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by many now-a-days. In a few parishes, I believe, the minister still goes his regular rounds in a recognized order, calls on the families expecting him, converses for a while with their various members, as to him seems best, and then reads a portion of Scripture and prays with and for them all.

I have heard of one well-known minister in one of our large northern cities who is always assisted by a deacon who acts as his herald. The people are informed on the Sunday, from the pulpit, that the minister will visit in a certain district during the ensuing week. When the time comes, a deacon goes before, along the planned route, and informs a family that the minister will shortly be with them. When the minister comes he finds the family assembled ready to meet and greet him without losing any time. He asks them of their welfare, answers their questions, then reads the Scriptures and prays. Meanwhile the deacon forerunner has gone on and prepared the next household, to which shortly the minister comes, and so on throughout the whole of the district.

What would our deacons say to this? How would our churches like it? We are afraid they are very few that would not soon cease to be charmed and cry "Hold! enough!" The theory of a pastor's frequent intercourse with his people is very beautiful; but we fear that if the pastor were to resolve to make that intercourse really beneficial, ten out of every dozen of those who now cry out for pastoral visitation would cry out against it, and vote it a serious inconvenience if not a great nuisance.

But after all, perhaps, the chief difficulty in carrying out any really beneficial system of visitation is the fact that the earnest minister's time is too much taxed even without it. There have been such men as

idle shepherds," and we have known a few who seemed to have no proper conception of the value of time. They could lounge or loiter away an afternoon or an evening almost any time if tempted only slightly so to do. But if such men exist now, we fancy their number must be growing "small by degrees and beautifully less." Of late years, the busiest men we have known, and the men who have had the fewest leisure hours, have been ministers. We do not complain of this. We know that the minister who sets little value on time is not likely to impress men deeply with thoughts of eternity. But now-a-days, if a minister have not a mind for hard work and for redeeming the time, he is most inevitably punished with failure in some of its forms.

The preparation for the pulpit now-a-days, if a man would meet the requirements of an average Nonconformist congregation, week by week, for a series of years, cannot be made in a slovenly manner in a corner of Saturday. If the subject of the discourse is to be well grasped and presented to the people with simplicity and force, ordinary men will require two or three days out of each week in preparing their sermons, and the whole of each day in the week could be industriously and profitably employed in this work alone. This is the best spent part of our time; and in the future more of our time will have to be thus spent if our present number of preaching services is kept up. We have heard

men sometimes unfavourably comparing the amount of visiting done by their own Nonconformist minister with that done by certain clergymen of the Established Church. Nothing could hardly be more unfair. The clergyman goes to the homes of the people with an authority which we

do not possess, and which we would not have-the authority of the State. He claims the legal right to teach the people, and demands their children for his school. The fact of his ignoring all other Christian labourers but those of his own sect lays him under an obligation to minister to all the people, which we do not feel, and the still further fact that he is paid to minister to all within a certain geographical boundary should compel him to visit all. But apart from these considerations there is the undeniable fact that his Sunday duties are light compared with ours, and require but little preparation. We are preachers. He is a performer-I am speaking, of course, of a certain type of clergy, and not of all of them-It takes but little time to prepare for dressing oneself in certain robes, and going through various genuflections. The sermon is a comparatively unimportant part of the service, and if we may judge from occasional articles in the Saturday Review, the writers of which I suppose are too gentlemanly to know anything of the Nonconformist pulpit, is by many Churchmen voted an intolerable nuisance, or at best a necessary evil. The shorter it is the better, as a rule; ten minutes being sometimes quite enough to be occupied in its delivery. Such sermons may well leave their authors plenty of leisure to visit, even if they do compose them themselves. But sometimes-we hope not so commonly as certain advertisements and other revelations in the newspapers would seem to indicate the sermon has been bought, with certain others, at the rate of 2/6, or even as low as 1/6 a piece. I know there are many excellent clergymen to whom this would not apply ; but it will apply to those with whom, as visitors, Nonconformist ministers are unfavourably compared; and we repeat that such a comparison is manifestly unfair. But there is much more than the Sunday services to prepare for. Most ministers preach a sermon, or something equivalent to it, once during each week. Then many have Bible classes; and often will the preparation of a good Bible class lesson cost a whole day's hard work. All this is regular work, to which must be added preparation now and then for sermons, addresses, and lectures, on extraordinary

occasions.

Again, let it be remembered that some ministers are called upon to do much visiting among the sick and poor outside their own and any other congregations. It would greatly surprise some people to know how large an amount of this work is done by their ministers, while he is supposed not to visit at all. People apply to him from all quarters; and he cannot refuse to go and read, pray, and sympathize with those for whom his services are solicited. And where is the church that for the sake of its own pleasure would wish its minister to decline such Christ-like work, even though the good thus done can never be tabulated in the rolls of church statistics? But this work is a serious task on a minister's time.

Further, let it be remembered that a minister's education is not finished when he leaves college. It has only just begun. If he is to do good service for the Lord and the Church for a series of years he must "give attention to reading." He must dig deep into the mines of truth if he is to spread fresh treasures from that mine before his people from week to week. For a year or two he may find enough for his purpose near the surface, but those riches will soon be exhausted. If a man be worthy to be a spiritual teacher and guide he must be a student. He

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need not be a scientist; but in this age he must know what the scientist says, not necessarily to reply, or even to allude to any mistakes he may have fallen into, but in order that he may understand the true wants of his people, and that the gospel may not, through his handling of of it, seem a thing out of date, and out of accord with the wants of men.

But what the church wants to day more than anything else is a deeper knowledge and a stronger grasp of the Bible as a whole. This cannot be had without much study, which must not be neglected even for pastoral visitation.

But, for a time, leaving out of sight the minister's studies, which perhaps might be done during the earlier parts of the day, let us ask what hours are suitable for the bulk of this visiting.

In these northern districts, the larger part, perhaps nine-tenths of our people are during the day at work in the mills and elsewhere, and are only at home in the evenings. Now it is known to most of us, and I believe it can be proved by the calendar, that when Sunday is taken off there are only six evenings in each week. Of these, one is always devoted to a prayer meeting or preaching service, and in most churches, perhaps, two evenings are thus set apart. Of the other four, one is a universal washing night, on which the minister's presence is by no means desirable. On another night (generally Friday) he will find the people, in nearly every house, busy cleaning, and looking not a little embarrassed as he steps inside. Then, if he ventures to call on his people on Saturday night-a very unsuitable evening on several accounts -he is likely enough to find that they have gone out marketing or visiting. There remains then but one night on which the pastor can reckon with any probability on seeing his people at their homes, and even on this night he will not unfrequently walk a considerable distance, and give up an hour or two, to find the door locked and his journey a useless one. Of all the means of doing good open to us there is surely none that involves such a fearful waste of precious time as pastoral visitation.

And while the people have their evenings thus occupied, the minister often finds all his taken up with public engagements. Besides his weekly service, and perhaps prayer meeting, there are the Bible class, Band of Hope, Temperance, and Mutual Improvement Societies. He must now and then go and help a neighbouring church at a tea or missionary meeting. The Bible, Liberation, and other Societies need him on their platforms; as a leading citizen and moulder of the opinions of men, it will now and then be his duty to attend and speak at political meetings; and here and there it becomes quite a manifest duty to serve his fellow-townspeople on the School Board. Where is he to find evenings for half these things and also to go visiting his people?

No minister ever attempted to regularly and systematically visit his people, whether well or ill, without neglecting some things which may at least be regarded as competing with visitation for the most important place, and which many regard as of far greater importance than the visiting. And surely the visitation of the members of a large church by one man, which means a peep inside the house once or twice a year at most, and a hurried "how do y' do?" can at best yield but small profit! A minister who professes to visit, and has the reputation of a visiting pastor, told the writer of this paper that he only aimed at

visiting each member once in the year, and then to only spend a few minutes in the house. This is surely the way to spend the maximum amount of time and labour for the minimum of result.

It may be said that visiting gives the minister a knowledge of his flock. What can such visits teach him? Moreover, is it not a fact that some of the most successful preachers-whose sermons are full of knowledge of men-do not visit all? A man who is capable of studying character will not be dependent on such means of acquiring knowledge of his hearers; and a man who is not capable of this, might visit for ever and learn but little.

"What then," it may be asked, "would you substitute for this system?" Have you any suggestion to make as to how the ends thus commonly sought may be better attained? We think we know a more excellent way:"

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1. In the first place, we would say, let the minister visit well the sick among his flock. Let him be informed when any one is sick, and let him go to him at once, carrying such sympathy and help as he may. If he knowingly neglect the sick, he is sick himself. And under this head of the sick we place not only those who are afflicted with bodily ailments, but those also who are spiritually sick, the symptoms of whose sickness are vacant places on the Lord's-day and at the Lord'stable, vacant looks when the pews are filled up, and unsuitable company or questionable conduct away from the sanctuary. Let the minister visit these, and they will find him work enough, and in a good-sized church more than enough, so that it will be imperative that the deacons help in the work. But this work done well, he can afford to leave strong, healthy, Christians to look after themselves. And yet he need not quite do this.

2. Let there be sectional tea-meetings held periodically, by means of which all the members, according to their districts, or some other classification, may meet and take tea with the minister, and converse freely with him. And in order that there may not be the slightest obstacle in the way of the poorest members attending these meetings, let the tea be free to all who come, and let the expense be borne by the church. It will be found to pay.

3. And yet again, let there be set times, and an appointed place, when and where any one may have free access to the minister. Let it be made known and become an understood thing that he attends at a certain hour regularly to be consulted by any one who needs his services, his advice, or his sympathies.

4. And then, if any one specially wants a visit from the pastor at his house, let him invite his minister, fix a time for the visit, and promise to be in when he comes.

In these ways, surely, all reasonable wants may be met without that fearful waste of time which the system called pastoral visitation necessitates.

In conclusion, we would remind ourselves and others that pastoral visitation is only a means to an end. That end, which is the nourishing and strengthening of the life of the church, must be attained. If there are yet places where the difficulties in the way of pastoral visitation are

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not felt as they are in others, and that, therefore, is yet the best means of attaining the desired end, so be it. Only, let it not be supposed that the custom still found possible and useful in these places must of necessity be adopted in others when it is out of joint with the times and neither practicable nor desirable. Let us not make a fetish of the means, however good, lest we be like those who sacrificed to their own net, and burned incense to their own drag; but let us prayerfully keep our eye on the great end to be acomplished, and we shall not find much difficulty in placing and holding our hand on the best means for its accomplishment.

A Ministerial Debate on Pastoral_Visitation.*

WHILST the preceding paper was engaging the attention of a Conference of Ministers and Representatives in the North, the same subject was down for debate in a company of ministers, numbering about seventy, in the South. The "echoes" of that debate will, if they can be faithfully given, bring "all sides" of this practical and momentous theme into view. I say "all sides;" though some, perhaps, would maintain that the "last word will not be said till the church members have met in session, and given their deliverance upon a question which so nearly concerns them. But I am prepared to say that not even in its best deliberative mood would such a session be likely to make any contribution to the debate which was not really included in the deliverances of one or other of the members of that ministerial assembly. However, you shall listen and judge for yourselves. The first speaker, whom we will distinguish by the first letter of the alphabet, spoke in the following strain:

A. From all I hear and see I fear there is a strong tendency in these much-doing and much-talking times to depreciate that part of the Christian minister's work known as "pastoral visitation." We have such limitless faith in talk, that we are in much danger of thinking that it is to do everything, and that the Christian pastor is no more than an indifferently paid Sunday lecturer. To me it seems that the New Testament minister is first and mainly a pastor. That word describes his supreme and all-inclusive function. He teaches; but it is that he may feed the sheep. He leads; but it is to good pasture. He consoles and heals; but it is because the flock is troubled and diseased. His relation to his hearers is not that of a professor to his students, or a lecturer to his audience, but that of a shepherd to his flock. He is appointed to watch for souls.

But what is the pastoral work? Not of necessity a systematic visitation of all the members of the church, once a month, or once a year. Not even a set of spasmodic and hurried calls mis-labelled "pastoral visits," and galloped through in a perfunctory and mechanical manner; but it is the living, loving, and helpful personal contact of the minister of the word with his people. That is the end to be secured. The ways to the end may lie along a hundred different lines. But, somehow

This report does not profess to give the speeches verbatim et literatim; nor even to allocate to each speaker all that he said, and only what he said, but to give in order the principal ideas that were expressed in the course of the debate.