statement; while the treatment of the whole subject culminates in the clear and victorious identification of the teaching and life of Christ with the idea of immortality, not as a mere continuance of individual existence, but as the present and only life, the knowledge of and fellowship with the only true God. – Summing up the ideas of life held by the Hebrew prophets, Dr. Gordon introduces this striking illustration : "As one standing among the Scotch hills in the early autumn, at sundown, and when the heather is in full bloom, perceives first the glory of the whole as it fashions itself into one seamless and superb robe, flung like royal purple round the shoulders of the kingly elevation, then observes the rich clusters and groups of beauty in the separate bushes, and, last of all, notices the single flower, the individual The A CHRISTMAS SONG. BY R. WALTER WRIGHT, B. D. I KNOW not the day that the Lord came down, But I know in my heart that the Lord came down. I saw not the star gleaming far in the west, Till they found in His worship their soul's truest rest, But I hear in my heart their sweet Gloria now. But I feel in my heart that the Christ findeth room. I ask not how rulers sore troubled may be, How the world's blinded eyes nought of beauty may see, Current Readings. METHODISM. THIS is not bigotry; it is not offensive sectarianism; it is "an organized Christian fraternity," seeking alliance offensive and defensive with all forces of righteousness in array against all forces of sin. Acquaint yourself with the history, polity and doctrines of our own denomination. Make much of the peculiarities of our system. Our victories have been won by minding, and not by mending, our Rules. To enforce, and not to improve, our Discipline is our greatest need, and would be fruitful of the best results within the range of possible realization. Be loyal Methodists. Guard the old-time sacred fires which, from the first, burned and glowed on our altars. Keep aflame in your own hearts the warm love and the consuming zeal which marked your godly fathers and saintly mothers, drew down upon them persecutions, and branded them "enthusiasts" and "fanatics." As a church we need frequently to replenish ourselves with the oil and the fuel of divine grace, lest the light that is in us grow dim, and the fire enkindled by the Holy Ghost among us die down in smouldering embers, and we become cheerless and chill. We must keep in "the old paths, where is the good way," into which we were called at the beginning, and in which our forefathers have walked triumphantly for a hundred and a half-hundred years. Ye in prayer and testimony were like AN INSPIRATIONAL CHURCH. WE have heard a great deal about the Institutional Church. It has kindergartens, and working-girls' clubs, and young men's clubs, and boys' clubs, and parlours, and a gymnasium, and a reading-room, and perhaps a bowling-alley and a billiard-room, to say nothing of a kitchen and a monthly party called a "sociable." It has something on hand every night in the week. It educates, it entertains, it instructs. We believe in the Institutional Church. But there is some danger lest the Institutional Church shall fail to be We have been a radical Church also an Inspirational Church; in against sin and in favour of holiness; which case it ceases to a be a Church we have been a witnessing Church, at all. A Church is not an Academy, making known the power of grace it is not a Club, and it certainly is unto full salvation; we have been not a Variety Show. Its object is a revival Church; Pentecosts have not to teach, nor to entertain. Its crowned our altars and glorified chief object is to inspire. There our sanctuaries; we have been a are clubs and societies and orders to triumphant Church, filled with the entertain; there are schools to teach; joy of Christian experience; our there is only the Church to inspire. fathers used to shout, like con- Other institutions minister to the querors; they were mighty men of God, whose tread was like the tramp of thunder, and whose voices body, to the social instincts, to the mind; the Church alone ministers to the spirit. If the Church, in its eagerness to do other ministry, forgets to minister to the spirit; if, in its ambition to afford innocent entertainment, healthful society, beneficent instruction, it forgets to afford inspiration, it forgets its real function and ceases to be a Church at all. The more institutional it is, the more inspirational it needs to be. The greater and more complex its body, the greater the need of a pulsating life. Nothing can serve as a substitute for spiritual enthusiasm in the pulpit, in the devotional meeting, in the Sunday-school. If the heart ceases to beat, the corpse may still be beautiful, but it is a corpse; and the heart of the Church is its devotional spirit-its faith in God, its hope in God, its love for God. The more of the so-called secular work the Church is doing, the greater need of spiritual preaching in the pulpit, fulness of life in the prayer-meetings, and the spirit of prayer in the homes. It is not ecclesiasticism and philanthropy that God has joined together, but piety and philanthropy; let not man put them asunder. We plead with the preacher, the pastor, the layman, for an access of spiritual force in the heart of the Church-always needed, but never more needed than to-day. -The Outlook. QUESTION OF the Hour. THE great question of the hour is, How can the immediate proclamation of the Gospel to every creature be made a fact? Other preliminary questions have been answered by the very movements of God's providence and the developments of human history. We need no longer ask how we shall get access to the nations, for the barriers are down; nor need we inquire how we are to reach these uttermost parts of the earth, for the steamship and the steam-car will bear us to the limits of the globe in less than two months; nor need we search the implements and instruments for the work of evangelization, for the printing press offers to make the eye the handmaid of the ear in the rapid dispersion of the Gospel message, and science offers to be the powerful ally of faith in the conquest of the world for Christ. Nor is it a question of adequate force for the field, for the evangelical churches would furnish four hundred thousand missionaries, or one for every two thousand of the unevangelized population, and yet have one hundred at home to support every foreign missionary. It is not even a question of adequate means to support a great army of missionaries, for the aggregate wealth which is at the disposal of disciples is so great that one-tenth of it would amply suffice to sustain half a million workmen in the foreign field and supply all the needed adjuncts and accessories for mission work. What, then, is the hindrance? We answer unhesitatingly that the Church of God is trifling with human souls and with her own duty. The time has come for plainness of speech. It is not time to put a veil over the face, or a gag in the mouth. Christian missions have never yet been taken up by the Reformed Church as an enterprise to be dared and done for God, like any other enterprise, with promptness and resoluteness. CYCLES have rolled since the first Christmas day, When, from His Father's house the Son came down To share our sorrows, take our sins away, And make Himself, for us, of no renown. AFTER TWENTY YEARS. IT is with very profound feelings that we write the last words of this fortieth volume of THE METHODIST MAGAZINE. Gratitude to God is predominant for prolonged life and strength after twenty years of exacting and arduous editorial work, --for much of that time supervising nine distinct periodicals. With this is blended gratitude to our indulgent and sympathetic readers for many words of cheer and encouragement; to the able contributors to this MAGAZINE; and especially to the ministers of the Methodist Church, whose kind co-operation has so greatly conduced to its success. We stand, we believe, on the threshold of a new epoch, of larger opportunities and of greater usefulness. Compared with the humble beginnings of this MAGAZINE a score of years ago, the literary and artistic excellence which it has reached marks a very conspicuous advance in the publishing capabilities of our connexional Book-room and in the efficient aid given by Canadian writers. That the future may mark a still more conspicuous advance than the past will require the hearty help of every reader, and especially of all the ministers who are authorized agents of this MAGAZINE. We need to double our subscription list in order to carry out the improvements which we have in view. We request each present subscriber to promptly remit his own subscription and to endeavour to send at least one other subscription. As an inducement thereto the Publisher offers, as a special premium, a copy of Withrow's Canadian in Europe," being sketches of travel in France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Holland and Belgium, Great Britain and Ireland. This is a well-printed, well-bound volume of 376 pages, with 112 engravings. Its selling-price is $1.25. This book will be sent free and postpaid to any and every subscriber, new or old, remitting his own together with another subscription at the regular price of two dollars each. It is felt that the MAGAZINE, especially in its new and enlarged form, and with the splendid announcement for 1895, will be ample value for the modest subscription price; but this special offer is made to more widely introduce it, in the confident expectation that where it once becomes known it will be pre-eminently retained. Our main dependence, however, for the extension of its sphere of influence is the kind co-operation of the Methodist ministers throughout the Dominion. It is they who have made it so successful in the past, and it is upon them that we are dependent and hopeful for its greater success in the future. IN HIM IS LIFE. FROM out the silence and the shadows dim, One great truth bringeth life and peace :-in Him What more, what better, hath the earth to give? Who freely of the life in Him partake Choose gladly ways in which His worn feet trod, Toil in unfailing gladness for His sake Sad Soul, He waits thee in this Book of God. -Mary Lowe Dickinson. GENERAL CONFERENCE REPORTS.* BY THE REV. E. BARRASS, D.D. The Educational Society. The income has increased during the quadrennium over the former, but since 1892 there has been a declension. During the current quadrennium, with an educational collection being taken in all the Sunday-schools, as recommended, as well as in the churches, there should certainly be an advance all along the line. Six colleges are aided by this collection, viz., Wesley College, Newfoundland, which receives the total of what is raised within the bounds of that Conference; Mount Allison gets fourteen per cent.; Montreal Wesleyan Theological College eighteen per cent; Wesley College, Winnipeg, eighteen per eighteen per cent., with all that the Manitoba Conference raises for the Society; Victoria College fifty per cent., out of which $500 per annum has been paid to Albert College, Belleville, during the past quadrennium. Since the General Conference of 1890, Victoria College has been erected in Toronto at an expense, including furnishing, etc., of $222,000, every cent of which has been paid, and the magnificent building is free from debt. There is an endowment of $289,353.44, which is much below the requirements of the institution. It is gratifying to know that in the University Federation movement, there are 5,109 names recorded with subscriptions amounting to $512,360.05, of which $404,110.61 has been paid; of this number 633 ministers subscribed $33,703 80, of which $25,334,64 has been paid. As ministerial students are greatly aided by means of loans from the Educational Society, the amount from collections should be greatly increased, as the aid rendered to those worthy young men is not equal to the requirements. During the past year 167 students were in attendance, besides Divinity students not taking Arts work. This is the largest number in the history of the institution. St. John's College, Newfoundland. The great fire of 1892, which destroyed half the city, consumed the Methodist College. Temporary premises were secured, until the new structure could be erected. By the time this article is printed, the new building, which cost more than $60,000, will have been opened. The aggregate attendance for the quadrennium was 344. The friends in Newfoundland are among the most generous in Methodism considering their means. Their brethren in the West gave them practical sympathy during the period of their great fire, by sending to their relief the sum of $10,000. In addition to rebuilding the college the noble people are taking steps towards founding a home for the orphan children of ministers. *Not being able to write fully concerning these in our last issue, we have determined to write a special article concerning them. |