They cast their crowns before His throne; Assuredly, our departed friend is now one of them. ,, And it is our high privilege and solemn duty to be followers of them who by faith and patience inherit the promises. And if we are thus faithful unto death, we shall join those who have gone before in that glorious world where love and life can never more be parted. We are taught in a venerable Book to pray-"From sudden death good Lord deliver us." And events, such as the one uniting us here to-day, would seem to lend most solemn and affecting emphasis to that petition. Yet I am not sure, after all, whether there is not more of nature than of grace in such prayers. Does not an all-wise and ever-loving Father send for His children Home at the right time and in the best way? However we may be shocked and stunned by His ordinations, can it be wise to demand-"What doest Thou?" He knows the end from the beginning; and the end, though startlingly sudden, was gloriously safe to our sainted brother. Rather let us pray-" For sudden death good Lord prepare us"; "for we know not what a day may bring forth." The utmost anxiety, and I will add the most importunate prayer, can never assure us of a more gradual dissolution than our brother's was; but a life of devoted piety will enable us to be confident that "If our souls be hurried hence To the ministers and other church officers present, this event addresses words of oft-needed warning. Brethren be careful to perform your allotted task while it is yet day, "for the night cometh when no man can work." And in their name, as on my own account, and on behalf of our Connexional Executive, I offer tender and prayerful sympathy to the beloved family bereaved. I know, indeed, by wounds in my own heart not yet healed, how little human friendship can avail in so dark a day of trouble. I therefore turn your thoughts to the consolations of Christian faith. And may He, the Friend both human and Divine, be eminently near, to bear your griefs and carry your sorrows; and in God's own good time may we all meet in the everlasting home above! A SUNDAY IN PARIS. NEXT day was Sunday. Starting from our hotel about 9 a.m., we called at the Rue Luxembourg for the Rev. Dr. Felton, a clergyman of the M. E. Church of the United States, who for several months past has, with his interesting family, been touring in Europe. Dr. Felton recommended us to attend the service of the Greek Church. Under bis friendly pilotage we looked in en passant at the Madeleine, as also at L'Eglise S. Augustine. Both are grand erections within and without. The former is perhaps the finest modern example of the beautiful Corinthian architecture. After hearing of the thin attendance at the services of the Roman Catholic churches of Paris I was surprised at the numbers both of men and women gathered within the above buildings. I wanted to judge on this point from personal observation, and was glad to see that Paris had not utterly drifted from religious moorings of some sort. Hurrying forward, we were soon introduced to the interior of the Greek, or, as it is sometimes called here, the "Russian" Church. It is a most chaste and elegant structure, beautiful both in its exterior and interior. There are no images; but the rarest pictures, the choicest devices, the most delicate tintings grace the walls and dome and ceilings. We were early. The few chairs distributed over the richly carpeted floor in front of the altar were unoccupied, nor were they at any time much used, it being the custom in the Greek Church for the worshippers to stand, or kneel, or prostrate themselves, but not to sit. I can hardly trust myself to describe the ecclesiastical pageant we witnessed on this July Sunday morning in this magnificent church. To do justice to the artistic beauty, power, and finish of its renderings would to many seem like exaggeration. The service was perhaps at its very best, as the Grand Duke Constantine of Russia, the Grand Duchess, and their daughter, the Queen of Greece, were present. Of the music, I can only say that I do not expect to hear anything like it again in this world. There was no instrumental accompaniment-none was needed. The ecclesiastic who took the most prominent share of the altar chanting had a voice that excelled in song even as Gavazzi's does in oratory, while the responses of the choir in their exactness, sweetness, and almost limitless modulations indicated gifts and culture that were simply marvellous. The effect on the minds of some who listened was such as no grand opera-even Parisian-had produced, or would be likely to produce. As an artistic display, the ritual of the Greek Church seemed to me quite in advance of that of Rome. I will not stop to describe the gorgeousness of its priestly vestments, the select appointments of its altar, through whose screen I peered with curious eyes into the sacred recess with its superb furnishings beyond, the abundance of its incense, and of its lighted tapers, the gracefulness of its processionals, etc. The church, which is not of very large capacity, was filled with a most fashionable assemblage. The high-born ladies, of whom I have spoken were quite plainly dressed, nothing in their appearance distinguishing them from their fellow-worshippers. Some of the English and American visitors in attendance did not even know of the presence of the royal party till all was over. The entire service did not extend much beyond an hour. At its close the senior ecclesiastic carried a rich cross to the Queen and her mother, who devoutly kissed the sacred emblem, being followed in this by the body of the congregation, who pressed forward to the altar for the purpose. In the evening Dr. Clark attended with me the English Wesleyan service in the Rocquepine. The pastor, Rev. J. Wesley Close, was on duty in Amiens. His place was supplied by a stranger passing through Paris, who preached a practical, profitable discourse. The premises in which the service was held are quite extensive, having rooms on the ground floor, a chapel above these, where we worshipped, as also a smaller chapel, where service is conducted in French, whilst above these again are the apartments occupied by the minister. The entire building, with its handsome cut-stone front, makes a fine appearance from the street. But I fear its situation is not good, not sufficiently central, and too near-for the success of its French service to the Reformed Church on the same street. These premises have been in use about fourteen years, costing over 80,000 dollars, and are free from debt. Mr. Close works hard amid many discouragements. There is a membership of about thirty. The congregation is largely floating. As the service closed, Dr. Clark and myself were politely requested to pass up to the minister's drawing-room. It seems it is Mrs. Close's custom to hold every Sunday evening a sort of religious "salon," a reunion for any strangers who may have been present at the evening service. He we met with Christian brethren and sisters from Ireland, England, America, France, and one lady, the widow of an African missionary. It was a time of delightful fraternal intercourse. Mrs. Close is a noble woman, a worthy helpmeet of her husband. Her Christian geniality will not soon be forgotten by the circle of strangers gathered on that Sunday evening in the parlours of the Wesleyan parsonage of Paris. After refreshment for the body as well as the spirit, we sang, to piano accompaniment, one or two hymns from the Moody and Sankey collection, which are kept at hand for the purpose, and led by Bro. Clark, we clustered around the mercy seat, a little company, meeting for the first and last time in this world. We joined in audibly repeating the Lord's prayer, and took one another's hand in a farewell of more than ordinary tenderness and interest. D. S. P.S. The initials appended to this paper will indicate to our readers that it was written by the Rev. D. Savage, who visited our Conference as a deputation from Canada, and his companion was the Rev. Dr. Clark, of Pittsburgh, U.S. METHODISM IN AMERICA. ITS MAGNITUDE. METHODISM in the United States was an immense power; they did not easily realize how vast it was. He knew that bulk and numbers were not everything in or for a Church-were not the greatest things-but yet the power and size of American Methodism were facts to be heedfully noted, not only in America, but in this country, and not only by themselves, but by statesmen and by ecclesiastics. The various Methodist Churches-the Churches of the Methodist family-in that country numbered about three and a half millions of communicants, and probably ten millions of adherents. Thus probably one-fourth of the population of the United States were in some sort Methodists, and of that fourth one-half belonged to that Conference to which Mr. Pope and himself were accredited. In the Methodist Episcopal Church-so called par excellence, there being several other Episcopal Methodist Churches-there were one and three-quarter millions of communicants, and some twelve thousand ordained ministers. Of the other religious bodies in America none approached Methodism in numbers. That which came nearest was the Baptist Church, in its various branches. Next after the Baptists came the Presbyterians, then the Congregationalists, and at a considerable distance below these the Protestant Episcopal Church, which corresponded to the Anglican Church of this country. These last, the quasi-Anglican Episcopalians, numbered about one-eighth as many as the Methodist family of Churches in the United States, and about one-fourth of that branch of Methodism with which the British Conference was in closest relationship. The Protestant Episcopal Church was indeed rapidly growing in America, and was developing a missionary sagacity and enterprise which was telling wonderfully in the far West and North-West. Still it was a fact to be noted that that Church had only about one-fourth the number of adherents of the Methodist Episcopal Church. It was undeniable, and it ought to be borne in mind-by others still more than by themselves-that the Methodist family in the States was the largest Protestant family of Churches to be found in any nation. Their own Church in the United States was not inferior in numbers to the Anglican Church at home, though, since the population of America was twice as large as that of England, it was relatively smaller-regarded as a national Church. IMPORTANCE OF FRIENDLY RELATIONS BETWEEN ENGLISH AND AMERICAN METHODISM. These facts must be borne in mind if they would realize the importance of maintaining friendship and cordiality between their own body and the great Methodist Church in America. It was not too much to say that the maintenance of such friendship was of primary importance for the preservation of the peace of the world. Certainly the peace and amity between America and England largely depended on their keeping up a good understanding between the Methodist Churches of the two countries. Methodism, though perhaps not the most cultivated or refined of the Churches of the United States, was the Church which most took hold of the great masses of the people. Its opportunities and responsibilities were indescribable. Its position at this moment was very commanding-perhaps also very critical. Let them pray that wisdom and grace might be given in proportion. President Grant was not a member of the Methodist Church, but he was a trustee of more than one of their buildings, and his wife was a member. The late Chief Justice Chase, one of the most eminent of Transatlantic judges, was a Methodist. Commodore Vanderbilt, though not a Methodist, had largely endowed Methodism-the Methodism of the South; Daniel Drew had fallen from his high place as a financier, but he had long been pre-eminent, and he had largely endowed Methodism. Everywhere Methodism was a great power among the commercial classes, and its influence paramount in the central life of the country. TERMS OF MEMBERSHIP. Methodism in the States occupies the position of a great quasi-national Church. The churchly idea is developed to an extent unknown amongst ourselves. As an illustration of this may be given the relationship of infants to the Church. A register was ordered to be kept of all infants from the time of their baptism; when they were ten years of age they were required to be gathered into classes, and after that, when sufficiently matured, and when they had undergone an examination by the minister, these catechumens were to be received into the Church. He mentioned this to show how the physiognomy of the Church was affected by its quasinational position. This was further apparent in the methods of receiving persons into the Church. This was not done only on the old Methodist plan of joining class from deeply spiritual motives, but, in a large number of cases, by another method. On recommendation by a minister, a leaders' meeting, or a leader, any candidate might have his name placed on the roll of church probationers without meeting in class. After six, or now, he believed, three months' trial, and after some questions had been publicly answered by him in presence of the church meeting, such a probationer was fully received as a communicant. A free and energetic Church that had already acquired a vast preponderance of numbers and influence in the nation, and that had this mode of access to its own communion and privileges, was likely rapidly to increase and multiply. During the last ten years the Methodist Episcopal Church had added 700,000 members to its fellowship, and during the last year 150,000. POSITION AND NUMBER OF LOCAL PREACHERS. Methodism in the United States, except in certain districts of the West, had cut down its circuits into single stations. It was, in fact, a system of Congregational Churches, held together by the Episcopacy, and under the Episcopacy by the Presiding Eldership. From this it followed that local preachers were not much wanted, and, in fact, there were not so many local preachers in the sense in which they in England used the term-local preachers as distinguished from located or local ministers-as there were itinerant preachers in the United States. Hence all that belonged to the supply of the ministry was very different from what it was among themselves, and the ministry was much more of a profession, selected by a young man and his friends. Biblical Institutes and Theological Institutions in the States were not institutions to which candidates were sent by their Conferences, but to which young men went at their own option, shifting if they liked-and sometimes they did like-from one institution to another, and at which they were maintained wholly at their own expense. Doubtless a recommendation from a quarterly Conference was required in the case of any candidate for the ministry, but such recommendation did not, in many cases, imply that he had been in the habit of preaching from station to station or in any particular station, or that he had given evidence as a preacher of "gifts, grace, and fruits." LAY REPRESENTATION IN CONFERENCE. Finally, as respected the matter of the union of the laity with the ministers in administrative or legislative functions, our American brethren were not, as seemed sometimes to be thought—and as some Americans themselves sometimes assumed-before, but were really far behind themselves. It was only four years since, for the first time, that laymen were joined with the ministers in the General Conference-which meets once in four years-but there was nothing even now in the American Annual Conference resembling their own union of ministers and laity in the district meetings. The Annual Conferences, which nearly corresponded with English district meetings, were purely ministerial. Their brethren in America felt and admitted their inconsistency and deficiency in this respect. There were proposals before the General Conference for uniting the laity with the ministers in the Annual Conferences, and there was a distinct report in favour of it; but like many other proposals and reports, this business had to be shelved for want of time.-Dr. Rigg at the Wesleyan Conference. MR. RUSKIN'S ADVICE TO LADIES. IN this month's "Fors Clavigera," Mr. Ruskin finishes his letter to the two school-girls who wrote to him some time ago: My dears, will you please, for I can't re-write what I've said so often, read, when you have opportunity, the letter to a young lady in " Fors" 34, pp. 29, 30. Respecting the third article in that letter, I have now a few words to add. I told you in last "Fors" that you would have great difficulty in getting leave from English society to obey Christ. "Fors" has since sent me, in support of this statement, a paper called The Christian -the number for Thursday, May 11th-in the fifteenth page of which is an article on young ladies, headed "What can they do?" from which I take the following passage:-"There have been times of special prayer for young men and women. Could there not be also for the very large class of young ladies who do not go out into society? They have no home duties to detain them, as many in a humbler condition; they have hours and hours of leisure, and know not how to spend them-partly from need of being directed, but more so from the prejudices and hindrances in their way. Their hearts are burning to do something for Christ, but they are not allowed, partly because it is considered "improper," and for a variety of There is a cry on every side for labourers. There are numbers longing to respond; if not wholly to dedicate their lives, at least a portion reasons. |