We should think more of this if there were no liberal clergymen or Dissenting ministers, and no ground for the violent class feeling' and 'jealousy of the middle classes' beyond the exclusion from the franchise. But exclusion from comparative wealth and social distinction has much more to do with this jealousy than the mere question of the vote. People in poor clothing do not feel comfortable amongst those in more costly attire; and never will, until either the clothing is equalised or the heart is Christianised. The poor will envy and be jealous of the rich, just as the rich will look down upon and despise the poor, until the true lesson is learned that real dignity and worth are not matters either of clothing on the one hand, or of the franchise on the other.

He

At the same time it is very true that if clergymen and - ministers sympathised more fully in the political claims of the poor, they would be more welcome amongst them, might exert greater influence over them, and be more successful in their efforts to teach them something still more important than how to attain political equality. Mr. Henry Lee, of Manchester, said: 'One of his workmen, a very intelligent man, and a Christian man, said to him, "You are one of the inconsistent." asked "Why?" "Because," said the man, "You don't come out publicly to advocate the political enfranchisement of your fellow-countrymen." "Well," he replied, "I have considered the matter, and I thought I had other work to do." "Well," said the man, 66 one of the reasons which keep us as a class from taking part with you in public worship, is that we believe your class does not care whether we get the franchise or not." Undoubtedly one great reason had been that which had been already suggested in this Conference, that religious men, especially the preaching men, the clergy of all denominations, did not seem to care sufficiently for the social and political well-being of the working classes, and if working men saw that, they imagined there was very little in what was said about other things. The fact was, we must do people good in a way which they could understand before they would allow us to do them good in a way which they did not understand.'

Another said: "The working men were engaged, at present, in a great struggle to better their condition. They might be mistaken in their proceedings, and their efforts might be fruitless, but the great religious bodies left the subject alone, thinking, as they appeared to do, that religion had nothing to do with social matters, and that the working men were to go on blundering, or to pursue a righteous struggle, without the slightest assistance or advice.'

In all this, there exists no reason why a clergyman who does not believe in the political horn-book of the poor man should substitute it for the catechism, or should even use it as a surface on which to write his religious lessons. If he does not believe in Democratic politics, he is not to be asked to pretend that he does so. The fact that he finds grown-up men, though acute in asserting their political rights, yet remaining in a state of arrested development, if not even of inveterate idiocy, as regards religion, is not enough, of itself, to inspire him with a strong desire to see the helm of the vessel of the State placed in their hands. On the other hand, it is a great pity that the real genius of Christianity should be so little understood as it is by some preachers. The man who wisely recognises it, feels religiously bound to impart freely to all everything in the shape of political and social privilege or power that it is at all possible, without manifest danger, to impart. Some seek to give all that can be given with safety; others to withhold all that can be safely withheld. There is a vast difference between the two attitudes. The attitude of the former is the Christian attitude; that of the latter is essentially pagan. Poor men, when they hear or read the precepts of Christianity, often feel this truth, and are offended and disgusted with the inconsistency of men who profess to be Christians yet fail to recognise it.

We have regarded the various objections urged at the Conference, chiefly as to their bearing on the duty of the poor; and little better than mere pretexts we have found most of them to be. But there is also another point of view from which they require to be regarded; and there is much in them that deserves to arrest the attention of ministers of religion.

Many of the objections simply illustrate the truth, that the greatest of all the causes of the abstention of the poor from public worship, is the religious idiocy to which we have alluded; an idiocy that cannot be met by anything short of the renewal of the natural will, and the opening out of spiritual faculties that are at present held fast closed. Religion is, indeed, the only real cure for the want of religion. But in seeking to apply the remedy, many external, often some merely mechanical,-hindrances must be met, or the effort will be in vain. Whatever can be done by a thoughtful and patient study of such hindrances, can never be undeserving the attention of Christ's ministers. To all movements for social amelioration, they are clearly bound to lend a hearty assistance; and their sincerity, as 'ambassadors of Christ,' must be most grievously discounted, whenever they purposely withhold themselves from these.

Amongst hindrances to the Gospel, a very prominent place is held by the 'drink demon.' We cull a few specimens. The Rev. Newman Hall said :- The working classes of this country spend fifty millions a year in strong drink. If they object to pay 3d. a week for seat rent, they do not object to spend 6d. a day for drink. That is one great reason that keeps people from the House of God. One cure for that is by ministers plunging into the great vortex, and endeavouring to stop the evil by their own example of self-denial and earnestness. It seems as if everthing was done to make the working man degraded. At every corner at every street these places are put up, with all that can make them attractive, leading men body and soul to ruin.' Another speaker thus delivered himself: Their legislators had made working men what they were. They had licensed 160,000 public-houses, to stand in every street corner, on purpose to tempt the people, and not only that, but they were realising every year £25,000,000 of blood-money in the form of revenue upon misery, wretchedness, disease, and death. Ministers of the Gospel had always been the greatest opponents of the temperance movement. Thousands of teetotalers from various parts of the country would not go to their various churches and chapels because ministers of the Gospel opposed the movement. Temperance was inseparable from true Christianity, and if ministers of the Gospel came out and aided working men in connection with their social institutions, the social evils that now afflicted society would soon be removed.' A third declared that the drinking customs were the greatest enemies to religion, and they alone kept a whole army of working men from churches and chapels.' Mr. W. Booker said: The use of intoxicating drinks was no doubt a very great obstacle to attendance at church, and it would be well if the ministers themselves would leave off dabbling with such things.' Aspeaker before quoted (Mr. Lee) also took an opportunity to say that 'a man who habitually spent his time in the public-house was not a man who would be found in the place of worship. The associations of the publichouse, the songs that were sung there under the influence of drink, the people with whom the man must necessarily be a companion when he went there, were inconsistent altogether with attendance at a place of worship, and the man who went to a place of worship after having had a bacchanalian spree at a public-house on a Saturday night would feel very uncomfortable.' The Rev. H. Solly said: Another material obstacle was the want of more places to which persons could go in their old clothes-dirty and shabby clothes; and another

great want undoubtedly was the means of inducing persons not to spend in drink what would enable them to get better clothes.' Mr. Bagge (hatter) said: The practice of holding clubs at public-houses was extremely injurious to the moral and spiritual welfare of working men. He wished there could be some hall or other public place provided where they could settle these matters without being subject to public-house associations.'

There is manifestly no attempt at exaggeration in these statements; they are undoubtedly within the truth, and we see here, as indeed everywhere, where we are seeking the benefit of the masses, how the wine merchant, the distiller, the brewer, the publican, and the beershop-keeper stop the

way.

Personally we are much inclined to doubt whether, taking the numerical differences of the classes into consideration, poor people neglect or undervalue religious privileges more than any other class of the community. Still, such courteous interchanges of opinion as this Conference presents, cannot but result in good, and as fast as the real hindrances complained of are removed, the power of truth and the beauty of holiness will develop themselves from out the mists and fogs of ignorance, folly, and wrong. And it may console. many to think that if the bill of indictment drawn up at the Conference be to the full extent of the charges against religious institutions, then the servants of the sanctuary who are in earnest in their Master's cause may cluster around their ark, and sing songs of joy in anticipation of a not inglorious triumph.

We had marked for quotation some extracts from the third publication named at the head of this article to show, by way of offset to some of the allegations made at the Conference, that in some quarters, at least, hearty sympathy and practical co-operation with the people are not only proffered and carried out, but are also heartily appreciated; but we must for the present forbear. It may, on a future occasion, be our privilege to say something upon various methods of reaching the masses of the population; meanwhile, we commend to the thoughtful attention of our readers the objections and statements we have selected for their information, concluding with the hope expressed by the chairman of the Conference, that whatever may become of our opinions, our hearts may draw closer together, and our brotherhood make itself more sensibly felt, ever remembering that where love paves the way to truth, even differences conduce to harmony.

A MODEL MANUFACTURING TOWN.

AMONGST

MONGST the leading social problems of the day, one of the most prominent, as well as the most important, is that dealt with by those who, while recognising the rights of capital and of labour, seek at the same time to benefit the toiling masses by endeavouring to make their home comforts greater, and to thereby elevate them in the social scale. How to provide comfortable and commodious residences for the artisan and labourer, with all modern sanitary improvements; how to draw off the working man from the allurements of the public-house and gin-palace; how to improve the tastes of the masses, and teach them to desire other enjoyments than those of the taproom; how to educate the children of even many of the industrious classes, are all questions which public philanthropists, social reformers, and even benevolent legislators have taxed their energies to solve; and although they have been to some partial extent successful, yet they must all confess that their efforts have been largely attended with failure. The result might lead some to despondency in regard to their labours for their fellows, if it were not that so much which is encouraging can be pointed to as justifying bright hopes of future success. One very noteworthy instance of what can be done to benefit employés is to be witnessed at an undoubtedly model manufacturing town, to which it shall be our duty, and a pleasing one indeed, to introduce the reader. In what part of the United Kingdom the town is situate is, of course, the first information which will naturally be desired. That, however, is a point which we would prefer not to explain to the reader too soon. There are portions of the United Kingdom against which ill-grounded prejudices still exist, although we hope that these are fast dying out. Steam is bridging over distances; the telegraphic wires are making all of us finger acquaintances,' like the lovers who had never spoken to each other, but carried on a gratifying courtship by help of the deaf and dumb alphabetical signs while sitting at the drawing-room windows of houses on opposite sides of the street; the penny post, the penny newspaper, the cheap periodical, the public school, are all doing their work, more slowly, no doubt, than some of us would wish, but still not the less surely, in breaking down barriers of ignorance, of prejudice, and of ill-will against each other, which centuries of past misunderstanding have created. This being so, perhaps, we may acquaint the reader that our model manufacturing town is in

But is the reader quite sure, now, that his prejudices will not instantly arise on receiving the information, and that he will