especially attractive to the multitude gathered at our mission stations. All of us have felt what Augustine experienced in listening to the commingled voices of the great congregation lifted up in praise, though we might not be able to express it as he has done. "How freely," says he, "was I made to weep by those hymns and spiritual songs, how transported by the voice of the congregation sweetly singing. The melody of their voices filled my ear, and divine truth was poured into my heart. Then burned the flame of devotion in my soul and gushing tears flowed from my eyes, as well they might." Such music goes down into the memory as dew sinks into the heart of a rose, giving refreshment and gaining sweetness.

The hymns which never wear out, are those which are rich in evangelical truth, expressed in the language of true poetry, and yet for the masses hymns made up chiefly of chorus are often the most effective. There may be little connection between the hymn and the chorus, so far as the thought is concerned. It does not matter. The chorus may contain but a single truth. It is all the better for that. That one idea is worked into, sung into the mind and heart by repetition, and thus the chorus is more effective than the hymn. Take this for example:

"There is life for a look at the Crucified One,
There is life at this moment for thee."

Or this:

"O, depth of mercy! can it be

That gate was left ajar for me ?"

All through the week such a refrain runs through the memory; to the man on the scaffold of the house he is building, to the driver of the tram-car, to the woman bending over her needle, the words return:

"O, depth of mercy! can it be

That gate was left ajar for me?"

Hymns of worship are to be preferred to didactic hymns, and yet one expression concerning the worth of the soul or the preciousness of the Saviour may awaken conviction or the hope of pardon and lead that soul to Christ.

A solo is out of place in congregational worship, and yet in this very city I saw hundreds in tears as Mr. Sankey sang one years ago in the Wanamaker building.

Then, how with what care the preacher to such an audience must select his themes. How natural must be his manner, how patient, earnest, tender, must be his spirit, and if he hopes

to secure attention at all, how simple must be his style, how full of illustrations drawn from common life, that his sermons may be intelligible from end to end. A minister once rose to address one of the most ignorant audiences ever gathered. His first sentence was this: "As in physics so in ethics like causes produce like effects!" Of course his hearers did not know even in what language he was speaking. How different would have been the introduction had Whitefield been the preacher, or Archibald Alexander, or Spurgeon, or any of God's chosen sons anointed to preach the Gospel to the poor and to move the multitude as the trees of the wood shaken by mighty winds.

The evangelization of our cities-the conquest of the whole country for Christ-in such a work and for such a consummation our two Assemblies join hands and hearts to-day. Our two Assemblies:

"They are not one, and yet not two,

But look alike, as sisters do."

They have one Father, one glad mission, one great hope. Together they may join in Milton's adoring invocation :

"Come out of Thy royal chambers, O Prince of all the kings of the earth. Put on the visible robes of Thy majesty; take up that unlimited sceptre which Thy Almighty Father hath bequeathed to Thee; for now the voice of Thy bride calls Thee, and all creatures sigh to be renewed."

PREACHING TO THE MASSES.

BY REV. SAMUEL J. NICCOLLS, D.D.,

St. Louis, Mo.

THE

HERE are two facts which give special importance to the consideration of this theme. The first is, that preaching is the chief instrumentality chosen by Christ for the extension of His kingdom. The great commission given to the Church, under circumstances of peculiar solemnity by her Redeemer and Lord, reads, "Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature." God has established the ministry of the Word, and it has pleased Him, by the foolishness of preaching, to save them that believe. So far as the edification of believers and the extension of the Church are concerned, it outranks in importance the holy sacraments. Paul evidently so rated it, for he says, in writing to the Corinthians, "I thank God that I baptized none of you, save Crispus and Gaius; for Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the Gospel." Whenever the Church begins to attribute greater importance to the administration of the sacraments, or to ritual of any kind, than it does to the preaching of the Gospel, it is manifestly departing from the apostolic rule. The Gospel may, indeed, be helpfully presented to the eye. Association quickens memory, and rites and ceremonies are suggestive; but they are all inferior in power to the voice of the living, redeemed soul. Speech is the chief human agency chosen by God for the proclamation of His grace. Robes and ritual, lights and crucifixes, processions and the laying on of hands, water, bread and wine are more than useless if they make the Church forget or underrate the great command, Go preach.

2. The second fact giving importance to my theme is, that the masses, the great multitudes, not only in heathen countries, but also in our own land, are not directly under the influence of Gospel preaching. We, as believers, have a right to be optimistic in our faith, not only because of the sure promises of our Lord with reference to the success of the Gospel, but also in view of what has already been accomplished. But it would be an act of folly to persuade ourselves that the

buildings in which the Gospel is statedly preached, hold, or are frequented by the masses of the people. We cannot shut our eyes to the fact that the non-church-goers are still largely in the majority. Reliable statistics show that in the country onehalf of the population does not attend church, and in the larger towns and cities the disproportion is even greater. We well know that the church-goers are in the minority, and also that the great body of those who compose what are called the working-classes, are absent from the house of God; and this class is much the larger one in any community.

Here, then, are two facts: Preaching is the great and divinely-appointed instrumentality for the evangelization of the world, and around us are the masses who will not come to hear it. The church bells ring, the doors are opened, the invitation has been sent abroad through the daily press; but, for every one that enters the church door, two pass by. What is to be done? The shortest reply is, "Go preach." Perhaps it is the best. Certainly, it is the divine and imperative command. But still the question reverts, "How is it to be done?" This is the great practical question for us as a Church and as ministers of the Word. Perhaps we fail because we are the slaves of system. We have been brought up to do our work in certain channels and insist on keeping within them. In the beautiful lakes of the Adirondacks there are two methods of fishing. One is called "buoy fishing." The plan is to select what is called a good location and anchor there a float, or buoy. Then choice bait is thrown out around the buoy, the object being to attract the fish and get them in the habit of coming to that locality to feed. Once, or perhaps twice, a day, at a stated time, the fisher comes in his boat, casts down his line and hook and waits for a bite. Sometimes, after patient waiting, he catches a few fish, and sometimes none. But each day through the season, morning and evening, he comes there, expecting the fish to come also. The other method is to take rod and line and bait and go out to find the fish in the pools or spring-holes, or feeding grounds, where they are wont to congregate, and then, with caution and skill, the fisherman makes his cast and with excitement and joy gathers in his spoil, if so be he is successful in finding it. The first of these is the method which we, as fishers of men, have generally adopted. We select a good location and "bait it well;" that is to say, we make it as attractive as possible, so as to induce men to come there. Then we do our preaching, and by patience and watchfulness manage to secure some for Christ. In this method we expect men to find us. The other plan would lead us to go out and find men. It would send us into their homes and places of business in order to fish for souls. It

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would set us to preaching in the streets, in halls and theatresin short, wherever we could find men. The genius of one method cries, "Come to church and hear the Gospel;" the genius of the other says, "Go out and preach the Gospel to every creature and compel them to come in." Which is the better method? An Adirondack fisherman would say, "We catch heavier weight and larger fish at the buoy, but more fish by going where they naturally congregate. We use both methods." But souls do not count by weight or size. The soul of a tramp" is just as precious in God's sight as the soul of a millionaire. The divine purpose in the preaching of the cross is not to secure what society calls its best, but to bring to every creature, high and low, rich and poor, the offer of eternal life through Jesus Christ. It is to tell the poor, the lost, the men whom the world despises, how great they may become through our Lord Jesus Christ. But, unhappily, we do not always "fish" in accordance with this principle. We, as fishers of men, like to catch " big fish." There is more joy in the ordinary church over one millionaire converted than over ninety-and-nine persons who are of no special account in the world. One thing is certain, there must be a higher appreciation of the value of the individuals who compose the masses before there can be the highest degree of success in preaching to them. I do not wish to be understood as decrying or undervaluing the present method of preaching in buildings set apart for religious uses. I can imagine no greater calamity to a community than the closing of these places for public and stated worship. A deserted, unoccupied church building has something indescribably pathetic about it. It seems to stand like a weeping Jeremiah, uttering day and night its lamentations over the unbelief, indifference and carnality of the people who live around it. The material building is itself a preacher to the masses, whether men will hear or forbear to hear its constant though silent testimony. Instead of fewer church buildings we should have more, until they stand in every quarter, the visible monuments of the claims of God upon the worship of men, and offering to all free instruction in the Gospel of Christ.

But have we not, as teachers and preachers of the Gospel, confined our efforts too exclusively to one method? May we not in some cases have vexed our souls too long over a little company of self-indulgent saints whose real, though not openly avowed desire, was to build up a religious society of a certain social rank, instead of seeking men who were as ignorant of the Gospel as the Athenians to whom Paul preached on Mars' Hill. The anxiety of church officers as to what would become of their little local church if it should be closed occa