ly and often gladly met.

*OUR ADVANTAGE AS MINISTERS OF THE ENGLISH CHURCH.

Let me pause for a moment to remind you of one great and valuable
advantage which is ours as the Ministers of the National Church and the
servants of the parochial system. All honour to devoted servants of God
in the Ministry of other denominations; in numberless instances they
have done in the past, and are doing now, work which the National Church
has either neglected, or has been unable to overtake; and the power of
the Lord has been and is present with them to bless. But nevertheless I
for one thank God for a National Church, and recognize in that Church's
historical and practical position a unique opportunity and an immense
advantage, so it be used faithfully and in loyalty to the Lord and His
Word. And one feature of that position of opportunity is this, that it
is the popularly (and rightly) recognized _duty_ of the Church of
England Clergyman to ask admission at every door, so far as he can go to
every door, within his portion of the national vineyard. To a large
degree this is understood to be our duty, our business, as it is not
understood to be that of other Ministers of religion; and this is a fact
which for the man who will use it with good sense and unobtrusive
diligence is an invaluable introduction. A "younger Brother" of my own,
whose work began in a Liverpool Curacy, told me of his experience in
this matter. His district contained a very miscellaneous population;
almost all the great dissenting Churches were represented, and there
were many Roman Catholics, and not a few Jews. But the Curate went to
every door, as in duty bound; as a friend, a neighbour, a Christian, but
distinctly as one of the Clergy of the parish. And with one solitary
exception, an instance in which a Jew repulsed him, he was not only
admitted but welcomed everywhere in his character as the Clergyman.

Of course there are, as I have said just above, streets and lanes where
it is not quite so. Another friend of mine, labouring in East London,
found that his black coat and white tie suggested to some of the people
only the guess that he was--the undertaker; so strange to them was the
presence of a Clergyman, or the idea of his duty. The same friend, by
the way, found that there was one sure prescription for securing a
welcome on a second visit--to make the people _laugh_ before the first
visit was over. He was no careless Pastor, who forgot that he was in