SIGNALS FOR PREACHERS.

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"To the earnest thinkers who formed the majority of his afternoon congregation,' writes his friend, Mr. B. Shaw, 'the careful study of a definite but not fragmentary portion of the New Testament was certainly an interesting thing. Escaping from the ordinary routine of the pulpit, it invited them to verify what was said by the conscientious study of the chapter for themselves. But this was not all. There was a freshness and candour about the whole that was very attractive. Men went to him as to one who could render a reason.'

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"There was a large and interested audience,' writes Bishop Ellicot, many with Greek Testaments, and all evidently gathered together to be instructed. The lecture was a model of pulpit exegesis. . The mastery over the materials was complete, and the power of placing the mind of the sacred writer before the audience such as I believe has never since been equalled.""

The times are favourable to expository discourse. The spirit of inquiry is abroad. The people want to know the meaning of Scripture, and are willing to listen patiently as its meaning is unfolded. They seek knowledge at its original sources. As wise "stewards," whose duty it is to bring forth "things new and old," we should meet this demand until it is fully satisfied.

R. W. DALE ON SELF-DISPLAY.

"Ornamantal speaking-speaking, which is nothing more than an exhibition of intellectual strength, dexterity, and grace-may be well enough on ceremonial occasions, at public dinners and the like; but when the minds of men are occupied with grave questions, speaking of that sort is hissed and howled down by a rough popular meeting, and is got rid of in an equally summary manner by the most cultivated and dignified assembly."

HARD AND WISE WORK NECESSARY.

The necessity for thorough and original research in this regard is ably illustrated in Mr. Dale's Lectures by examples. Ministers are advised to read thoughtfully great sermons and also great speeches.

"The artist is not satisfied with reading scientific treatises on Perspective and lectures on Painting, nor even with watching sea and land, mountain and glen, forest and river, under their changing aspects, from the cold grey light of the early morning to the fiery splendours of sunset; he spends months and years, if he is able, in the galleries of Florence and Rome, of France, Germany, and England, trying to learn how the immortal masters of form and colour worked the miracles in the presence of which generation after generation has stood with wonder and delight. You will derive great advantage from following their example.'

GENERAL BAPTIST ALMANACK FOR 1878.

THE Literary World says, "The General Baptist Almanack, edited by John Clifford (51, Old Bailey), is a production worthy of any denomination, considering that it is sold for One Penny. The General Baptists have much to thank Mr. Clifford for."

BY A "LIVE" DEACON.

RENAN says, "the diaconate was the first of the sacred orders; that the care of the poor was thus, for the first time, raised to the dignity of a religious service; and that presently women were associated in this employment. Thus the two sexes contributed their different qualities and combined their efforts for the solace of human misery. Thus, too, woman was at once elevated to a position of new honour; and such women were amongst the best missionaries of the new religion."

It is recorded of Christ that certain women ministered to him of their substance, and gave him the kindly attentions of mothers to a son, and sisters to a brother. The Son of God delighted to live on their gifts of love, and to receive the proofs of their regard.

Paul gives high and special mention to Phebe and Priscilla, Mary and Persis, Tryphena and Tryphosa. Phebe is eulogised as a succourer of many, and of the apostle himself; and is actually described as a deaconess, though this may not have meant more than chapel-keeper; and yet it may have meant a service as distinguished as that officially rendered by a Stephen or a Philip. The beloved Persis "laboured much in the Lord;" Mary was also an earnest and devoted labourer, whose faith was spoken of throughout the world; in short, the church at Rome owed not a little of its glorious renown to its women.

That women occupied a place of commanding influence in the churches of the first days is patent to all, and I am told that Pliny in his Epistle to Trajan refers with special distinctness to an order of women bearing the title of deaconesses, and exercising in relation to their own sex, functions which were analogous to those of the deacons.

But as a "live". deacon, I am much more interested in the feminine force within the living church of this day, and in its complete and perfect utilisation. Woman has a stupendous power-and no where more than amongst AngloSaxons, and at no time more than just now. Her power, too, is uniquely adapted to the particular work the church of Christ has to do. Her intense sympathies, her power of entering into details, of dealing with individual necessities, her quick intuitions, her tact and good sense as a manager, her tenderness and winsomeness as an advocate, her immense heart-power as a teacher; these and other qualities make it little short of a calamity that Christian churches do not more completely use and absorb her various and manifold gifts.

I do not care much about the name of "deaconess:" it is the work I covet. I would not stop to wrangle as to whether the work shall be done in a pulpit or out of it; with an open Bible and a text, and a gathering of men and women, or the same Bible and a lesson, and a class of boys and girls. There is so much good to be done in the world, that I cannot object to men or women doing good, if only they do it wisely and well; and if we are all passionately bent on getting the work done, we shall not waste our time in a discussion about the name of a worker, or the particular spot in which the work is done. Woman can teach and help, and therefore ought. That church is neglecting its privileges that does not devise means to use in the best way, all the feminine energy and devotion within its boundaries. The "Ritualists" are conspicuous in the use they make of women. Ladies of rank and distinction superintend the cleaning and decoration of churches; work in "Missions," visit the sick and poor, and guide the perplexed.

Some churches are extremely fortunate. They find that in electing a good deacon, they have also chosen a better "deaconess." Good people do sometimes go together: they ought always to do so. Certainly, good deacons should have good wives-wives that help them, and greatly help the church. A fellowdeacon of mine confesses that his wife always keeps him straight on all church matters, and that he has trusted her judgment for twenty years and never found it at fault. Such "natural" deaconesses will glide into the work of the church, and gently and in a hundred unseen ways add to its comfort, increase its usefulness, develop its growth, and augment its numbers.

PARLIAMENT AND THE EASTERN QUESTION.

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What a vain and selfish wife may do for a deacon, I dare not think about. How she may hold him back from generous deeds, lead him to think more of himself than of the church, destroy his peace, and hinder the progress of all good work-is too painful a result to reflect upon. almost think it is better, in the long run, to elect an indifferent deacon with a good, earnest, spiritual wife, than to choose a good deacon with a censorious, self-seeking, and mischiefmaking wife. If I have not said it before, I say it now-a church in electing deacons will do well to have half an eye to the deacon himself, and all the rest of the visual power fixed on the "better," or "worse," half.

But the sisterhood of the church will contain many who, besides giving much aid through their homes to the work of the church, may engage in such work as (1.) training the young female members in a fuller knowledge of the will and word of God; cultivating their piety; smoothing their difficulties, or helping them over them; guiding them in their perplexities, social and religious; and generally exercising the care of a shepherd over the lambs of the flock. (2.) Conversation with female "inquirers" and "candidates" for church fellowship. (3.) The visitation of the "widows and fatherless," too, needs the sympathy and pathos and fervour of woman's heart. This is a wide and promising field of service, and should be diligently tilled for the Lord. (4.) As succesors of Tabitha, they may open many a heart with the gift of a garment, and pour in the oil of joy for mourning. (5.) Evangelising work of the style of that done by Bible-women, and by the women belonging to Ritualistic "guilds." (6.) Care for orphan homes will also fitly engage their sympathies.

In these and many other ways, women may do a work in the female portion of the community analogous to that done by elders and deacons, and with far greater acceptance and larger success.

Parliament and the Eastern Question.

PARLIAMENT has met. The Queen has spoken. Ministers have explained; and the cloud that had settled over Britain since the announcement of the earlier meeting of the legislature has been lifted. The Disraelian tactics are beaten again. The great Parliament of the People, held out of doors, and held all over England, has bound Lord Beaconsfield afresh to a policy of "strict neutrality," and extracted a promise that we are not yet to be asked for fresh "supplies" for the army and navy.

This issue is most satisfactory; and now we have it, we are not over anxious to complain because our law-makers have been brought to town three weeks sooner than usual. The brightest sign on the horizon is the proof that the people are still omnipotent, and their voice, and not that of the Cabinet, settles the question of peace or war.

This is our hope for the future. Christianise the people, Christianise the politics of the nation, get the churches to put their consciences into the political activities of the day, and we shall not ouly guide the nation safely through this crisis to the goal of righteousness; but we shall bring deliverance to the longoppressed races of the defeated and corrupt Turkish Government, and prepare the way for the dismissal to industrial activity of those seven millions of soldiers now eating the life out of Europe.

There is no doubt that British opinion is mighty in Europe. Turkey from the beginning has clung with unrelaxed tenacity to the hope of our assistance. The Blue Book makes clear the strength and undying vigour of this hope, and shows that even now it is not wholly surrendered. The localisation of the war is therefore mainly in our hands, and depends upon our action. How pressing the obligation, then, upon every one of us to be prepared to take his share in the great Parliament of the People in determining that the movement of England shall be in favour of freedom, of happiness, and of righteousness! The state of Europe for the next fifty years will depend upon our action. Shall we act in a narrow and mercenary spirit, or in that of a broad, free, and worldloving humanity? No Christian can hesitate as to which way he will take; least of all will any Christian be so cowardly as to shirk all responsibility as to the entire issue. JOHN CLIFFORD.

Congregational Singing.

THE following account will show, better, perhaps than any theory, how Congregational Singing may be made an effective aid to the spiritual work of the church. It is a "typal case:" shows the qualities necessary for leadership, and the conditions of realising the highest and purest success in our psalmody.

At a soiree held at Hugglescote, Dec. 26th, our widely-known friend, Mr. H. Dennis, was thus addressed by his pastor, Rev. J. Salisbury, M.A. :

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"My dear Mr. Dennis,-It is our duty and privilege to render 'honour to whom honour is due,' and also to express our gratitude in a suitable and becoming manner for benefits conferred. We come together at this time to give honour to you, and to express sincerely and heartily our obligations to you for the kind, gratuitous, and self-denying help which you have rendered in presiding for so many years, and with such great efficiency, over the service of sacred song in connection with the public worship of our church and congregation. We are thankful that so many, not a few of whom have entered into the better world, have thus realised the benefit in years that are past, of that special gift which you have so long exercised, cultivated, and consecrated to the glory of God. Through your efficient guidance and constant care, the service of praise has not only been well sustained, but feelings of true devotion have been rekindled and cherished in the hearts of multitudes who from year to year have united with us in divine worship. Further, we scarcely know how adequately to express our thanks to you for the voluntary and cheerful help which you have rendered at our Sunday school and chapel anniversaries, our social Christmas entertainments, and on other occasions, when your especial assistance has been needed for obtaining the funds required for carrying on our various church agencies. We cannot forget how assiduously your energies have been directed to the training of the choir, what strenuous efforts you have put forth to secure the valuable assistance of musical friends who have kindly given us their best services in answer to your bidding, and how freely the hospitality of your home has been granted to them whenever their visits to Hugglescote were required. One fact we would not by any means overlook. During the long period of your connection with the choir, unbroken harmony and peace have been maintained, as the result of your cautious and discreet guidance. Of this you may be most thoroughly convinced, that no persons more thoroughly sympathise with us in the expression of our gratitude than the present and past members of the choir; they will always appreciate the services you have rendered, and cherish the remembrance of them with the most sincere pleasure. In the name, therefore, of the numerous friends before me, I now present you with this easy chair as a very small expression of their Christian affection. Do not estimate it according to its material worth, but as a small token of the true sympathy and appreciation of warm hearts. It is our earnest desire and prayer that you may be long spared to associate with us in our church work, and still to render to us your valuable counsel and help. May the abundant grace of God rest upon you and upon every member of your family, upon them especially who are labouring in Christ's good cause in a distant land."

Mr. Dennis replied in a most graceful speech, and in adverting to the length of time (thirty years) during which he had been connected with his friends at Hugglescote, said it had always been a great pleasure to him to endeavour to contribute in some degree towards rendering the service of song such as he considered it ought to be. He would prize their gift as one of his most precious treasures, feeling that he was truly rich in having a place in the hearts of so many dear friends who had manifested their affection by presenting him with such an acceptable token of their esteem.

A davenport was also presented to Mrs. Dennis, who has, with much thought and care, and not a little expenditure and personal self-sacrifice, entered heartily into the welfare of the church, both in its psalmody and in other departments.

All our readers should see a wise and useful article on Congregational Singing in the January Cornhill. We shall give a few choice sentences from it next month; but organists, choir-masters, and singers generally, should see the whole article at once.

Scraps from the Editor's Waste-Basket.

I. OUR CHURCH REGISTER.- We are delighted to hear of everything that takes place in connection with our churches; but our contributors will forgive us if we think of our readers first, and of them afterwards. There are matters of momentous interest to individuals, or perhaps to two or three individuals, that are not of wide interest, and their record is not likely to do much good. We have been asked, several times, to insert "births;" but we have hitherto refused to do it unless we can have credible evidence that the little stranger is " a born General Baptist;" and even in that case we should have to charge five guineas for the insertion. The Register is a record of the growth and activity of the churches, and we are always ready to use it to report glad tidings, to stimulate activity, and increase the interest of the churches in one another. Within those limits we will insert anything, outside of them nothing.

II. STALE SERMONS v. STALE BEER. -In a discussion on Sunday Closing at Liverpool, the Rov. Canon Wilberforce said, "A great deal had been spoken on the stale beer question; but he thought the stale sermon question had something to do with the matter, and he was of opinion that if clergymen's sermons were religiously burnt every year by the bishop's officer, it would be a very good thing." Putting the minister's wife, or the minister himself, for the "bishop's officer," we endorse the advice for wholesale, ignominious, and speedy conflagration of old and stale sermons. In nine cases out of ten, they are flat and unprofitable. The minister only preaches them with a fragment of his being, and that is in an unsympathetic state. The people, if they remember them, resent them as children

do nauseous medicine. Somebody has said that every old sermon needs to be "born again" before it can be effectively preached. If an old sermon is thus regenerated, it is likely to be an improvement on the "Old Adam;" but the Old Adam should be driven out of the Preachers' Paradise, and not suffered to re-enter till he has experienced a complete immersion in the fresh and vigorous life of the preacher's thought and heart. If you are tempted to re-preach old and unregenerate sermons, make a bonfire.

III. MORALITY IN RAILWAY CARRIAGES.-Why is it that men and women sell their consciences when they pay for their railway tickets? Here is a man bent upon having plenty of room, and resolved upon uttering falsehoods at every station that threatens a crowd of persons anxious to go by the train in which he has purchased the right to one seat. "Full."

These seats are occupied." "A gentleman is coming in here." "No room," are the cries with which he drives away intending travellers. This is discourteous, unmanly, and dishonest. And what is worse, it is only "a sample" of the immoralities committed by some "respectable' people in first, second, and third class railway carriages.

IV. GOING TO ROME? Certainly. The opportunity is too good to be lost. It may not come again. Our New Chapel in Rome is to be opened, and our evangelizing work in the Eternal City ought to receive a considerable impetus. Will not every church send its pastor, and the pastor's wife? They could not serve themselves, and promote their church work, in any better way. If you wish to see the pastor back again safe and sound, do not forget to send his wife. See advertisement for terms, route, etc., etc.

The G. B. Magazine in its Eightieth Year.

"THE General Baptist is fresh, vigorous and varied. Both Independents and Baptists should read the Editor's Article on "The Basis of Denominationalism."-Nonconformist, January 9, 1878.

The Christian World says:-"The Editor keeps the publication well abreast of the course of opinion on ecclesiastical and theological questions so far as they affect the popular constituency to which he specially appeals."

The Baptist Messenger says:-"The General Baptist gives us full measure in both quantity and quality."

In the Long Buckby Church Manual the pastor says:-"The General Baptist Magazine is earnest, and well packed with good matter. It is a trumpet of true metal, and its sound is alway certain. Every young man, who cares. for mental and religious vigour, should read it."