quarters where, perhaps, the mental tastes will be gratified at the sacrifice of Gospel truth.

It cannot, however, be expected that local preachers shall stand on a par with the stated ministry in all things. Most of them are labouring men in the field, the shop, or the factory. They are not favoured with a liberal education and frequent opportunities for study, which make this possible. Nevertheless, there is no reason why they should not, in their "lot," be as acceptable and useful as the stated ministry in theirs.

It is with a view to assist local preachers, as such, in the attainment of those qualifications which will make their preaching more pleasant to themselves and more acceptable to the people, that this monthly TREASURY has been projected. It is hoped that in this respect it will be fully appreciated.

But inasmuch as literary and educational qualifications are little more than as feathers to the bird, or form to the organism, or clothing to the man, this TREASURY will keep before it what is, in some respects, of more vital importance-viz., the promotion of spiritual life and power from the Holy Ghost in the heart. Without this, all preaching-refined or rugged, intellectual or illiterate, itinerant or local-will alike fail in accomplishing the end for which men are called and commissioned to preach the Gospel.

"None but He who made the world," says John Newton, "can make a preacher of the Gospel. If a young man has capacity, culture and application may make him a scholar, a philosopher, or an orator; but a true preacher must have certain principles, motives, feelings, and aims, which no industry or endeavours of men can either acquire or communicate. They must be given from above, or they cannot be received."

While, therefore, the Editor is desirous that this TREASURY shall elevate the intellect in ways adapted to local preachers, he is, if possible, more desirous that it shall be the means of stirring up the gift of God"-the fire of the Holy Spirit kindled from heaven on the altar of the heart. To have the "live coal" touching his lips; to have heavenly zeal glowing in his soul; to have the "truth as it is in Jesus" dwelling in his mind; and to have the presence of the Master accompanying him, are essential to every one who goes forth to preach the Gospel to sinners. With these accompaniments, and the best intellectual acquisitions he can obtain in his circumstances, no preacher need fear the face of man or the power of demon in the discharge of his duty.

The villages of our land are in as much need of the ministrations of local preachers as they ever were, to declare unto the people the soul-saving truths of the Gospel of Christ. In the days of Wesley, many of the village clergy were a foxhunting and tavern-frequenting class of men, perfunctorily performing duty and caring little or nothing about the souls of their parishioners; yet in teaching they were mainly "orthodox." But now the ordained pastors of the village flocks are, as a rule, moral in living; but, in doctrinal teaching, many of them are as far from the Scripture and Protestant lines of truth as their predecessors were in life from moral propriety. The teaching and practice of some of these are so ritualistic as to be more calculated to lead the people to Romanism than to Jesus Christ; while the teaching and practice of others are so latitudinarian as to be calculated to promote indifferentism, or secularism, if not scepticism.

What is the remedy for these evils in our villages? Nothing more nor less than that which, in Wesley's days, destroyed the evils that then prevailed. The weapons that were mighty to the pulling down of strongholds then will pull them down now, if wielded in the strength and name of the same Almighty Spirit.

But who are the agents to wield these weapons? The stated ministers are too much engaged in town and city work to do this. Only occasionally on a week-night or Sunday can they visit the villages. Hence, the work of assailing the strongholds of Ritualism and wickedness in the villages, devolves mostly upon the local preachers of the Nonconformist Churches. These are the men, mainly, to do it, if it is done, by the preaching of the Gospel. And for this warfare, they need as "good soldiers of the Lord Jesus Christ," Divine equipment of head and heart. Though the heavenly treasure may be in earthen vessels, yet, if the treasure is brought out and exhibited, the excellent power of God shall accompany it to the destruction of error and the salvation of immortal souls.

Without making promises that might not be fulfilled, or presenting an ideal which might not be realised, the Editor would here place before the reader the first number of the LOCAL PREACHER'S TREASURY, hoping, however, that subsequent numbers will improve in interest and in adaptation to the end for which they will be issued.

PRE-EMINENCE OF PREACHING.

RICHARD HOOKER says:-"Because the want of the knowledge of God is the cause of all iniquity amongst men, as contrariwise the ground of all our happiness, and the seed of whatsoever perfect virtue groweth from us, is a right opinion touching things Divine; this kind of knowledge we may justly set down for the first and chiefest thing, which God imparteth unto His people, and our duty of receiving this at His merciful hands, for the first of those religious offices wherewith we publicly honour Him on earth. For the instruction, therefore, of all sorts of men to eternal life, it is necessary that the sacred and saving truth of God be openly and publicly published unto them; which open publication of heavenly mysteries is by an excellency termed preaching."

Preaching, or the "open publication" of the "sacred and saving truth of God" unto mankind, is of very ancient date. "God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in times past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son." (Heb. i. 1, 2.) The "sundry times" here referred to comprehend the period between the fall of man and the birth of Christ. The "prophets" take in Enoch, the seventh from Adam, who "prophesied," and Malachi, the last mentioned in Old Testament records, with all those who came in between.

The pre-eminence of preaching may be seen in the authority on which it rests. It is of God in Christ by the eternal Spirit. A higher authority it could not have; a less it has not. Shift it from this, and place it on the authority of the Church or the State, or on the authority of bishops, conventions, and synods, and it takes its place among things human, changeable, inferior. But resting, as it does, on the authoritative command of infinite wisdom and power, it stands pre-eminent in importance as related to every existing office or work, in nations or Churches. The pre-eminence of preaching may be seen in the subjects that are to be preached. These are revealed by God, as the institution is of His appointment. They are the grandest, the weightiest, the purest, that can possibly be presented to man for his consideration. They pertain to the spiritual, the infinite, che eternal realities of Deity and of the human soul. The subjects of science, history, philosophy, commerce, politics, however important, take a place far below those of preaching. "The unsearchable riches of Christ;" "Jesus Christ and Him crucified;""Repentance towards God, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ;""The good hope through grace;" "The Gospel of the blessed God;" "Christ in you the hope of glory," are among the subjects of preaching: and to mention these is at once to show the pre-eminence of preaching.

What can

The object of preaching shows its pre-eminence. surpass in interest-to God or man-the salvation of the soul? To make known the way of life, to warn every man, to teach every man, and to present every man perfect in Christ Jesus, to turn men from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them that are sanctified: to do in man and for man, what no institution or organisation of the highest earthly wisdom and learning ever has done or ever can do, is the object of preaching.

The glorious work which preaching has accomplished shows its pre-eminence. The records of the Bible make this obvious to every reader of them. So do the records of all faithful histories of nations in which preaching has been exercised. So does the present use of it the world over. "Of all methods," says Douglas in his work on the "Advancement of Society in Knowledge and Religion," for the diffusing of religion, "preaching is the most efficient. All other methods are indirect and preparatory: but the simple preaching of the Gospel has, in all ages, been attended with the most transforming efficacy; elevating the few who have cordially accepted it into a higher and happier state of being; and even raising the many who have rejected it into a better system of moral opinion. It is to preaching that Christianity owes its origin, its continuance, and its progress; and it is to itinerating preaching (however the ignorant may undervalue it) that we owe the conversion of the Roman world from Paganism to primitive Christianity; our own freedom from the thraldom of Popery, in the success of the Reformation; and the revival of Christianity at the present day from the depression which it had undergone, owing to the prevalence of infidelity and indifference. Books, however excellent, require at least, some previous interest on the part of the person who is to open and peruse them. But the preacher arrests that attention which the written record only invites; and the living voice, and the listening numbers, heighten the impression by the sympathy and enthusiasm which they excite; the reality which truths spoken possess in the mind of the speaker, is communicated to the feelings of the hearers, and they end in sharing the same views, at least for the moment, and in augmenting each other's convictions."

Archbishop Grindel says:-" By preaching of God's word, the glory of God is enlarged, faith is nourished, and charity is increased. By it the ignorant is instructed, the negligent exhorted and incited, the stubborn rebuked, the weak conscience comforted, and to all those that sin of malicious wickedness, the wrath of God is threatened."

Whether preaching is looked at by a legislator whose concern is the welfare of the state and people; or by the educated, whose

interest is the instruction of the masses and the promotion of general knowledge; or by the philosopher who is jealous for public science and taste; or by the moralist, concerned for the virtuous conduct of the community; or by the earnest Christian, considering everything in the light of Gospel truth and eternal verities, preaching must, to each one, appear of essential service in promoting his respective ends.

The pre-eminence of preaching may be seen from its relation to other important ordinances and work in the Church of Christ. Take baptism. This is an ordinance, instituted by Christ Himself, and has, in all ages, been considered obligatory upon all believers, and essential to a true Church, and a true Christian. Yet, with all this, preaching is placed before baptism by Christ, both in practice and precept. Paul also declares that Christ sent him not to baptise (as his chief work), but to preach the Gospel. (1 Cor. i. 17.) The "Acts of the Apostles" illustrates this thought very fully. If preaching is before the Divinely-instituted ordinance of baptism in importance, it needs but little logic to see how it is before means and ordinances of mere human devising, organising, and establishment.

Gregory Nazianzen says that preaching is the principal thing that belongs to ministers of the Gospel. Erasmus, in comparing the several offices of ministers, gives the pre-eminence to preaching, speaking of them in the pulpit as in the very height of their dignity, feeding the flock with sacred doctrine. Mr. Thorndike, "a writer of great authority," says Bridges, on ecclesiastical matters," remarks, "that preaching in respect to personal performance, is the most excellent work bishops and presbyters are able to do in the service of God." Hooker also says:-" So worthy a part of Divine service we should greatly wrong if we did not esteem preaching as the blessed ordinance of God; sermons as keys to the kingdom of heaven, as wings to the soul, as spurs to the good affections of man, unto the sound and healthy as food, as physic unto diseased minds." Mr. Robinson, the celebrated preacher of Leicester, is said to have assigned to preaching the "throne among the various and distinct offices of his ministry." "Preach the word "-this he considered as the main article of his commission, which the nearest of the rest followed at a long interval. "It is well," he used to say, "to visit; it is well to show kindness; to make friendly; to instruct at home; to instruct at their own houses; to educate the children; to clothe the naked. But the pulpit is the seat of usefulness; souls are to be converted and built up there; no exertion must be allowed which may have the effect of habitually deteriorating this; whatever else is done should be with the design and hope of making this more effective."

Another thought may be given to show the pre-eminence