Catholic Church, established in these kingdoms. For misguided zeal is more pardonable than phlegmatic apathy, and it is no hard matter to understand the distress of those who grieve at the Lord's heritage lying waste, and whose heart and soul is in the work to restore it. And hence it comes to pass that they who think little on these things, and would not have the house of the Lord exceeding magnifical, give rise to the taunting proverb, "Is it time for you, 0 ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste?"

Christian brethren, the lambs of Christ must not be unfed, the ignorant must not be led astray, or rather, left to go astray, in the wilderness of the world. "Being bound not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is, and meeting in order to pray, and praise, and to hear the word of God, and the preaching of his ministers, we need buildings suitable for these purposes. And we are thankful that it has pleased God to put it into the hearts of his servants, to raise many such buildings throughout the land. Very many more are however greatly needed"," as the appeal of the Incorporated Society advocated this day amply testifies. A Society which has assisted more than two thousand and forty-three parishes in increasing their Church accommodation, at an expense of more than 323,000l., and has thereby given encouragement to the additional

" See Girdlestone's Commentary on Exodus xxvi. 1—14.

expenditure of considerably more than one million and a half on the part of the different parishes which have applied to it for assistance.

And if there may be any that may be apt to think that it would be well to have had some less costly churches than those which are the glory of our land, "in order to have had a larger number than we have, rather let us learn to wish that we had as many as are wanted, and all as costly as they ought to be. When we contemplate the immense wealth of our country, when we call to mind the splendour which pervades the countless mansions of the rich, and think also of the comforts which are so generally spread around us in the cottages of the industrious poor, we must be almost ashamed to think, how mean and cheerless are many amongst the houses of God in the land. The Israelites whilst yet encamped in the wilderness were able to raise, at the command of God, the splendid tabernacle described in the book of Exodus. Christians who dwell in a land that overflows with riches, who have carried to the utmost height all mechanical and ornamental arts, and who are better fed, better clothed, and better housed, than any nation now known in the world, are yet apt to grudge expense, and forced to practise the most rigid economy in the construction of their churches; and after all have not near church room enough. What is the reason of this difference? Want of faith, want of love for God, want of a lively concern for his honour, want of a hearty affection for the thou

sands and millions of the poor, for whom there is found no place in the house of prayer. Let us then not affect to be too spiritual to care for ornament in our churches, whilst we are so far from indifferent to luxury in our dwellings. Let us more largely deny ourselves, and we can then better afford to help our neighbours, and we shall then more truly rejoice in every opportunity we can meet with to spend our substance in honouring God."

And why should we not? Why should we not look, as Christians ought to look, to the "polished corners" of the temple, and to the foundations on the holy hills, to the "mountain of the Lord's house," and to his presence that fills the temple? Yea the rather, inasmuch as it is not with us, as it was with the worshippers in the tabernacle. "For thus saith the Lord of Hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: And I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the Lord of Hosts. The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the Lord of Hosts; and in this place will I give peace, saith the Lord of Hosts'."

And how is this? How comes it that a Christian Church can exceed the surpassing glory of the tabernacle and the temple of old? It is, Christian brethren,

'Haggai ii. 6-9.

VOL. I.

I

because the shadow is no more, and the substance is come. We need the place of worship, and the outward fabric of the Church. But the spiritual building of the Holy Catholic Church throughout all the world acknowledges the presence of Him who has “brought life and immortality to light." It is Christ, the Saviour of the world, that beautifies this spiritual building. Here He dwells by his Spirit, and if ye be Christians, holy and devout, "Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ 2."

But if ye be so, ye will desire to have others built up and edified in the same holy faith, and, that they may be so, ye will help to provide the means. We all need, more or less, to be led by the hand to go up to the temple to pray. But how much more so "the babes in Christ ?" How much more so they who are scattered abroad like sheep without a shepherd? that immense growth of the population in almost every part of the kingdom, unprecedented in former times!

It is not to be doubted but that iniquity and crime of every sort must increase, unless there be an increase of accommodation in our Churches. There are parts of the land where thousands, yea, tens of thousands, are without a sitting, by whom the glad tidings of the Gospel, and the footsteps of those "shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace,"

'See 1 Pet. ii. 5.

are scarcely, or never, heard. Blessed is that saying that is written, "Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved;" but, "How shall" these poor benighted ones "call on Him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher 3."

Look around and see how riches increase, see how the people dwell in "cieled houses." Consider how little thought, till within a few years, has been given to the building and enlargement of our Churches. Those that our forefathers built were thought enough to accommodate an increase of millions-yea, and those even were not kept in suitable repair. Ay, further yet, when it has been proposed to beautify the house of the Lord, and thoughtful people have come forward bountifully, the thoughtless have "run every man to his own house," and "it is cieled with cedar and painted with vermilion "," whilst the Lord's house is scarcely better furnished than a barn or a granary. And what, forsooth, is the excuse made of such when riches blunt the heart,-why, in the words of the Prophet, "This people say, The time is not come, the time that the Lord's house should be built." Oh! that such were wise, that they would understand that "there is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is

5 99

meet, but it tendeth to poverty When the spirit

3 Rom. x. 13, 14.

'Jer. xxii. 14.

5 Prov. xi. 24.