most proverbial with some, "we will be time enough for the sermon;" but such are frequently too late even for that. Olet us remember, that God not only commands us to worship him in the assembly of his saints, but that he carefully inspects the manner and temper of mind in which we do it.

A late attendance upon public worship not only intimates something in the person's own mind, but it is followed by many manifest evils. It must necessarily interrupt the officiating minister, whose mind should be composed, and steadily fixed upon the work in which he is engaged; it is an interruption to the congregation at large, whose eyes and ears must needs influence their hearts, while the former are attracted by the persons coming in, and the latter incessantly assailed with the noise of pew-doors, &c. Our outward senses are inlets to the soul; and when these are attracted, in the house of God, by new objects, they open the heart to every intruder, and render our sacrifices accessible to every bird of prey.

The persons to whom this reproof is directed, must sustain an injury to their souls. If they have not lost that part of the service, which, perhaps, was most suitable to their case, and might have proved the greatest blessing, it is probable they have received the word among thorns, which have effectually choked it.

It is a question of no small importance, how such an evil as the one we are now complaining of, (the neglect or interruption of public prayer,) and which pervades all our congrega tions, may be remedied. I shall suggest two or three things, which I think conducive to this desirable end.

Let ministers themselves go before their flocks, as patterns of regular and early attendance. Uncertainty in the time of beginning religious worship, supplies the hearer with an apology for the irregularities of his attendance.

Let no part of the proper work of the six days be adjourned till the seventh; seek that holy veneration for the Lord's day, which a Christian ought to have; and be more solicitous to obtain a heavenly and devotional frame of mind, without which Sabbaths become a weariness, than about the outward adorning of your persons.

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We should recollect both the importance and the uncertainty of those privileges we are going to enjoy. Who can tell, when goes up to mingle his prayers and praises with the congregation of the righteous, that he shall not take his farewell of them? Let us learn to account every Lord's day our last, and attend to the duties thereof with a spirit proportionably serious .devotional.

We ought to remember, also, that we are going to meet God, and that he is waiting that he may be gracious to, and bless us. We do not easily bring our minds to treat a fellow creature as we treat God; for if any unforseen event should lead us to exceed the time fixed for meeting, whether it relate to business or to friendship, we apologise, and express concern; but those who habituate themselves to a late attendance on religious worship, seem to feel no sense of impropriety, nor any anxiety to amend their error.

We should call to mind the manner in which we used to serve the world and sin. When we worshipped the idol of Pleasure, her temples were frequented at an early hour; and having, in our profession, renounced the world, shall we serve God with less zeal than we formerly served the world and sin? God forbid!

Let us habituate ourselves to rise earlier on the Lord's day than on any other day of the week: we have more important concerns to attend on that day than on other. Indolence any and sloth are always criminal, especially in professors of religion; but they are doubly so on that day, every moment of which should be sacred to God and devotion; that day, on which our souls should be all activity and zeal. When Abrahanı had an important service to perform at the command of God, we read that he "rose early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose and went into the place of which God had told him." Gen. xxii. 3. There was nothing in the service to which Abraham was now going, to allure him to be unusually active; no, it was a service repugnant to nature, and against which, reason and unbelief could offer a thousand objections; but he is prompted by a sense of duty to God, and a strong faith in his promises. The female disciples of Jesus Christ also set professors an example; for, when they had an act of kindness to perform towards Christ, we are told, that, "upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared." Luke

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To conclude: I conjure you, as you love the house and ordinances of God; as you value your own edification, and would not prevent the edification of others, let your attendance on divine service be early, that you may neither loose nor interrupt the supplications which are offered to the majesty of heaven.

S. S.

PRESBYTERIAN HOME MISSION.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE ORTHODOX PRESBYTERIAN.

DEAR SIR, I beg leave to present to your notice a few thoughts on the subject of our Home Mission, with the hope, that they may lead some of your readers to devise measures calculated, under God, to give greater efficiency to the operations of this interesting and important Society.

The present plan of conducting the Mission is acknowledged, on all hands, to be highly disadvantageous. Our Missionaries have, in general, important duties at home, and cannot be spared from these, without much inconvenience. They engage in the service of the Mission with reluctance, and are determined, on setting out, to return as soon as possible. The remembrance of previous and imperative engagements, haunts them through the whole period of their absence from their own congregations. They cannot, therefore, however ardently desirous that the work may prosper, give their attention to it, with that singleness and intensity of effort, which it absolutely demands. It follows, of course, that the exertions of those ministers, who, from their matured wisdom and experience, are most adequate to discharge the duties of Missionaries with success, are limited both in vigour and in amount.

Besides, their stay is so short, that they have hardly more than sufficient time to visit the stations, see the people, look round upon the neighbourhood, and ascertain its facilities for prosecuting Missionary labour, ere their engagement terminates; and they take their leave, just when the little flock, for whose sake they have undertaken so long a journey, are prepared to benefit by their ministrations. The visits of probationers are, in general, shorter still, for this reason, that they are not yet prepared to encounter the amount of public services required at our Missionary stations.

Still farther-The services of the Sabbath, at these stations, are but rarely attended by those beneficial results which might naturally be expected from the ability and zeal with which they are conducted. For each successive minister, preaching only a few sermons, in the selection of which, he is guided rather by his own views of their intrinsic merit, than by the necessi ties of the people, (for these he cannot learn,) it almost necessarily follows, that they come out to public worship, rather to be gratified by the eloquence of the preacher, than to receive spiritual and appropriate instruction. Hence a false taste is

generated; the odious spirit of criticism is fostered; and the people become every week more difficult to please in the choice of a minister. This will partly explain why our stations remain so long unsupplied with pastors. Young men, it is obvious, even of the most promising talent, are placed at great disadvantage, when compared with their seniors in age and experience; and, therefore, would hardly ever be invited to take charge of those stations, if men of longer standing in the ministry could be obtained; but, on the other hand, ministers already settled, do not like to leave their large congregations in the North, for the sake of a few families in the South. more, the present mode of supplying the Missionary stations is excessively expensive, in consequence of the distance, and of the number of Missionaries employed. The expenditure of so much money would, however, be a trifling consideration, if one had the satisfaction of knowing that it tended to any solid and permanent good.

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Nevertheless, it must be admitted, that amidst all these great and obvious disadvantages attendant on our present plan of conducting the Mission, one great benefit has been obtained, worth all the time, and money, and labour, hitherto expended. A large number of our ministers have gone down to the South and West. They have seen, with their own eyes, the spiritual condition both of the Presbyterians and of the Roman Catholics, in these districts of our country. Their spirit has been stirred within them, on beholding the religious destitution of so many thousands; and they have returned to their homes, with hearts full of compassion for their long neglected brethren, and full of anxiety for the progress and prosperity of the Mission. I am confident, that not a single minister has visited our stations, who will not admit, that how fervent soever may have been his previous desires and prayers for the advancement of this good cause, the actual inspection of the field of labour has tended powerfully to increase his sympathies, and to infuse new life into his private converse, and public ministrations, on behalf of the Mission.

Having dwelt so far on the past, I would venture now to throw out a few suggestions in reference to the future plans and operations of the Synod's Home Mission.

The ultimate and principal object of our efforts should be, as I conceive, to carry the message of the Gospel amongst the Roman Catholics, who form the vast majority of our population. Our stations ought to be regarded as so many centres of Missionary operation; and our Presbyterian families should

be expected to give shelter and encouragement to our Missionaries, in commencing and extending their exertions in the neighbourhood all around. This view of our Mission at once gives it a noble, commanding, and attractive character. It is, indeed, only in this view, that the Mission will confer any honour on the Church from which it emanates, or recommend itself to the sympathy and regard of the other great religious communities of the empire.

I need only glance at some of the more prominent advantages that would be derived from thus elevating the standard, and enlarging the sphere of our exertions for the diffusion of the Gospel. They are sufficiently obvious, on a moment's consideration.

In the first place, we should thus at length begin to do our duty towards the Roman Catholics of Ireland. Deeply does it become us to be humbled for the long and criminal neglect with which we have treated those millions, sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death. Where, where, has been our reverence for the express commandment of our Lord and Master ? Where our love to the souls of men ? Where our respect for the example of our predecessors-the fathers and founders of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland? Where our gratitude for the privileges of that ecclesiastical constitution which we have so long enjoyed, and which we profess to value so highly? Surely it is time to awake out of sleep, lest we be aroused out of our guilty repose, by the judgment of that long-suffering God, who has been waiting on us for these two hundred years.

In the second place, this extension of our Missionary efforts would tend to elevate the spiritual character of our Presbyterian brethren, residing at our several stations. They would thus be led to understand, that they are not only to be ministered unto, but to minister. They would be taught, that it is essentially the duty of those who know and believe the truth of the Gospel, to diffuse it amongst the ignorant around them; and instead of concentrating upon themselves the ministrations of the pastor settled amongst them; instead of nursing themselves up in the exclusive and fastidious enjoyment of their privileges, they would learn, that he had to do a far more important work than to attend to a few Presbyterian families, and would be gradually induced, there is reason to hope, to co-operate with him in his work of faith, and labour of love.

In the third place, this enlargement of the field of effort would be eminently beneficial to the Missionary himself.

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