THE INFLUENCE OF CLIMATE. The climate of the United States is very varied and tells in many ways on church life. In some places the extreme heat causes great lassitude, and leads to a suspension of church work. The building is closed, and those with means sufficient, seek repose by ocean, lake, or grove; the poorer class are left as sheep without a shepherd. In country places the excessive cold at times interferes very seriously with Christian activities. Sunday schools are suspended. "Protracted meetings" are suddenly cut short. But climate acts in ways more favourable. The Northern States, and especially those west of Lake Michigan, have an atmosphere that gives buoyancy to the body, and quick movement to the mind; so that life is a joy, and action a luxury. Under this influence enterprise is developed, and "grit" is strengthened. A tone of cheerfulness is promoted which shows itself in preference for lively songs and racy sermons. Tunes set in the minor key are distasteful, and stereotyped prayer-meetings are quickly voted down. I found in Minnesota meetings a sprightliness which charmed me, and a variety that was most stimulating. Much of this brightness was owing to the thoroughness of the consecration of the leading Christians; but I am persuaded that the character of the climate had more to do with it than was generally supposed. THE CONSTANT MIGRATION of the American people produces some aspects of church life deserving of note. The population, like an everflowing tide, moves westward, wave overlapping wave. When many tempting fields of enterprise are open to man, he does not count himself a fixture in any place. Unforeseen disasters may befall him, and then he may wish in some other locality, and amid more favourable scenes, to begin a new career. This restless spirit is fostered by a glowing hopefulness. Changes are expected to bring advantage. If "a rolling stone gathers no moss," it obtains polish. Where so many rise from poverty to affluence, a man of average brain may surely expect success; and few men rate themselves below the average. By reason of this love of change, floating congregations abound in the West. Every few years you can have a new congregation, and a new church, without leaving the city. All seem to be strangers and sojourners, and as they do not expect to remain long, many are reluctant to assume church responsibilities. They will not always transfer their membership, much less their hearty support. The incoming congregation may not be satisfied with the preacher in charge, and in the practice of hiring the minister by the year, an opportunity is found for registering adverse votes. The short pastorates for which the West is famous, are accounted for in part by this frequent transformation of the churches. Ministers of long and honourable standing in the "state," suffer but little inconvenience, for it has only to be known that they are moveable, and "calls" to other churches flow in. But men, young in the state, who have not won their spurs, and ministers from other states, find many annoyances as they go in search of a new sphere. AMERICAN CHURCH LIFE. THE REAL ESTATE FEVER, 243 so common in Western cities, affects the church life most unfavourably. When some men are rapidly growing rich through dealing in "corner lots," every man with a few dollars is tempted to invest, and having once felt the excitement of earning money without labour, it is difficult to resist the temptation to further speculation. When there is a special "boom" in city matters, and business is at fever heat, the religious thermometer often goes down to freezing point. The church suffers accordingly in her worship, work, and finance. This depression is most marked in the summer. As the winter approaches, there is on the part of the most devoted, a longing for a revived spiritual life, and arrangements are made for a "protracted meeting." Sometimes an evangelist is employed, or neighbouring ministers are invited to aid the pastor. Meetings are multiplied. Each evening short sermons are preached and a social meeting follows, in which song, prayer, and experience are blended. During the day, other meetings are held, and while the emotions are at white heat, the anxious are urged to commit themselves to a new course by rising in meeting; and thus begins what is known as the "revival season." A prominent Free Will Baptist minister, in reply to an Englishman's expressed objection to these periodic revival efforts, said in my hearing, "In this country, sir, we find them a necessity. The eager rush after the almighty dollar so deadens the conscience, that nothing short of a spiritual earthquake can rouse men to holy, earnest, spiritual activity." In a new country, at least for a time, there is A SCARCITY OF COIN. When This fact necessitates practices which appear strange to us. a church has to be built, or a pastor has to be hired, pledges are often given to be paid in labour, or "in kind." I once took part in the dedication of a church in a Minnesota village, on which members, deacons, and pastor had worked with their hands, because they could not furnish coin to pay for skilled labour. They began to build with small funds, and large faith. They used what materials they could purchase, and then asked the Lord for further supplies. Providence smiled on them, and they opened the building without a debt, and in the midst of a gracious revival of religion. The pastor of that church, like many others in that region, had the larger part of his salary paid in produce, and other commodities. He was sure of a well-filled larder, even though he had an empty purse. Out of this custom Donation Parties" seem to have grown; and these are continued, even after the pastor receives his salary in full, in specie payment. Such a party is often arranged without the pastor's knowledge. Certain friends taking the lead notify the members of the church and congregation of their intention, and arrange time and place of meeting. At the appointed hour the friends proceed in a body to the parsonage, where they spend a merry hour. During the excitement which prevails, presents are often stowed away in odd places, to surprise the pastor and his wife. Sometimes very valuable articles are given, and in addition a generous roll of "Greenbacks." Occasionally the pastor's family are invited out to spend the day, and advantage is taken of their absence, to provide, at the expense of the people, a sumptuous supper for them on their return; and the pastor becomes a guest in his own house. During the early part of my residence in America, these peculiarities tended to divert my attention from those general characteristics, which made the church life there so grandly aggressive. Fuller acquaintance with the real life of the churches, led to increased confidence, and to warm attachment. Strange as it may seem, the people given to change in so many particulars, are in the main CONSERVATIVE IN DOCTRINE. The majority of Protestant communicants have a firm grip of Gospel truth. This is specially true of the great Baptist body, and almost equally so of the Methodists. While it is true that Liberalism has crept into some of the churches, and a few pastors have stood forth as advocates of the "New Theology," the Old Truths known as Orthodox, are firmly and generally held, and are vigorously proclaimed. It is a significant fact that these old truths exert a greater force in the development of evangelizing agencies, and secure a larger number of adherents to Christ, than the uncertain New Theology which is preached. The clinging to the long accepted doctrines, is not to be set down to the lack of advanced scholarship, for of this, even the New York Independent admits, the Baptists have their full share. Having this, we shall not be surprised to find them ENTHUSIASTIC IN EDUCATION. On their attitude towards the Sunday school, let one of themselves speak:-"The more thoughtful members of our church already perceive that the Sunday school in its present advanced position is to be the real training school of the church of the coming generation of active workers. It would be difficult to overestimate the opportunities and advantages of this organization. All our best schools have been for years organized as missionary societies and many of them take up a missionary collection every Sunday. The children's day service identifies them in a measure with the work of education, and in a way that they can easily understand." The prevailing opinion is that religious culture ought to be included in any system of education which contemplates the improvement of the whole mind. The State Universities, while professing to be neutral on the subject of religion, are sometimes suspected of a modified antagonism thereto. Therefore those seeking a Christian education are encouraged to look elsewhere. Provision is made to meet their need in the Denominational Colleges, of which there are in the United States between two and three hundred, incorporated and chartered to confer degrees in Arts. No one can read the records of the American churches, without the conviction that in the North, at least, they are AGGRESSIVE IN CHRISTIAN Work. The openings for Christian activity are great in extent: not one city but many, not cities only but States and Territories, yea, half AMERICAN CHURCH life. 245 a continent, in one grand chorus peals forth the cry, "Come over and help us." Turn where you will you find an open door. There are the Freedmen in the South; the Chinese in the West; the Indians scattered through the plains; and unregenerate white men everywhere; all needing the guidance and culture the Christian church. can give. After surveying the field, Prof. F. J. Morgan said:"Minnesota, Dakota, Western Nebraska, and Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, and the vast regions beyond, are as much Missionary ground as Ireland was in the fifth century, or England in the sixth, or Germany in the eighth, or Scandinavia in the ninth, or Japan in the nineteenth, and they call as earnestly for men like Bunyan, Boniface, Augustine and Patrick, to preach the gospel, found churches, and organize Christianity." Right nobly do the American churches respond to these calls. They organize Home Mission Societies, Bible Societies, Sunday School Unions, and send out Missionaries. In frontier settlements, almost before the canvas tents have given place to wooden shanties, the agents of these societies are on the ground, visiting from point to point, distributing books and tracts, preaching and organizing Sunday schools. To what extent this work is undertaken, may be judged from the following tabulated "Results of Fifty Years' Work" of the American Baptist Home Mission Society : Number of Commissions to Missionaries and Teachers ... ... ... 9,102 304,015 ... 781,876 419,911 1,817,412 87,056 Religious Visits to families or individuals. ... ... ... Prayer Meetings attended Persons Baptized ... Churches Organized It should be borne in mind that this represents only a part of what the Baptists have done in direct Home Mission work; while the other denominations have been laudably aggressive, some of them, in proportion to their numbers, surpassing the Baptists. In conclusion, let it be remembered that we are in a measure responsible for the character of American Church Life; and as our friends are being gradually drawn across the Atlantic, let us aim to so indoctrinate and train them before they go, that they will exert a healthy influence on the life of the church in the West. CHARLES PAYNE. "To know how to conquer, and to wear our laurels with dignity, and to use our gains wisely, is a great grace. But it is a far greater grace to learn how to bear our defeats with courage and with patience. The greatest evil that may befal you is not to be conquered, but never to have deserved to conquer; and the greatest defeat you may sustain is to be victorious in a cause in which you know you ought to be vanquished."-J. Ogmore Davies. THE exact date of John Wycliffe's birth is uncertain. It was about the year 1324. Nor are we qnite sure as to the place of his nativity. It was most likely a hamlet called Spresswell, now no longer existing, in the parish of Wycliffe, near to the town of Richmond in north Yorkshire. From the village of Wycliffe-the local pronunciation of which makes the first syllable long-the family of the reformer took their name-de Wycliffe. The monastic system, as it existed in the fourteenth century, afforded to boys of all classes the opportunity of gaining, at small cost, such instruction as was then most valued; and it is most probable that John Wycliffe would receive his first schooling from the monks of Eglistone Abbey, not more than two or three miles distant from his home. In due time he proceeded to the University of Oxford. In those days Oxford and Paris were the most renowned centres of learning in Western Europe; and education for the Church was the |