ped but
little strength, twenty-six members only, it was deemed best to let it
go back to the old charge.

I found the Church edifice in good condition, but without class or
prayer-rooms. The external appearance was decidedly respectable, and the
accommodations within, both in respect to size and furnishing, equal or
superior to any other Church in the village.

The Parsonage, a small and inferior building, had been recently sold to
liquidate in part the indebtedness remaining on the Church, and this
involved the necessity of renting a house for my family.

After becoming settled in our new home, the first special work was to
complete the payment of the Church debt. This was soon arranged, and I
was at liberty to direct my attention more particularly to the spiritual
interests of the charge. My first labor in this direction, as in all my
former charges, was to look well after the people at their homes, and
the second, to see that the social means of grace were well arranged and
properly sustained. And I soon found in Janesville, as I have always
found, that they are the key to successful labor. It is possible by
corresponding adjustment of pulpit labor to excite the attention of the
community, and thereby secure large congregations, but such a result is
not a certain index of true success. In the forum, as on the platform,
it may be otherwise, but in the building up of Christ's kingdom, there
must be a spiritual basis; for his kingdom is a spiritual kingdom. In
these days of special clamor for superior pulpit attractions to draw
the crowd, there is a strong temptation to court popular favor by
adjusting both the themes and style of address to the pulpit in such a
way as to withold from the people the only spiritual food that can give
life to a dead soul. Such a Ministry in the eyes of the world may be
deemed a great success, but to such as judge not after the outward
appearance, it is known to be a dead failure. While it utterly fails to
bring souls to Christ, it is also disastrous to the Church itself. The
mighty adhesive forces, which bind the hearts of Christians to each
other, can only subsist on the marrow of Gospel truth, and if this is
wanting, dissension will soon appear, and the Church suffer
disintegration. Holding these views, strengthened as they had been by my
former experience and observation, I resolved, at whatever cost of
reputation, to adhere to them in Janesville.

The result proved their wisdom.