at length be closed. The unwashed crowd dispersed, and most of the shopkeepers shut up their shops and retired; neither the one or the other to their

church or their chapel, but the former to idle away the morning, if not the entire hours of the day, and the latter to count their sabbath gains and then to refresh their jaded limbs and spirits according to their various habits.

On our road to this place, and in its immediate vicinity, we were much interested by witnessing a small knot of people, gathered in a large and vacant place, listening to one who, with a small Testament in his hand, was "holding forth the Word of life." He was a labourer, like the hearers; one whom we knew to be engaged from Monday morning to Saturday night, earning bread for himself and his family. We could not but feel deeply moved, that one such person should have been led, without any reward save that of the hope of souls to be saved, to stand up and preach in his humble way the Gospel of man's salvation. We could only hope that some amongst the throng of sabbathbreakers we afterward saw, might, as they returned from purchasing earthly food at the sabbath market, pass that way, and be led to buy, without money and without price, the bread of heaven and the water of life. But we passed on to church, and there again our thoughts were forced to recur to the scene we had left, and the perishing souls we had seen, and the humble minister of Jesus we had for a few moments listened to.

It was a very large and very beautiful parish church into which we then entered; the ordinary minister, the Rector, was to preach, and every pew and every aisle was densely crowded. There was hardly standing

room, so completely was every spot filled with well dressed people of almost every class save that of the one we had just left behind us. The painful conviction flashed upon our minds, that this was no church for the poor. True, it was the parish church, but the poor of the parish were not there; they either could not or would not come in. We must, however, do the Incumbent of this and other parishes the justice to say, that they are unwearied in their efforts to provide church accommodation. Church after church is rising, and where active and faithful men are placed in them, their erection tells upon the surrounding population; but the class of which we have been speaking, for the most part, remains without their walls. They have to be sought out, visited, and preached to either in the open air or in large rooms, or they will never tenant the pews and free-seats of our churches. We are deeply convinced of this, and therefore we are most anxious to speak faithfully and fully on this subject.

Much may be done with the machinery and the men we have. In the parish church already referred to, and as we know in the surrounding churches, where three or four Curates are employed, it is the custom for three clergymen to officiate in the morning service. We cannot but feel that there is in this much waste of clerical strength. One has to read the desk portion of the morning service; the other, a portion of the communion service, and preach; while the third has simply to read the short epistle for the day. Surely one of this staff might be more beneficially occupied in summer in the open air, and at other times in large rooms, in preaching to the masses of the people, who cannot

or will not come to church. We know that in many of these churches there are three services on the Sunday, besides daily prayers and a lecture in the week; but surely the benefits arising from the invariably thinly attended daily prayers, are not to be compared to a regularly organized and zealous attack upon the irreligion of the masses. The Church must descend to meet the necessities of its entire body. If our present class of ministers, and our present services, are unsuited to the wants, the minds, and the habits of the labouring, as well as the idle and dissolute poor, the Church must contrive some machinery and appliances, whereby the endeavour may at least be made to compel those to come in, who are now almost hopelessly without its pale.

Our recent numbers have contained letters from a valuable clergyman at Cambridge,* on the subject of open-air preaching, and we know that his experience of its results is not without large encouragement for himself, as well as example for others. We feel that the Church must act at once in this matter, and on a large scale. Her ordained ministers must go forth amongst the dense masses of their flocks, and catch them how and when they can, and speak to them of their temporal and eternal interests in language that will reach their understandings and their hearts.

If our

churches so completely occupy the time of the clergy, that they cannot arrange for a thorough visitation and ministration amongst a class it has been almost impossible to reach, they must, as we hinted in a foregoing number, gladly avail themselves of lay help, not only in the shape of Scripture Reader and City Mission

Rev. H. Titcomb.

ary, but also in the persons of those pious and otherwise well qualified lay members of the Church, who may be willing to go in and out amongst their poor perishing brethren, and preach Christ to them.

We are glad to find the Liverpool clergy stirring in this good work; they have met with some opposition, but at this they will doubtless neither be surprised or discouraged. The enemy of souls will be grievously vexed at any fresh plan to rescue his long held prey from his mighty grasp, but there is a Mightier than he, who will rejoice to own and bless every fresh effort in the holy cause of saving souls; while opposition and persecution should but add to the zeal and prudence of the movement, and the hearts of God's people everywhere should be lifted up in prayer for its large success, and further spread.

In the great metropolis, in our densely populated parishes, there are thousands upon thousands thus crying out for the aggressive operations of true-hearted christian Churchmen. Nothing that is done in church building, or the accession of ministerial strength, seems to touch the evil. These thousands still remain strangers to the house of God, and the pastor, however laborious he may be in his work, cannot penetrate the frightful

mass.

When and where, from weather or peculiar localities, open-air preaching is impracticable, we must have recourse, without the restraint of Church order, to numbers of rooms opened on the sabbath-day, for short and impressive services, conducted by those who have the ability and the will so to minister. We have lately heard that an Incumbent of one of these dense and ecclesiastically inaccessible

parishes, feels strongly the inadequacy of the present system, either of men or means, to reach its fearful wants. We repeat, that we are not insensible to the work doing by all the societies now in the field; but the Church itself, and the week-day, and especially the sabbath efforts of its lay members, must afford some new and more effective agency.

In the district referred to in the outset, the State might do much to prevent the scene we glanced at, by absolutely forbidding the sabbath morning opening of the shops. Why should our policemen have to perform the duty of sweeping away at eleven o'clock, the market which is altogether a violation of God's commandment, if not an infraction of the law of the land. Why could it not be thoroughly proclaimed in such districts, that no more of this unseemly sabbath desecration would be permitted; that Sunday provisions must be purchased on the previous night, for that a government which declared itself in union with a national Christian Church, was determined to aid in carrying out its teaching, and in at least enabling all classes to participate in the rest of the sabbath day? This latter thought, however, opens too wide a field for our present space; yet we cannot refrain from stating our deep conviction, that the government does not act in consistency with the principles of its alliance with the Church, in suffering, as it does, shops of all sorts, taverns, tea-gardens, and other places, to interfere with the sanctity of the sabbath day.

Yet must the Church, and Christians individually, do their parts, whether the government fully and consistently support them or not; and we will not conclude this paper with

out suggesting some few practical measures that might be acted upon.. 1. Let the well-affected lay members of such parishes as we have described, accompany and effectively support their ministers in a thorough visitation of these sabbath-breaking neighbourhoods. Let them especially direct their attention to the shopkeepers, and urge upon them the duty and privilege of a perfect observance of the sabbath.

2. Let there be established in the very heart of these dark spots as many preaching places as possible; and whenever practicable, let the clergy, or other qualified individuals, strive to preach in the open air; and in the case of any necessity, they should be protected by the police, who would thus be far better occupied than in driving away the buyers and sellers from the sabbath market.

3. In case the field to be occupied should prove too large for either the clergy or the paid missionary agents, let the former carefully select from the leading and properly qualified members of their congregation, those who could in their stead speak to the people as brethren earnestly desiring the temporal welfare and eternal salvation of their fellow-creatures.

How much might be effected in a single summer, in many a large parish by such enlarged plans; how many souls might it not please the Holy Spirit to quicken into spiritual life by the simple yet faithful preaching of those who have hitherto been content with feeding themselves on the bread of life. Surely the need is great, shall we not try every scripturally lawful expedient within our reach?

C. A.

WE often find the professing Christian complaining of the thoughts of his heart, and of the naturalness and facility with which he calls up evil imaginations before his mind; or, as he would say, with which evil imaginations present themselves uncalled. Experience, however, proves that there is more of profession than of sincerity in many of these complaints; and that it is one thing to detect these thoughts, and to know them to be wicked and vain, and another thing cordially to hate them. There is a sort of half sincerity in these matters, which does almost as much harm as greedy unhesitating wickedness. A man will suffer evil thoughts to possess his mind-he will quietly entertain them and contemplate them; and when he finds that they have led him astray to the indulgence of criminal wishes and unholy tempers, and to the disturbance of that "peace which passeth all understanding," then, and not till then, he says, "I hate vain thoughts." This will not do. A man with a high religious profession may go on in this way, thinking and complaining, till he wakes for the first time to a full view of the evil, in hell. But granting that some are sincere, or wish to be so, in the hatred of vain thoughts, we would suggest for their benefit a very important line of inquiry, which, by a Divine blessing, may assist them in the great objects of the christian pilgrimage. We will consider

1. What are vain thoughts? 2. What is the remedy for them? 3. When we may hope that the remedy is effectually applied to.

First. What are vain thoughts?

What they are in their general tenor we shall gather at once from the words of David :-"I hate vain thoughts: but thy law do I love." Now the whole course of the Psalm in which these words occur, plainly indicates an ardent desire on the part of David to be entirely conformed to the will of God. "Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe: and I will have respect unto thy statutes continually. ... With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments. Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against thee. . . . Quicken me after thy lovingkindness; so shall I keep the testimony of thy mouth. . . . Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart." And then, in immediate connection with our subject,-"I have inclined mine heart to perform thy statutes alway, even unto the end. I hate vain thoughts: but thy law do I love." Here are a variety of very strong expressions, all indicating the wish, the purpose, the earnest endeavour and prayer, to do the will of God. And then, in the midst of these, comes a complaint against an evil which he puts in direct opposition to the law of God that he desires to fulfil :-"I hate vain thoughts: but thy law do I love." From which it is evident that he abhors vain thoughts, because they are an impediment to the attainment of his great object,—a keeping the commandments of God affectionately, perfectly, alway and unto the end.

The nature of vain thoughts, generally, is therefore now made plain. All those thoughts which militate in

the remotest degree against the advancement of the soul in the knowledge and love of God, and in conformity to His will; thoughts of evil, whether in the way of contemplation, recollection, or anticipation; all those idle speculations of the soul in its unguarded moments, which lead to no good, and almost always terminate in the presentation to the mind of some forbidden thing; in fact, every occupation of the mind which is not consistent with duty, and with that which is the great business of life,—the aiming to recover our ground, and to get the soul restored to the likeness of God.

But to be more particular. By vain thoughts we would understand all ungodly thoughts, all unrighteous thoughts, all worldly thoughts, and all idle thoughts. This classification is very extensive, more so than would at first be supposed. Let us examine it. And

1. By ungodly thoughts we mean every speculation or habit of the mind which is contrary to the supreme honour and authority of God, or inconsistent with that perfect love which is due to Him from His creatures. Presumptuous and unreserved inquiries and speculations into His nature and His purposes; hard thoughts of His providence or His mercy; low views of His justice; rebellious kicking against His law; restlessness under the yoke of His authority; a scanty and uninfluential sense of His great majesty; and all those habits of mind which indicate indifference to Him, and the want of a filial fear,-the want of that love with the whole heart and strength, which He requires as the due and consistent feeling of the creatures of His hand. All these are ungodly thoughts. They savour of athe

ism. They could not exist, where the mind had a proper sense of God's existence, character, and power; and a proper influence, arising from it, upon the heart and the conduct. Where these thoughts dwell, and have the mastery, the fear of God is not effectually reigning in the heart, nor the goodness of God always before the eyes. In fact, the existence of such habits at all, in a moral being, indicates a dreadful alienation from God; which, even though it may now be under a course of remedy, is not altogether subdued. But the dominion of such thoughts is essential impiety, and enmity to God.

"Thou

2. All unrighteous thoughts. The law of God in this particular is summed up in one sentence :— shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." And "love is the fulfilling of the law, because love worketh no ill to his neighbour." Now any unjust, ungenerous, illiberal, envious, or angry thought, is a violation of the law of love, and is opposed to the universally keeping of the commands of God. If the thought, therefore, only extend to uncharitable surmising, or harsh or hasty judging of motives, or even to bitter censure of that in a brother, which in itself is positively wrong, it is included in the list of vain thoughts.

3. Worldly thoughts. And here we enter upon a most extensive range of evil; for by this term we would designate all those thoughts which savour of the debasing influence of this present world. St. John gives us a good criterion of this class of thoughts, when he says, "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world... For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world."