responsibility of the Church towards our soldiers, then, is one of observation and active help, and it is a responsibility full of hope and blessedness. The Army is the best home mission-field we have got. Parade services have been mentioned. There is nothing grander than the parade services. I wish with all my heart that the Sunday inspection was done away with everywhere, but we do not want to do away with the national recognition of God. I do not believe that soldiers dislike the parade services. They dislike the fuss of preparation, and they dislike dry sermons, but speak to them, as man to man, about their sins and the love of the living Saviour, and these services may be most useful. There are in the army 117,000 soldiers belonging to the Church of England, and we have to preach to them every Sunday. We are not like you in Newcastle, my lord, unable to get the mass of men to speak to, we have this glorious opportunity every Sunday. I am sure if the diocese of Newcastle could be paraded to hear its Bishop the diocese would be all the better for it. We will not, then, get rid of the parade service. We will improve it, if you like; we will get rid of the redtapeism. We chaplains will preach plainer about living devils, more affectionately about the loving Father in Christ Jesus. We will move slowly but surely, and we doubt not that by-and-by success will be ours. I have no sympathy with those who despair about our soldiers. I am more hopeful to-day than I have ever been, more hopeful after twenty-five years uphill work than I was when I began it. What we want for the work is men with the spirit of God in them; men who know in whom they have believed and are not ashamed to own it; men who will go amongst their brethren remembering that they are men like themselves and are tempted in like manner as they are, who will take up the work of the Church of England Temperance Society and the Purity Society, and so endeavour to provide our soldiers with a defence against the terrible temptations which are so often their ruin and which do so much to hinder the work of the Church.

CONGRESS HALL,

TUESDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 6TH, 1885.

The Right Rev. the PRESIDENT in the Chair.

SPECIAL CHURCH WORK AMONGST MEN.

(a) YOUNG MEN BETWEEN SCHOOL AND MARRIAGE.
(b) WORKING MEN'S ASSOCIATIONS IN TOWN AND COUNTRY.

PAPERS.

(a) The Rev. GEORGE EVERARD, Vicar of Christ Church, Dover.

IN the first century the conversion of one young man gave a mighty impetus to the Church of Christ. The conversion of Saul of Tarsus repaired the breach caused by the death of Stephen, saved from cruel persecution the little flock at Damascus, gave a marked evidence of the truth of the Gospel, and raised up an agent fitted to carry the olive branch of peace to the confines of the civilised world.

In the fourth century the conversion of one young man had no less blessed a result. Augustine, given to a mother's prayers, filled with

zeal for Divine truth, proved a bulwark against heresy and paganism, and left his mark on all succeeding ages.

In the sixteenth century, a young man, a zealous young monk, finding a Bible in the Monastery, received the truth into his heart, and came forth in face of fiery persecution as an instrument in the hand of the Most High for dispelling the dark shadows that encompassed Christendom, and for giving back the truth of a free justification received by the hand of faith, as Apostles and Evangelists had taught it fifteen centuries before.

And in the nineteenth century, the conversion of one young man has more than once affected the welfare of the whole Church. Some five-and-twenty years ago, a servant of Christ put his hand on the shoulder of a young American, and entreated him to give himself to God. The touch of that hand was never forgotten, and from it arose, by the grace of God, one of the most effective Evangelists this century has known. Both in America and in our own land, Christians have been awakened to a new sense of their responsibilities, and hundreds of thousands have heard from his lips a faithful testimony to the truth that might never otherwise have reached them.

Lead one young man right, and you do a great work. You take one who might have proved a curse to hundreds of his fellows, and make him more or less a worker for righteousness and the Kingdom of God.

Very pressing is the need for such in the Church of Christ. Openings for Christian work abound in all directions, both at home and abroad. The question of the great social evil is thrust upon us, wisely or unwisely, and we cannot avoid it. Infidelity and agnosticism were never more aggressive. Dangers and difficulties beset the Church we love so dearly. For all these things we want above all the help of young men of fixed principles, of zeal and courage, rooted in the faith, and staunch in their attachment to the Church of England, cleaving to the book of Common Prayer, and holding fast those Reformation principles that underlie every part of it.

How may we hope to gain them? Two foundation principles as to Church work amongst young men meet us at the outset.

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I. Aim at nothing short of heart-conversion to God. Direct every arrow to the eye of this target. My son, give me thy heart," is God's call, and we must echo it. Be content with nothing lower, nothing less. Membership in a guild or association, good churchmanship, a moral exterior, a well conducted life, presence in church, and at the Holy Communion-all excellent in their way, but don't stop there. Take the citadel, or your work is not half done. See the palace in the hand of its rightful Lord, and the white flag of loyalty to King Jesus floating over it. Speak plainly and faithfully to that young man about his soul, and thus strive by God's grace to lead him to an unreserved surrender of himself to Christ. Then thank God and take courage. You may look for it that such a one will be a strong fortress on the Lord's side, yea, more, that he will be strong to carry the war into the enemy's country. Take a recent example of this. Of late, a good work has been carried on in the University of Edinburgh. The young Cambridge men, Studd, and Stanley Smith, threw down the torch ere they sailed as Missionaries to China. The light and fire spread from heart to heart, till about one hundred and fifty, some of them the fastest men in the

University, turned to God, and now, during the past summer, have been witnessing for Christ at the seaside and elsewhere, and have declared to many the blessings they have found.

II. A second principle. True workers is the great want. Plans and systems are important, but all fail without the right man to carry them out. The best system will come to naught without this, but with it the worst will have a fair measure of success. By all means have your association, but give your heart to this, to get the right man to carry it on a man of sterling godliness, of manly straightforward character, one who has a heart, and whom you can depend upon to stick to the work he begins, and you may look for it that real and lasting good will be done. Who will volunteer? There is no nobler field on which to expend whatever gifts you possess. There is none more fruitful or

more likely to yield a glorious harvest.

Is there a young curate here who will make this his speciality, giving it a large share of his heart, gathering young men around him, and training them to help him in the Lord's vineyard?

Is there a retired officer, who has not retired from the Army of Christ, and who is not too much of the soldier to unbend, and who would give to young men the years that yet remain for him ?

Is there a clergyman's wife or daughter, not over-burdened with home duties, who might draw in the rough youths by her influence and care? Is there a man of business, who might find a relief from business cares in helping young men, and giving them the advantage of his own experience ?

Is there a lone widow, left without children, who might be a mother to other people's lads?

Is there a young man of wealth and education who will use his store of both for a life long blessing to his young brothers of a humbler rank? O that in many a city, town, and village in our land, might be found some one thus to act and to hear the Master's voice, "Son," daughter, "go work to-day in My vineyard.”

In all engaged in Church work amongst young men, one thing is absolutely essential. You must have brotherliness and sympathy. A working man was once asked why so many, when they became abstainers, joined a particular Church. "There's a curate there loves us like a brother," was his reply.

Here is the magnet. Here is the attraction. Not priestly dictation, but brotherly sympathy. Not the confessional, but the council chamber of the clergyman's study, open to every young man that needs it, and a warm shake of the hand to show that he who comes in is welcome. If you wish to do good amongst young men, clear yourself of clericalism and be perfectly natural, and free and easy with them, so that they may be saved from constraint in a clergyman's presence, which is often a real hindrance to his usefulness.

This brotherliness and sympathy must spring from, and ever point to, the sympathy of the Lord Jesus. In Him was sympathy for young men never equalled elsewhere. His own toil as a young man in a carpenter's shop, at Nazareth, His special love to the youngest of the Apostolic band, His inimitable picture of the father's tenderness to the returning prodigal, the look of love which He cast on the young ruler who yet kept back both his heart and his possessions; all alike testify of the

deep well of sympathy for young men which dwelt in the heart of Christ, and which must be both the motive for our own work, and the most attractive theme by which we draw them to His feet.

But this brotherliness and sympathy must have a wide and varied outflow.

I. Not seldom should it be manifested in the pulpit. A sermon to young men occasionally, on the first or second Sunday of the year; after the death of a young man in the parish; during a mission season, on the evening when shops close earlier, and when a special invitation is sent to them-is never inappropriate. "Is the young man Absalom safe?" "Thou, Solomon, my son, know thou the God of thy father;" "Joseph is a fruitful bough;" the choice of Moses; the three young men in the furnace; the call to "endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ"-a subject of this kind is always interesting, and may show young men that Christianity is not a strengthless, flabby, jelly-fish sort of thing, but is full of sinew, and muscle, and backbone; that it is not for old age or a dying hour alone, but is well suited for the battle of life, and will make them better citizens, better fitted for every calling or profession, and will help them in all the duties incumbent upon them.

Even when a sermon is not directly preached to young men, it is well to bear in mind their presence in the congregation, if they are there, and five minutes specially given to their temptations may prove the most useful part of the address.

II. Brotherliness and sympathy as to difficulties of belief. Let there be a readiness patiently to meet such. No harsh denunciation of doubts, felt or expressed, is wise or right, but careful guidance and direction as far as possible. It is said that one of the foremost unbelievers of our day, in early days when a Sunday School teacher, was pooh-poohed by his clergyman in some doubts that troubled him, and, as a consequence, went right off into rank infidelity. Act just contrariwise to this. Lend a helpful book-something that will suit a young man's special difficulty, perhaps found in a volume of " Present Day Tracts,"" Cooper's Bridge of History," or "Verity of the Miracles of Christ."

Point out to such an one the immense difficulties of unbelief, and the unshaken evidences of our Lord's resurrection, and thus do your best to set his feet upon the rock.

III. Sympathy with young men in the perils of a great city. Who can tell the traps and snares round about them? Who can tell the utter desolateness of a young man coming away for the first time from a comfortable home in the country? Who can tell the discomfort many a one finds in the lodgings which he takes? For this cause numbers are driven to theatre going, music halls, billiard saloons, bar lounging, horseracing, low haunts of vice, who would never otherwise have thought of such things. Show sympathy for them in their need. Is it quite impossible to have homes for them under Christian influence, almost, if not entirely, self-supporting? Might not the clergy keep a register of respectable lodgings, to which an occasional visit might be paid? Or, in some way, might not the clergy, perhaps by the agency of the Y.M.C.A. or the Friendly Society, find a comfortable home for a young man who brings a letter from his former clergyman?

But you want much more than this. Cast around them a holy, loving

influence that will waylay them at every turn. Thank God for whatever is done in this direction, at Exeter Hall, at Aldersgate Street, at Institutes in Manchester, Liverpool, and elsewhere. Thank God for every Christian man who has put his hand to the plough in this good work.

Permit me to give, in some measure from personal recollection, a bright example of sympathy for young men in great busy London.

There rises up before me a Bible Class of 33 years ago. It is on Sunday evening after Church, in a school-room in Kensington. Here is a Christian physician with a hundred or a hundred and twenty young men around him. He is just a father in the midst of them. The temporal and spiritual welfare of these young fellows fills the good man's heart all the week through. Not a day passes but something is done for them. A sick member is visited, a bit of friendly advice given to one who has gone astray, a situation is found for another, some new device is discovered to add to their happiness, the sick club is looked after, and far more done for one or another than I could name. And now on the Sunday night in the midst of his lads his heart is overflowing. He asks for their prayers for one he has been visiting, he gives a striking illustration from something that has occurred in the city.

I can see him now amongst them. I can see his cheerful, kindly countenance beaming with true affection. Listen to his crisp, chatty talks about all sorts of practical subjects, but everything backed up with the Word of God. Mark his home thrusts at faults he has seen in them, and yet they will let him say what he will, for they know that he loves them. Yes, it was all by a golden link that he held them. By love he drew them around, by love he won them for the Saviour, by love he kept them steadfast in their walk. The happiness of his whole life was bound up in the welfare of his young men. Very carefully did he prepare them for Confirmation, for the Vicar gladly committed that work into his hands. Never was there more blessed fruit than for the work he carried on. Numbers were brought to a definite surrender of themselves to God. A correspondence reaching almost all over the world was kept up with old members.

And at this day in many quarters of our land might be found earnest workers in the Lord's vineyard, who learnt the secret of a happy, useful life from the lips of this godly man some thirty or forty years ago.

Not long ago the good man died, years after he had been obliged to give up the work into younger hands. But the old members had not forgotten him. So they subscribed together to put a tablet in the church in memory of one whom they so greatly revered.

One remark here before I pass on. Don't give up old methods for new. By all means adopt new plans if they are good, but likewise cleave to the old, if they are effectual. Above all, stick to the Bible Class, and take care that it is thoroughly interesting. Leaven young men with the word of God. It is their best defence, and their greatest strength. It will keep them from evil, and teach them the right way.

"Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to Thy word."

Iquote the words of another, Mark Guy Pearse. "Think how milk is fitted to the child, or meat to the strong man; how each nourishes the whole system, turning into blood, bone, nerve, muscle: how each strengthens