and, therefore, these letters were very speedily dispatched. Mr. Ramsden indeed was at first a little disposed to look favourably on the man who could adduce newspaper testimonials on his behalf, while Mr. Rowntree was captivated by the letter of the "Revivalist." But they easily yielded to the good sense of Mr. Percy and Mr. Wright, who insisted on the absolute necessity of knowing something more of any man whom they were to invite as a candidate for their pulpit, than was to be gathered from his own representations. Their greatest difference was, as to the expediency of making an experiment by inviting some of these gentlemen to preach, if only for a single Sunday. Mr. Ramsden and his friend could see no difficulty about this-no injury could accrue from so brief a visit, and it might be, that the result would be very satisfactory,-at all events it was worth the trial. Mr. Percy stoutly resisted the proposition. With a keener insight he knew that a single Sunday's services, if they did nothing more, might sow seeds of dissension that would not easily be uprooted; and earnestly, and happily for the church successfully, urged the importance of the deacons being thoroughly agreed among themselves as to the standing and general eligibility of any candidate whom they introduced to the pulpit.

The next class of letters was not so easy to deal with. The evil amongst Dissenters is not that really worthy and excellent men find it difficult to obtain ministerial influence in their favour but that others of an inferior stamp find it so easy. It is true, that no conscientious man would recommend another to the pastorate of a church, with whom his word was likely to have any weight, knowing him to be unworthy, but a spirit of kindness, a desire to render a service to one who though very feeble is very good, an inability to resist earnest and oft-repeated importunity, will sometimes induce a minister to introduce a brother of whom perhaps he has but a very imperfect knowledge, or of whom such knowledge as he has does not justify him in forming a very high opinion as to his mental capacities and preaching powers. He hopes for the best, he trusts that enlarged opportunities may stimulate the powers of his friend, he persuades himself that full justice has not been done him, he con tents himself with the notion that at all events, he is a good man, and the people themselves can judge of his ministerial power. There is no doubt that in all this there is a serious error. It is forgotten that the very recommendation creates a certain prepossession on behalf of him to whom it is given, that he is heard more favourably, and that excuses are made for any apparent defects. The result is, that very frequently, contrary to the expectations of all, and of none more than those by whom these letters had been given, these men are sometimes elected,

and the churches by whom they have been chosen, are the sufferers for years from an inefficient and deteriorating ministry.

Some of the most eminent ministers are the greatest offenders in this respect. Of course their position lays them open to a multitude of applications-they are supposed to possess considerable influence, and they naturally have a large circle of ministerial acqaintances, by some of whom they are assailed with earnest and touching appeals, which it requires almost superhuman determination and firmness to resist. Some of these men had written to one or other of the Westhampton deacons on behalf of their particular friends, and one of their letters may serve as a specimen of the rest. It was from the Reverend Dr. Williams, the great light of the county, who was respected, and deservedly so by all the churches of the district. Though the minister of a large and flourishing community, who made incessant demands upon his time and labours, he was always ready to respond to the innumerable calls of his brethren for his valuable services. He was a popular preacher in the highest sense of the word, and in private was a genial, kindly, and instructive companion. Hence in every pulpit he was a favourite, and in every house which he visited, one of its most honoured guests. His brethren respected and loved him, for depreciating word, or ungenerous insinuation never fell from his lips; but in this matter of testimonials, he was weak, and weak because of his very goodness, inclined to think the best of his ministerial acquaintances (and) the more so as they always appeared to him in their best colours), and ever ready to befriend any one who stood in need of his help. Such a man was sure to be frequently solicited by those who felt the importance of securing his influence, and it is not to be denied that owing to his fatal facility in granting such requests, he was the instrument in leading to many settlements which, in the issue, proved unfortunate to all parties concerned. He was a frequent visitor at Westhampton during the life of Mr. Wilton, who was one of his intimate friends, was one of the preachers at the opening of the chapel, had been present indeed on almost every occasion of great interest in the recent history of the church, in whose prosperity, therefore, he took considerable interest, and among whose members he was well-known and honoured. Mr. Winter who had for many years been his host during his visits to the town, had very soon after Mr. Wilton's death consulted him as to the position of the church, and asked him to introduce to them an efficient pastor. It was in reply to a second application of the character that the following letter was received;

"Swanwick, Dec. 14th, 18-.

"MY DEAR SIR,-I feel that I owe you a very humble apology for my apparent negligence, but you may rest assured that my previous silence has not arisen from any unwillingness to serve you, or from any indifference to the important subject of your communication. I feel that the settlement at Castle Hill is a subject in which all the churches of the county are interested, and most deeply should I regret if through any inadvertence or mistake a wrong choice should have been made. I have, therefore, been extremely unwilling to introduce any one to the deacons, except I could speak of him with perfect confidence. I write now to name Rev. Robert Fenton, of whom I can speak in the highest terms as a Christian, a scholar, and a gentleman. I have had a good deal of intercourse with him, and have always been struck by the intelligence of his conversation and the amiability of his manners. Of the sincerity and depth of his piety his whole life is the evidence. I never heard him preach, and on that point, therefore, can express no opinion, but of this the church can judge for themselves. I did once hear a speech of his at a missionary meeting, and if I am to judge by that, he has considerable fluency and a very agreeable manner. I hope you will be able at least to give him a hearing. Very sincerely do I sympathize with you, in your present condition, and most earnestly do I hope that you may soon be mercifully guided to one who shall follow in the steps of my late lamented friend. Present my kind regards to all your fellow deacons, and accept my assurances of sincere sympathy with yourself, to whom the anxieties of this period must be specially agitating, and

"Believe me,

"Your's in the bonds of the Gospel,
"RICHARD WILLIAMS."

Mr. Winter and his friends did not know how many had received the same certificate as to their qualities as Christian scholars and gentlemen, or they would not have attached to the recommendation the weight which they did. Sooth to say the good man was easily led to regard with favour those who treated him with becoming deference, and had rarely time or opportunity to gain that fuller knowledge of their character, which, in some cases at least, would have greatly modified his judgment. Extreme men, men troubled with any little eccentricity, men who took an independent position, and ventured even to deviate from the received traditions of the body, if not from the rigid line of orthodoxy, were not liked by him, but those who had studied all the proprieties, and were scrupulous in their

observance, who had maintained an unblemished reputation and were known as men of peaceful spirit and gentlemanly bearing, were not severely judged even though their powers were little above mediocrity, and their ministry was characterized by very little efficiency. Mr. Fenton was one of this order, a very worthy man in all the walks of social life, but utterly deficient in that intellectual vis. essential to success as a preacher, at all events, among Independents. He was very deeply impressed with the dignity of his office, which he was determined to magnify to the utmost extent, a task in which he would have succeeded could it have been accomplished by means of the whitest and stiffest of cravats, the finest of black cloth in his coat, the most clerical of hats, and the most formal, precise, and priestly bearing. His dress and address were alike unexceptionable. He was what those who suppose politeness to consist in that frigid deportment which forbids every ebulition of natural geniality would have called "a finished gentleman." He was not without a fair amount of scholarship, albeit it was not very profound-still it was a very tolerable piece of veneering which answered its purpose quite as well as a more solid article. He would have made an excellent country rector, or even a very good dean; the shovel-hat would have been highly becoming to him and he would have done honour to the shovel-hat: his style of preaching would exactly have suited a high ecclesiastical position, and the deference which deans and rectors are wont to exact, and except from contumacious Dissenters, to receive, would just have suited him. But the last vocation he should have chosen was that of a Dissenting minister, and about the last place in which he should have thought of exercising it was Westhampton. His preaching was tame to the last degree, it flowed on easily and pleasantly enough, for his voice was mellifluous, though somewhat tending to produce somnolency, and he had a perfect copia verborum, but when he was done the hearers felt there was nothing in the gentle sounds that had been buzzing round their ears for threequarters of an hour. A series of dull, common-place platitudes, which had no power to stir the intellect, or rouse conscience, had been droned out, and then all was over. Such was the preacher recommended to the community of active, independent, thoughtful Christians, who formed the church at Castle Hill. Dr. Williams had little idea of the feebleness of the man, but then in all candour we must say that he ought to have known him better before he had stamped upon him his imprimatur.

(To be continued.)

764

GIRLS' GOSSIP ABOUT SOULS.

"THE Chequers" was a fine old English country-house, inhabited by a large and pleasant family of the name of Franklin. The father, a hearty country gentleman, christian withal; the mother, a genial easy lady, with daughters, and plenty of them, that shared the qualities of their parents. The eldest son, Walter, was somewhere about seventeen years old, and a younger brother Fred, oftenest called Fritz, might be nine perhaps. At the date of our narrative the family group was rendered all the merrier by a whole batch of cousins on a visit, and on this particular afternoon another troop of the same class of relations, residing in the neighbourhood, had joined them.

A large antique room on the ground floor, and opening by means of French windows on to the lawn and the shrubberies, had been long appropriated to the younger members of the family as a "school-room;" and here Miss Hamilton was supposed to be, as governess, supreme. At all events here was her kingdom, here her throne. Such at least was Master Walter's application of a well-known line of Virgil's

But at the time we speak of the large apartment was no place of lesson-conning or "practising," for was it not "the summer holidays?" and had not all a right to be as frolicsome as lambs or kittens, as merry as crickets?

Walter had rather loungingly taken possession of the room, with books and papers and mathematical instruments before him, when in burst the girls, a dozen or more, who had come to rest awhile after I know not how much of croquet and similar sublime employment. "Here's Walter in our school-room," said little Mattie; "with those stupid books again, I declare."

"Walter, dear, put by those books and papers, will you now, and come and be a little sociable with us; what's the good of so much mathematics, I should like to know?" said Jessie.

"I'll tell you what, you girls," said Walter rather off-handedly; "your education has been terribly neglected, and no mistake.” “Oh! hark at him;" put in Julia. "Why we've all had governesses at home, or else been to first-rate schools in London." "And we practise every day;" said one.

"And we can talk French-'

66

"English French;" interposed the boy.

And we can do a little Italian ;" said another.