THE LAY MINISTRY-ITS REVIVAL NEEDED.

(Continued from page 15.)

On that perilous night when the Rector of Epworth, with his wife and seven children, rushed through the smoke and flames of their dwelling to the street, they found to their consternation that one of their children, a boy six years old, was left behind in the nursery. The agonized father on hearing him cry, ran to the stairs, but these had been so far consumed, that they could not bear his weight, and seeing no way for the child's escape, he fell on his knees, and solemnly commended his soul to God, before whom he expected it shortly to appear. But that God in whom he trusted, was kinder to him than his fears, and gave him back his son, when he had given him up for lost. John, it seems, had been awakened by the light, and thinking it was time to rise, called on the maid to take him up. But as no one answered, he opened the curtains, and was much terrified on perceiving streaks of fire playing round the upper part of the room. Being thus alarmed, he ran to the door, but found his retreat in that direction completely cut off by the devouring flames. He next proceeded to the window, but not being high enough to reach it, he climbed up on a chest which was near, by which means he was seen by some persons in the yard. As no ladder was on the premises, and there was no time for procuring one, necessity drove them to this expedient: one man stood under the window, against the wall, on whose shoulders another mounted, by which means he reached the child, and rescued him from impending destruction, at the crisis of his fate. A moment or two longer would have been too late. The roof fell the instant he was delivered, and even in its descent, had it not fallen inward, both the child and his humane deliverers must inevitably have perished. No sooner was the child carried to the house where the family had assembled, than the father, in an ecstacy of joy, exclaimed, "Come, neighbours, let us kneel, and give thanks to God. He has given me all my eight children; let the house go: I am rich enough."

How large a portion of this world's history hung on that event! What momentous issues have sprung from that providential rescue! Had any one, on the cold winter's morning just after that deliverance had occurred, indulged in a reverie that the interesting looking little boy would become the founder of a new sect, which, before two generations had passed away from the earth, would count up millions of people, give society a new aspect, and take the lead of all others in evangelizing the world, he might well have been considered an enthusiast. Yet what would then have been deemed fabulous has become history. Passing by the nameless multitudes which have been removed to the skies, there cannot now be less than millions who in various parts of the world constitute the congregations of Methodism and its various offshoots. This is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes. A thousand facts in the history of Methodism show that the same Providence which plucked its founder as a brand from the fire," has directed its onward movements, watched over its interests, and prospered its operations. He has blessed it and made it a blessing.

It is hard to say what might have been the future of "a slumbering

church and a perishing world," if that revival of religion had not taken place. The prospect was gloomy in the extreme; and doubtless a corrupted faith and an apostate religion would have been our present inheritance. That revival, however, of primitive zeal and holy aggression, averted the threatened evil, drove back the rising tide of infidelity, gave new life to the dying truths of the Reformation, and put Christianity into her native attitude of benevolent enterprise, of active hostility with ignorance and sin. It imparted an evangelical impulse which is felt to this hour, and has handed down to this generation privileges and blessings which our remoter ancestors never saw. Through the agency of Methodism we are born to the inheritance of a pure faith, and surrounded from childhood with the urgent solicitations of religion. On our opening consciousness the light is radiated from every point; with the early lessons of childhood the truths of the Bible are imbibed; the open sanctuary constantly invites us to its saving ordinances, and on our embracing the blessings of religion we find ourselves furnished with every facility for diffusing them around us in the world.

The

Here, then, we see our duty, for responsibilities and privileges are correlative. Where much is given, much is required. The blessings handed down by the toils and sufferings of the fathers must not be lightly esteemed by the children, but be preserved and prized as a sacred treasure, and handed down to the next generation as entire as they came to us. God and man require this at our hands. blessed impulse which impinges on the present age must not spend its force, but be transmitted to the future with undiminished power. This demands fidelity and energy, for what was won by earnestness cannot be retained by lassitude and indifference. Our forefathers were men of nerve and might. There were giants in those days. Their piety was athletic and valorous; they placed themselves full in front with the world and sin, and with invincible courage and determination they fought their way inch by inch. Aggression was their habit of life, and by their apostolic labours, by their active and uncompromising energy they everywhere spread the triumphs of the cross. In the religious toils and conflicts of that day all were taught to share. Providence soon made it manifest that labour was not an official thing, but both a common duty, and an urgent necessity; and, incited by their religious instincts, they found that labour to be their element and delight. Laborious Pricillas and Aquilas, zealous and eloquent Apolloses, and hospitable Lydias and Gaiuses were raised up everywhere as they were needed; and early Methodism saw the fervour, the simplicity, the love, the hospitality, and activity, of the primitive saints return once more to the church of God. It was thus a lay agency and a lay ministry, became essential parts of Methodism, and were rendered most efficient auxiliary means of its rapid diffusion. No wonder, then, that an element thus forced into Methodism by Providence, was afterwards adopted by choice, and made a prominent feature in its economy.

We believe that a lay agency in Methodism was not instituted to meet a temporary emergency, but to be a permanent element in the constitution of the body. As already shown, it was the embodiment of a Divine idea, the revival and practical development of a principle originally incorporated in the church, and on which God had from the earliest ages fixed the seal of his approval, We do not contend that Methodism

presents an absolute conformity to the primitive church; but in its emphatic recognition of a lay ministry, as well as in its aggressive character, we believe it comes nearer to the normal standard of apostolic times than any other denomination. And it is remarkable that, numerous as have been the offshoots of Methodism, each has perpetuated this distinguishing feature of its polity; and those sections have invariably prospered the most which have most thoroughly, practically, and consistently exemplified it in their operations; and, on the other hand, others have declined, or languished in feebleness, just in proportion as they have neglected to develop this original characteristic. It is equally worthy of remark, too, that just in proportion as the Church of England and Dissenters become alive and aggressive, they also are spontaneously prompted to follow in the wake of Methodism, by the employment of devout and earnest laymen as Scripture readers, exhorters, and evangelists. Do not these facts demonstrate that the employment of a lay agency is of God? Do they not show us, with the light of a sunbeam, that Methodism has embodied the Divine idea of evangelical activity and aggression? Do they not prove that the active employment of a lay agency, as a supplement to the regular ministry, springs from the very essence of a vital, energetic, and aggressive Christianity? We therefore rejoice that our venerable founders, in laying down a system of church polity, gave prominence to this feature of Methodism-recognizing this class of officers as authorized by a divine call to their work; and it is no less ground for rejoicing to know that this principle has been preserved intact. Far distant be the day when it shall be tampered with or set aside, or fall into desuetude by lukewarmness and neglect! Rather let it be called into more vigorous and effective operation. The times demand it with peculiar urgency; nor will the day ever come when it can be dispensed with, until the aggressions of the church shall terminate in the glory of the millennial age. Even in the palmy days of the Jewish dispensation, when one whole tribe was set apart to Levitical functions, and a tenth of a whole nation's wealth was consecrated to its support, still a lay ministry was employed. And in the virgin period of the Christian church, when filled with the Spirit and invested with miraculous gifts, when every step was guided by Providence, and every effort crowned with Divine power, a lay ministry was conjoined with apostolic labours, and the Word of the Lord mightily grew and prevailed. In this age, as well as in primitive times, the employment of a lay ministry presents an agency indispensable to the aggressive action and extension of the church.

In the present day it is a question of vital importance and growing interest, "How shall we reach the outlying and neglected masses of our home population?" The census, published by government authority in 1853, has unfolded some astounding statistics as to the spiritual condition of millions around us. It reveals the heart-rending fact that on a given Sabbath, in Christian England and Wales, the largest attendance at worship was 6,356,222, out of a population of 17,927,609, leaving the number of eleven millions, five hundred and seventy-one thousand, three hundred and eighty-seven, as absent, for various reasons, from the house of God on that day. Supposing about two-thirds of this number (a large allowance this), from old age, sickness, infancy, or other lawful reasons, to have been detained from the sanc

tuary of God, we have still about four millions of persons in the character of wilful and habitual neglecters of divine worship; and consequently living in estrangement to religion, and total disregard to the realities of the eternal world. No eloquent description can equal the solemnity of this hard statistical fact. Here it stands before us a stern reality, the indisputable arithmetical result of actual observation. After all that has been done to evangelize our country, these millions are crowding to hell; and prove the awful fact, in the most open manner, by a public, practical avowal of their disregard to religion. No wonder that the church is startled by the revelation, and that the cry has gone forth, and is echoed from one denomination to another— What shall be done for these outlying and perishing millions of our countrymen these hardy sons of toil, that plough our fields, manufacture our fabrics, erect our dwellings, and in a thousand ways minister to our domestic comfort, and build up our national wealth and grandeur? These men, the monuments of whose genius and labour everywhere meet our eye-these men, related to us by the ties of country and of blood-these men, bound to us by the sympathies of patriotism and neighbourhood, and redeemed like ourselves by the precious death of Christ, must not be allowed to perish at our very door. An effort-a vigorous, protracted, and prayerful effort, equalled only by the self-denial and devotion of our forefathers, in the energetic days of early Methodism, must be made to gain their ear, to win their alienated hearts, to rescue them from the darkening errors and polluting code of infidelity, and bring them to the enjoyment of salvation.

Patriotic souls, refined and expanded by religion, have devised liberal things; intellectual minds and eloquent pens have produced soul-stirring essays to excite Christian sympathy and zeal on behalf of our countrymen, and have suggested wise and practicable measures for their conversion. We would seek to strengthen the impression, and add our feeble effort to the movement. "Work, work for God!" said a voice uttered from the threshold of eternity. "Work, work, work for God and souls!" said the dying Hilton, as his thin, emaciated fingers held the pen for the last time, just before his sainted spirit passed away to the realms of blessedness. O, could he now speak to us again, from the eternal world itself, after having seen the unalterable doom of immortal spirits, with what emphasis would he reiterate the exhortation, "Work, work for God and for souls!" "If an angel," says Dr. Mather, were in the flesh as I am, and in such a post as mine, what methods would he use to glorify God?" He would doubtless tax every energy of his exalted nature, nor ever stoop or turn aside to an inferior object, so long as the glorious opportunity were continued to him of saving souls from everlasting death, and raising them to the joys of heaven, Thus ought we to live and act; for this great work is committed unto us. The work before us is divine, and it requires an inspiration from the breath of heaven to fit us for its right performance; and such its magnitude and urgency that it demands the energies of all. None can claim exemption from toil; none can buy himself off from labour with a gift; none can bury his talent with impunity. The means of usefulness are before us; Providence has placed them at our right hand; every grade of power may easily find an appropriate sphere for its activity, and on every conscience the command is

enforced, “Work while it is day; the night cometh when no man can work."

In seeking the evangelization of our country every existing instrumentality must be worked with vigour. The Sabbath school, the day school, the ragged school, the Bible class, the tract society, the visitation society, the cottage prayer meeting,-have each their assigned place and peculiar importance; these, and every other appliance for usefulness, must never droop for want of hands. Young, old, and middle-aged may here find a sphere where his talents, one or five, may find honourable employ, and be rewarded with gratifying fruit. But after all, and admitting the full importance, and even the necessity of all these means, the preaching of the gospel is God's chief instrumentality for the conversion of souls, especially for the masses of our adult population. "It hath pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe." This mode of Divine communication will never grow obsolete in the economy of the gospel-will never be superseded by any means, however good, of human contrivance. All others are but auxiliaries at best, and auxiliaries to that great instrumentality ordained by the authority of him who said, "Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." The press itself, powerful as it is, and sanctified too, when it sends the word of God by millions amongst mankind, is, notwithstanding its exalted and extensive use, only an auxiliary. The living voice in the utterance of truth, with its melting tones and moving sympathies, is the grand instrument by which the Holy Spirit floods the benighted mind with heavenly light, wakes up the torpid conscience, and bows the stubborn heart to obedience. We need, therefore, much more preaching as well as more prayer. We need a style of preaching, too, adapted to the masses, and performed in localities where the masses may be found. The fact is patent that the masses will not come unto us, and we must therefore go to them. The Gospel aggression must be carried into the enemy's camp. The action of the church must be outward as well as inward. Inward, indeed, to administer instruction and spiritual food to the members of Christ, and to those who come as regular attendants on the ministry; but outward to the masses of the ungodly and unbelieving world. Hence at first the command "Go;" which implies external action. Hence the ministry of our Lord was exercised more in the crowded streets, and addressed more to the multitudes in the wilderness, than to the worshippers under the roof of the temple and the synagogue. Assuming the nation to be Christian, we have well nigh forgotten that it is heathen in practice and condition; and hence the external action of the church has been but indolently performed. We need afresh to ponder the command of Him who by his example and his authority said, "Go quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind. And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room. And the Lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways, and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled." This is aggression; but alas! how unlike the indolent repose and self-satisfaction of many modern churches, which seem contented if they have but quiet Sabbaths and good congregations, while the masses are perishing around them, no man caring for