea, it is not a fair translation, and as the commonly substituted word Congregation, from the Latin con-gregs-atio, simply denotes the act of flocking together, and omits the idea of call as much as the word Church, neither is it a true equivalent. Congregation is the synonyme of the Greek Synagogue, simply a gathering together. Thus, while Beza has 'congregatis' in Matt. xxvii. 17, and 1 Cor. v. 4, he invariably gives ecclesia in its Latin form everywhere that it refers to the Christian assembly. We say, then, that we want a term in English to express the fact which ecclesia denotes, namely, that the people met are the called. The disciples meet by heaven's authoritative summons, and are in the scriptures declared the called of God and of his Christ; and who does not see the propriety of that term which ever kept this in memory? Now it is a beautiful word, and such is the genius of the English language, that its adoption is perfectly lawful. We already have its derivatives, ecclesiastic and ecclesiastical, and certainly its claims are prior to theirs. The word convocation, a calling together, is nearer in signification than congregation, for it has the idea of call, but still it has not that of separation, which the prefix, ek, out of, gives to ecclesia, and which is an important element in the true idea of that people called out of darkness into God's marvellous light. Will any brother, having aught to offer, say on.

ED.

Entelligence.

CONFERENCE OF BRETHREN IN LONDON.-On Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, 11th, 12th, and 13th August, a gathering of brethren, as messengers from churches throughout the United Kingdom, was held in Camden Hall, to hear information respecting the past progress of the Lord's work amongst them, and to recommend and further whatever measures might tend to its future advancement. Above thirty brethren thus met, and a considerably larger number of letters was read. Amongst other items of news, about two hundred baptisms were reported. Many interesting questions were talked over, and some very important business was decided upon. Evangelistic work in Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool, Belfast, and other places, was, as far as possible, arranged for. The following recommendations were submitted for the consideration and action of the churches and brethren:-1. The necessity and importance of a full and constant presentation of the fact of the love of God to man as manifested in the gift of his beloved Son, as a propitiation for the sins of the world, in all public addresses to the unconverted; that love being the grand motive power by which God wins the sinner to himself. 2. That brethren and sisters throughout the churches interest themselves in training the young more or less immediately under their influence, in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, by taking one or more at a time under their personal instruction, with the distinct object in view of their being led to the knowledge of the truth and the obedience of the faith; its being hoped that by this simple mode of action many young persons would before long be brought to decision, and be introduced into the fold of the good shepherd, instead of being left either altogether ignorant, or but partially informed, quite undecided, and entirely without the care and guardianship of the Church. 3. That without interfering with the duty of making the truth known by word of mouth, brethren should, as largely as possible, employ the issues from the press best suited for that end. 4. That in respect to evangelistic work the churches do what in them lies, by prayer to the Lord of the harvest to raise up labourers, by the cultivation of the gifts of the brethren, and by contribution to the support (as far as needful) of brethren already in the field, and owned by God in the work. It was also entrusted to a brother to prepare a scriptural exposition of the evangelistic office for publication, and to brethren generally, having the opportunity and desire, to collect and examine all existing hymn-books for further revision, with the object of procuring a more perfect volume of praise than is as yet supplied, in time for binding, if so desired, with the American Bible Union's revised edition of the English Scriptures. Public meetings were held on the evenings of Wednesday and Thursday, when the faith once delivered to the saints was expounded in the hearing of considerable and attentive audiences, by metropolitan and provincial brethren.

RELIGION MADE EASY.-This inventive age laughs at impossibilities, as all know; but that pleasure trips should become recognised and effectual means of grace, is something new. That the Lord's cause should be advanced by a pleasure excursion to Paris, or by a

steamboat trip on the Thames, even at remarkably low fares, we are decidedly sceptical; but that the funds of a Methodist Chapel case were sought to be raised lately by the former, and that Mr C. H. Spurgeon, of Surrey Garden notoriety, as the hero of the latter, is to give a new rendering of the words, 'that wisdom's ways are ways of pleasantness,' public announcements of the facts compel us to believe. Did the seer expect his saying to be verified thus practically? Pity the apostles did not know how to make the best of both worlds!

THE CHURCHES IN VICTORIA.-The Melbourne church first broke bread on the 28th May 1854, ten in number, one of whom died last year in the faith and hope of the gospel. It now numbers thirtyfour, and has had about sixty-five in fellowship.

Most of the

thirty-one absentees are scattered over the colony. Some are at Beechwath, where is a little church. Others are at Bendigo, where there is also a little church. Some are at Ballarat. Some at Geelong, and there is a nice little church at Prahran. Brother R. Service has been privileged to immerse twenty into the sacred name, since he came to the colony about 3 years ago. He and Brother McGregor fill the pastoral office; Brother Morrison, Stevenson, and Shaw, the office of deacon. A lecture is delivered every First Day evening in the Mechanics' Institute, which appears to be doing good, as it has done in time past. The church meets in the same place in the morning, has been peaceful and happy, and has found that the Lord has been in the midst of it of a truth.-Love to all the brethren in Modern Athens.

Melbourne, 19th May 1857.

R. SERVICE.

DEAR BROTHER,—I am happy to be able to convey to you the pleasing intelligence that a church, consisting of nine individuals, based upon New Testament principles, assembles for worship in the Mechanics' Institution, Prahran (about 3 miles from Melbourne). In the evenings Lectures upon matters concerning the kingdom are delivered; occasionally our esteemed and beloved Brother Service from Melbourne favours us with a visit and a lecture. The truth evidently is finding its way. We hear acknowledgment of the correctness of first one principle and then another from those that attend the meetings. Yours in the good hope, H. G. PICTON.

THE MORALITY OF MINISTERIAL CHANGES.-The Freeman, advocating increased ministerial support, says, 'The low tone of morality which often marks the business of choosing a pastor; the letters to and fro about the money question; the higgling on the one side, and standing out for price on the other, which often, though carried on in pious phraseology, characterize these transactions, sufficiently indicate the working of the evil.' This truthful admission would not have been less true had it gone further, even to admitting said business of choosing a pastor to be contrary to the morality both of the law and the gospel. The law says, Thou shalt not covet.' If neighbours A. and B. were both in the same line of business, and neighbour A., the richer of the two, heard that neighbour B. had got a servant who was fast extending his trade, and were thereupon to say to one or more of his own assistants, Step quietly into friend B.'s, and without saying anything, see how his new hand does; and if the report were favourable, and neighbour A. were thereupon to

offer a higher salary to the young man, and so get him to leave neighbour B. and enter his own service, would not that be an infraction of the moral law, and would not any guide of the blind pronounce it such? 'Thou, therefore, who teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? Thou that makest thy boast of the law through breaking the law, dishonourest thou God?' Church A. learns that church B.-her dear weak 'sister church,' has got a pastor who is filling the chapel; two deacons from church A. enter one fine Sunday, they are noticed to be particularly attentive, even to the taking of notes; but they say nothing, and the deacons of this sister church thank them for their brotherly visit. This most fraternal visit is followed by an invitation to the pastor to preach the annual sermons at church A. Proud of the invitation from so strong a church, he of course goes. And the third act is that he soon gets a call,' which being so evidently the voice of providence (!) he piously obeys, to the increase of his salary, and to the enlightenment of his late flock, so far as the understanding of the brotherly visit from this sisterly church is concerned. All the difference betwixt these actual cases of ministerial change and our supposed case of neighbourliness, is against the former; they do in the name of religion what would be reprobated in commerce; they do to those one in faith what honourable commercial men would not do to opponents in trade. And if the law is thus broken, equally is the morality of the gospel set at naught. The violated law is but negative, the precept of the gospel is positive; the former goes so far, the latter much farther; the former says, 'Thou shalt not covet,' the latter, Support the weak.' The ministerial system supports its weak sister churches by robbing them of what it declares their indispensable stay. So, both legally and evangelically, the popular system of ministerial change is immoral.

EVILS OF THE ONE-Man-Ministry.-The Freeman says further, 'It is impossible to estimate the mischief to both churches and pastors, arising from this state of things.' 'They are compelled to make the money question a principal one.' 'A church is no sooner known to be destitute of a pastor than there are forth with 30 or 40 applications about it, from ministers wanting or willing to move, and sheep are left pastureless while their shepherds are about seeking flocks.' If it thus be, as we believe it is, impossible to estimate the evils arising from the present unscriptural state of matters, we have not said too much above. What evil can surpass that wherein men are compelled to make the money question the principal one in the most sacred business of the sanctuary? What evil can be greater, of a pastoral kind, than that shepherds should be about seeking flocks, while the sheep are left pastureless. Poor deluded things-left not only pastorless, but pastureless !!! for want of a shepherd of human creation, while the green pastures and the still waters of heaven's giving are within their immediate reach! Isa. Iv. 1-5; Pa. xxiii.; John x. 12-18.

Printed by J. Taylor, Edinburgh.