ter with both hands and ran out of doors into the cold air, determined to bring it down to 70°. The minister will also need to study the temperaments and qualifications of his members for the spiritual work of the church. He should aid the superintendent of the Sabbath school in selecting teachers, and in urging those who are qualified to engage in that work. The love for Bible studies and the zeal for their pursuit will depend greatly upon the spirit which the pastor shall infuse among the teachers. The pastor will also need assistance in visiting the sick, calling upon strangers, and inviting them to the house of God. This can be done most effectually by the cooperation of pious men and women. Persons properly appointed may call upon strangers and may gather many wanderers into the church. Such work, however, is seldom performed systematically or properly without the constant supervision of the pastor. Active associations should also be formed to employ the time and talents of the congregation-such as lyceums or literary organizations for the young; societies for teaching the poor children to sew and to make plain clothing; Dorcas societies, to provide clothing for the needy. The aim of the minister should be to find some work to employ all the members of his congregation, for in proportion as they work for the Master's cause they will be drawn most powerfully to the spiritual life. These benevolent movements of the congregation will also impress the public mind with admiration for the liberal and generous character of the church. It was said of Christ that He was full of grace; and it was this fullness of grace or manifestation of benevolence and kindness to the people which distinguished His whole life. He healed the bodies first, the souls afterwards; and the ministers and churches which show a deep sympathy for sorrow and wretchedness always powerfully impress those around them. In this activity the Roman Catholic churches generally excel the Protestants. Their various orders of women-such as the "Sisters of Charity" or "Sisters of Mercy"-have great facility in procuring aid to sustain hospitals, orphanages, and the like. These women, by their plain garb and by their apparent renunciation of the world, impress the public mind beyond the pale of their church much Keep the people employed. 163 Protes more powerfully than do all their ministers combined. tantism has the ability to perform a similar work just as well, and without the evils connected with these orders; but it requires constant activity and associated effort to produce the result. Active work is also necessary to give to each congregation unity and harmony. An inefficient congregation is usually a troublesome one. Among unemployed people discords and strife are sure to enter. The familiar lines of Dr. Watts, "Satan finds some mischief still for idle hands to do," are illustrated everywhere. There are men in every congregation who are exceeding troublesome. They annoy the people and the minister. They have an immense amount of surplus energy which is seeking for employment. Such persons need extra work, and must have it to be kept quiet. In one of Dr. Chalmer's ragged schools in Glasgow there was a boy who could not be controlled, and was a constant interruption to the school. After bearing long with him, it was resolved to expel him. The superintendent of the school, seeing elements of power in the boy, plead for one more trial. It was before the days of gas, or even of kerosene lamps, and the school-room was lighted with common candles. These were placed on movable stands, such as were formerly used by shoemakers, and which consisted of an upright stick fastened into a square board, with an opening in the top of the stick, through which a piece of leather was drawn that held the candle. The candles needed frequent snuffing, and so the superintendent appointed this uncontrollable boy general candle-snuffer. From the commencement of his work a change came over him. He entered into his work with spirit, and became one of the best boys in the school. He only needed to be employed. Luther was so restless in school that his master sometimes flogged him several times a day. God had put into him a soul of power, so that he could not keep still. God made him to shake all Europe. Mothers often pride themselves on having nice little boys, that sit still in the nursery and make no noise. Such boys will sit still all their lives, and will accomplish but little for their friends or the world. Give me the boy who cannot keep still; that upsets chairs and puts every 164 The Organization of Society. thing into confusion in the nursery; that at school can scarcely keep his elbows out of the sides of his associates; and I will show you one who has in him the elements of great good, if they can be properly employed. No matter how much steam there is in the locomotive, if it is kept on the track, and has a heavy enough load to draw; but let it run alone, with a full head of steam, and it will leap the track, and the ruin will be terrible. So these men in our congregations who have so much surplus energy will do mischief, unless they are loaded down with work. The successful minister must also study the organization of society. In rural districts there is comparatively little organization. The freedom and independence of an agricultural life produce a spirit of individuality. Each family relies upon its own efforts, draws from the earth its own support, and asks but few favours from its neighbours. But as soon as manufactories are established, as soon as towns and cities appear, organized society largely controls individual effort. The employer exercises a constant influence over the employé. The tendency of civilization is to increase associated, and to diminish individual, power. The few control; the many obey. Such a state of society exists in Oriental lands, that are densely populated. Such was society formerly in Southern Europe. The increase of civilization always tends in this direction, and the counterbalancing power is only to be found in the education of the masses, and in their clear conception of their just rights. Vast corporations are established, where men are bound together, not only by ties of friendship, but by ties of employment and interest. These form a kind of private society, approaching a caste. Thus a kindred spirit exists among railroad men. Their interests are mutual, and almost identical; and large brotherhoods are formed, as among the engineers, where the right of the individual, as to work or wages, is limited by the will of the society. Similar associations spring up among every kind of mechanics. Latterly, the men who live by days' work, in the humblest and most laborious occupations, are also organized. The pulpit deals with individuals, not with organizations. Its How Society is to be reached. 165 truth comes to every individual heart, and every man acts on his personal responsibility before God; yet the individual thus addressed is influenced by these associations which either help or retard the power of the pulpit. If the tone and influence of the society is hostile to the Church, the individual is either influenced to absent himself from the services, or to receive them with a prejudiced heart; but if the feeling of the association is friendly to the Church, then the individual is influenced to attend the services, and to look with favour upon its ministrations. In this view an almost boundless field opens before the preacher. He must study the various interests and ramnifications of these organizations, and must so manage his own conduct and so plan his services as to be most effective in gaining control over the different parts of the community. Societies are like a stick of timber, which must be split according to the grain; and a skilful woodsman will part his timbers always according to their structure. Who does not know the power of the president of a company over all its subordinates? I have not unfrequently entered a bank and asked some question of a clerk, without being able to obtain scarcely a civil answer; but if I went to the president, and he received me kindly and cordially, the next time I entered, every employé was not only civil, but polite. If I enter a factory, and the owner shows me with satisfaction over the building, the foreman of every department is ready to give me all sorts of information; but if I enter without such an introduction, I enter under a great disadvantage. I ask your attention to these particular features because at this time the masses of the people, as never before, are arranged in various organizations. They meet in their separate clubrooms. They are addressed by distinguished men; and too frequently an effort is made to array them against the Church and against the ministry, that they may be the better prepared for acts of lawlessness and violence. The Communism and Nationalism of Europe are right against the churches, because there the Church is identified with the civil power. They regard the Church and the State as one, and the ministers as inseparably joined with those whom they regard as their oppressors. This feeling is one of the evils which arise from the union of Church and State; and I am not sure that God may not use it to destroy that unhallowed union. In this country there is no such union, and there ought not to be any such association of thought or feeling; yet the foreigners-and most of our Socialists are foreigners-bring these feelings with them. It must also be considered that, as the minister ever inculcates the principles of peace and submission to lawful authority, those who contemplate acts of violence or attacks upon the order of society desire to destroy the influence of the minister over society. Hence, the atheistic orator on the platform and the proposer of violence on the sand-lots of San Francisco work in perfect harmony. Their aim is one and the same, and that is to destroy the strongest influence which supports peace and order in the State and among individuals. Christian people must seek some method by which they can better reach the hearts of this people, and antagonize the machinations of those who are plotting evil. The limits of the lecture will not permit me to discuss the methods by which these organizations or classes of society may be reached. Their structure must be studied; their influential men considered; the influence of society as tending to counterpoise such men must also be considered; and then the minister will be prepared to throw his influence in such a form as to give him power over the hearts of the masses. I must allude to what I think is the greatest barrier. Thus far in this country the difficulty does not consist in great opposition to the churches, but in the growing negligence of its ministrations. These associations, controlling work and wages, become of absorbing interest to the workman. They contribute to the general funds a large part of their surplus earnings, and attend so many private meetings that they have little time to give to the churches, and are thus almost unconsciously led further and further away, and are in danger of being influenced by infidel or communistic ideas. I know no remedy but in the power of the Gospel, most earnestly preached, and with such power as shall tend to draw the people |