desire to change the president, on the custom of our own Conference. But he knows that our custom of changing the president is not recognised in America. And this is all he has to say. And if this is the only witness he can call to support the action of the Academy, that witness is to all intents and purposes "out of court." I am bound to say, that no matter where the Academy influence shows itself, it is always in the same way. I have no desire to be ungenerous, but if the presence of men associated with the above institution has ever conduced to the unity, the happiness, the strength, or peace of the Church, whether in the American Convention, the English Conference, or in particular societies of the Church, I am unacquainted with the fact.

In conclusion, let me add, that I have written of the Academy on my own responsibility only, as I have written of the Missouri or the Girard College; and if I have said anything to hurt the susceptibilities of my brethren, whether in England or America, while I am truly sorry, yet on every count I am bound as an honest man to maintain my position. So let those who differ from me be quite sure that personal abuse and the imputation of discreditable motives will not cause me either to change my views or to lay aside my pen. I am, however, quite prepared to change my views whenever I see reason for doing so ; and I may further state, that I am in the state of mind to rejoice with the valiant knight who may have the power to unhorse me. Till then, I shall continue to hold, that the separate existence of the Academicians is only in the shadows they cast, and that but for these, we might say of their pet institution"Requiescat in pace." R. R. RODGERS.

SOCIAL REFORM.

WE live in an age of progress, one of the most prominent features of which is an increased and increasing interest in the moral and religious progress and the secular and social wellbeing of the poor. Nor is it sought, as in times gone by, to secure this beneficent purpose of improving the condition of the labouring population by indiscriminate eleemosynary assistance, but by well-considered endeavours to promote habits of industry, prudence, and self-help. Modern efforts seek, therefore, to combine cultured intelligence with generous feeling. Whatever social science or practical effort has to teach is carefully scanned, and thoughtfully but cautiously subjected to the test of experience. It is an age in which the best feelings are slowly but certainly budding forth under the influence of a growing sense of Christian responsibility. "Am I my brother's keeper?" receives to-day in many quarters a strongly affirmative answer. Among the many workers in this promising field of prospective usefulness is the Rev. Samuel Barnett, of Whitechapel. In the Nineteenth Century of April last, Mr. Barnett details some of the methods which have

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been successfully adopted in his Whitechapel parish, and the almost hopeless condition in which the labourer is still left. "We find ourselves," he says, " face to face with the labourer on 20s. a week. He has but one room for himself and his family of three or four children. By self-denial, by abstinence from drink, by daily toil, he and his wife are able to feed and clothe the children. Pleasure for him and his is impossible.

. . Holidays are out of the question, and he must see those he loves languish without fresh air, and sometimes without the doctor's care, though air and care be necessaries of life." The prospect before the labourer is, therefore, that of unremitted toil while health and strength remain, with the workhouse and the grave at the end of his earthly life. Most thoughtful persons, and certainly members of the New Church, will readily admit that this is not the condition of life designed by an infinitely beneficent Creator, although it may be permitted and overruled to some ultimate purpose of good. We cheerfully recognise the great and important truth, that the Lord's providence extends to the minutest particulars of human life, and that by ways of infinite benevolence and inscrutable wisdom, He overrules even the afflictions of life to the furtherance of the final purpose of His creation. But this law of Divine Providence is not intended to deaden, but to quicken and stimulate the active charity of the members of the Church and the prudent zeal of the statesman and social reformer. The path of improvement is beset with difficulties, all having their root in the natural selfishness of man, and it is exposed to the attractions of many fascinating fallacies. After discussing methods, and exposing some popular fallacies, Mr. Barnett arrives at a conclusion which must at first sight appear impossible, but which under Christian culture and wise social laws is not only possible, but eminently practical. This conclusion he thus states:

"I can conceive a great change in the condition of the people, worked out in our own generation, without any revolution or break with the past. With wages at their present rate, I can yet imagine the houses made strong and healthy, education and public baths made free, and the possibility of investing in land made easy. I can imagine that without increase of their present wealth, the poor might have in libraries, music halls, and flower gardens that I can imagine the Church on which wealth is spent, and find in old age rest. as the people's Church, its buildings the halls where they will be taught by

their chosen teachers, the meeting-places where they will learn the secret of union and brotherly love, the houses of prayer where in the presence of the Best they will lift themselves into the higher life of duty and devotion to right. All this I can imagine, because it is practicable. I cannot imagine that which must be reached by new departures and Continental practices. Any scheme, whatever it may promise in the future, which involves revolution in the present, is impracticable, and any flirting with it is likely to hinder the progress of reform."

AUGMENTATION FUND.

THE time has now arrived when our several societies must take into their serious consideration the claims of this important fund, and adopt means for its collection and enlargement. Last year the Council was compelled to suspend one of the rules of the Conference to adequately meet the wants of the applicants for assistance, and this suspension is continued during the present year by a resolution of the Conference. The necessity for this action on the part both of the Council and the Conference shows that the present support of the fund is unequal to the wants of the Church, and that, if the great use it is instituted to accomplish is to be adequately secured, increased support must be secured. The fund appeals directly to the rich. The bulk of the members of the New Church are not in affluent worldly circumstances, and most of the societies find their energies fully taxed to make adequate provision for their several wants. To those who are more largely supplied with the wealth of this world, is afforded the luxury of largely contributing to the growing necessities of the general Church. To this class the Augmentation Fund especially appeals. There is demand for more ministers, but there is a lack of means for their support, and the stipends provided are sadly below the wants of an adequately sustained ministry. It is truly remarked by a correspondent of the Christian World, speaking of the Congregational Church, "Our churches generally need either more enlightenment as to their duty to Christian ministers, or more conscientious discharge of that known duty. Of avowals of attachment to the pastor there is usually in most churches no scarcity, but of regular, tangible evidence of that attachment there is often a great lack. . . . There are wealthy men at some of our churches who for themselves and households pay about one-half the sum they give as wages to their scullery maid, and then pride themselves that for so giving they deserve a

position of influence in the particular church and the denomination of which that church forms a part."

But while we wish to enlist the sympathy and to gain the assistance of the wealthy members of the Church, we do not desire to see the support of this movement confined to any one class. All the members of the Church are interested in an efficient ministry, but unhappily comparatively few have any adequate idea of the necessary training and constantly recurring requirements of the minister. And knowledge on this subject is not easily obtained. Ministers are naturally reluctant to talk about themselves, the requirements of their office, and the inadequacy of their stipends. Laymen occupied with the business of life, with its contentions and competition, its anxieties and cares, are not inclined to give much attention to the subject, and thus the matter remains imperfectly understood, and a painfully felt want is unredressed. The General Conference at its last session adopted a resolution which should afford an opportunity of instructing the people as well as increasing the fund. This resolution directs-" That the secretaries of the District Committees on the Augmentation Fund be requested to apply annually to the societies in their respective districts to make a collection on behalf of the fund" (Min. 192). This collection must be preceded by a discourse on the subject, and the service might well be extended to all the societies in connection with the Conference. The minimum stipend aimed at by the English Presbyterian Church is £200 per annum, and this is very nearly realized. The minimum stipend, we believe, of the Free Church of Scotland is still larger, and is nearly attained. It may be some time before the New Church can attain these not over large sums, but in the meantime we can work towards them; and if we work unitedly and in earnest, we can do much to increase and render more efficient this eminently useful fund.

NEW CHURCH ORPHANAGE.

WE received, as intimated in our notice to correspondents, a communication from the treasurer of the Orphanage, which could not possibly be inserted in our last number. This communication called the attention of our readers to the shipwrecks

which had bereaved several families in Brightlingsea and its neighbourhood, and by which one of the members of the New Church had been removed from a family of four young children. The mother of these children had departed this life some time previously. One of them, an infant, had been adopted in the family of a relative, the others were wholly unprovided for. The urgency of this appeal to the managers of the institution was unquestionable, but their funds were exhausted. Six children, two at Brixton, one at Lowestoft, and three at Edinburgh, had been already adopted. It was impossible, therefore, to render the required assistance without increased funds; and we learn now that these have been so far supplied as to enable the managers to undertake the charge of these orphan children and to provide half the cost, the other half being obtained from the general local relief fund.

Among the subscriptions recently received by the treasurer are the following:-Mr. J. Graham, Dundee, £100; Mrs. Priaulx, £50; Mr. and Mrs. C. J. Whittington, £6, 6s.; collection at Argyle Square, £21. To enable the institution to provide for the wants of those already adopted and other equally urgent cases which may be presented, its income must be largely increased. And to secure this increase, the sympathy and aid of the members of the Church must be more widely extended. How is this to be accomplished? Individual subscriptions are most important in this work, and should be everywhere encouraged. To these may be added organized effort for general contributions and combined assistance. way in which this may be accomplished is presented in the following letter sent us by the treasurer, E. H. Bayley, Esq., 42 Newington Causeway, London, which we gladly publish and commend to the attention of our readers ::

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"DEAR MR. BAYLEY,-Twelve months ago the ladies of the Liverpool Society met with the intention of working for the New Church Orphanage. They have continued meeting monthly from three in the afternoon until eight in the evening, the proceeds of which, together with kind donations from those who could not attend, amount to £12, 5s. 6d., which I am pleased to hand over to you for the above object.

"I feel sure if every society did likewise, they would not only do much towards the estimable work, but each one would be benefited by it; and it is but a little offering one afternoon a month, which most ladies could give. Trusting many will follow speedily.-I remain, etc., F. E. CANN,"